In Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, a long-haired beauty, struggled with finding herself in marriages where constant society and personal pressures forced her into certain roles in life she never expected. Throughout the book Janie struggles with being herself versus pleasing the man she is with. When Janie marries Logan she is still an innocent young girl, this innocence is stripped away with the realization of what it means to be married and live under the control of a dominant man. There is a continuation of this within her second marriage when she emotionally detaches herself from the world in order to cope with her dehumanization by Jody. It is not until he dies and she meets Tea Cake that her relationship becomes…
Many consider mules to be substandard animals, only useful for labor-intensive tasks. Yet, in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, mules represent more than just a poor, defenseless animal. The way men treat them in Eatonville reflects the condition of the black female, as it serves as a symbol of Janie’s struggle in her relationship with Joe. In fact, the mule and its subsequent mistreatment represents how African-American females are comparative to these second-rate workhorses, thus justifying their oppressors’ abuse over his possession, whether that possession is his wife, or his mule. To begin, Matt Bonner mistreats his mule by not feeding him enough food.…
Studying Janie Crawford Their Eyes Were Watching God is the compelling tale of Janie Crawford, a remarkably unique woman for her time. Intelligent and strong, Janie refuses to fall into societal traps set for young women regarding marriage, duty, and contentment. In appearance, she is described as extraordinarily beautiful, with long hair in braids and an attractive figure, and has no problem catching the attention of men. Janie is habitually adventurous and curious, and not pleased by doing the same thing for too long.…
In this novel, Their eyes were watching God, by Zora Neil Hurston, they're were many examples of love and passion. Their were three love interest in this novel who mainly were there to support Janie. Those of which were Tea Cake, Logan, and Joe. There was one love interest that stood out the most in this novel. In Their eyes were watching God, Tea Cake's love interest in Janie is visualized several times throughout this story.…
All around the world there have been many cases of sexual and physical abuse against women. Such is the case in “Bluest eye” by Toni Morrison and the movie “Their Eyes were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Likewise, in Natacha Clerge contemporary review that shares a similar perspective. In all three works there is a horrible turn of events that leads to desperate measures.…
Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Namesake - Compare and Contrast Essay Experiences and overcoming conflicts can either help one achieve self realization or hinder their view of himself. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jhumpa Lahiri’s The Namesake, both Janie and Gogol Ganguli struggle to find their true identity due to a lack of support from their relationships, societal discrimination and negative experiences. Ultimately, both Janie and Gogol are able to overcome these obstacles through determination which helps them achieve self-realization.…
In the novel,"Their Eyes were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston, a dilemma shook young Janie's life in the awkwardest of ways. Torn between, thoughts of true love and the reality of marriage, the decision consumed her mind. Lost in the meadows of childhood, Janie's surroundings begin to change as she enters the "coming of age" part of her life. The meadows fall as a path becomes clear and Janie takes her chance. Leaping towards,"flower dust" and "springtime (sprinklings)"…
The novel I chose is Their Eyes Were Watching God. In this novel, Janie, the main character, conforms her external appearance while she questions internally. Janie marries a man named Logan Killicks because her grandmother believes that she will be secure with him. Logan takes away her sense of feminism when he expects her to do a man's work. Things change when Janie stumbles upon Joe Starks, she leaves Logan runs off with him hoping for a new life.…
Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston, depicts the tumultuous tale of Janie, a black woman living in the South, and her love affairs and journey of self-realization. Due to Hurston’s culturally rich scenes and choice of narration, using dialect traditional of southern black, this classic novel can be interpreted as a folktale. Folktales, defined as “… tale[s] or… legend[s] originating and traditional among a people or folk, especially… forming part of the oral tradition of the common people” (dictionary.com), were traditionally passed down in older African American communities in the context of this novel. This was especially prevalent in the South, where slavery was prominent and there were still freed slaves…
To achieve a dream is to achieve your horizon. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston introduced readers to the value of the horizon by the main character in the book Janie who played a role in achieving her horizon. Janie was on a search for her horizon, yet during that search came a journey filled with many obstacles. Janie went through a few obstacles to reach her horizon to the point she ended up having hate towards her Nanny and Joe Starks for trying to take the horizon away from her. Janie revealed to readers that the horizon had different meanings.…
Injustice of Women Women have suffered and dealt with the tragedies of what is American history. Inequality is the most important struggle that women have had to overcome. Gender inequality is the basis of which this novel lies around. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the women are portrayed as housewives who can only depend upon the power of their spouse.…
Love is crucial to one of the most important themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, love in many different forms are displayed. In this novel, when Janie marries Logan for the sake of her grandmother’s satisfaction, she immediately realizes that she doesn’t love Logan as a husband in any shape or form. Logan rarely shows Janie any form of affection to display that he loves her. Janie’s relationship with Joe Starks is somewhat similar to the relationship that she had with Logan.…
A way to mark a new beginning in your life is to dive into a pond and watch god - at least that’s what Janie does in the film adaptation of Their Eyes Were Watching God. The central theme of the film centers around the main character, Janie, and her search for true love and happiness. We get to see Janie struggle through two painful relationships before she finds “the one”. The film follows Janie as she pushes through a failed arranged marriage to Logan Killicks, and an abusive relationship to Joe Starks. She eventually meets a much younger man named Tea Cake, who shows her a new way and meaning to life.…
The hurricane Janie has to walk through is a representation of destruction and God’s power. The hurricane shows how damaging the world can be but afterwards it brings hope and restoration. The title “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, comes from this connection between God and the hurricane. While the hurricane is occurring, Janie and Tea Cake are seeking him (God) searching for answers to the destruction about to happen. After the hurricane, even though the town is destructed there’s much hope for Janie.…
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, we follow our protagonist, Janie Crawford, through a journey of self-discovery. We watch Janie from when she was a child to her adulthood, slowly seeing her ideas change while other dreams of hers unfortunately die. This is illustrated by the quote: “She knew that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” This realization made by Janie supports one of the biggest themes in this novel, which is that innocence and womanhood can’t exist at the same time.…