Their Eyes Were Watching God, one of the most influential novels to come out of the Harlem Renaissance, plays a crucial role in revealing the deep-rooted issue of misogyny during the era. As the protagonist, Janie Crawford, navigates the complexities of her three marriages, Zora Neale Hurston delves into the core of human emotion to develop Janie’s character throughout the novel. As Janie witnesses the deaths of her three marriages, she is transformed from a silenced wife to an icon of feminism; she changes in her level of maturity, independence, and self-reliance in response to her husbands’ treatments of her.
Janie matures out of her adolescent naivety when her loveless union with Logan Killicks extinguishes her pre-marital perceptions of love. At the beginning of the novel, Hurston illustrates the detrimental impact of Nanny’s influence over her granddaughter’s upbringing. This is apparent when Nanny forces Janie to marry Logan, an unpleasant and ugly man, to ensure security rather than contentment in her life. In justifying this action with the notion that she “would love Logan after they were married,” Nanny’s misguided belief system evidently hinders Janie even in adulthood (Hurston 20). In this scene, Janie’s impressionable nature and obvious lack of experience with love are indicative of how important Janie’s emergence into womanhood truly is. Yet, Janie soon recalls the deeper ideas …show more content…
Despite the myriad of opposing forces that Janie meets in her search for love, her identity is deepened throughout the novel as she transitions into womanhood and strengthens her sense of independence and self-reliance as results of her experiences with marriage. Within this story, Zora Neale Hurston unleashes a new perspective on the lives of women in the early 20th century that still rings true
Janie matures out of her adolescent naivety when her loveless union with Logan Killicks extinguishes her pre-marital perceptions of love. At the beginning of the novel, Hurston illustrates the detrimental impact of Nanny’s influence over her granddaughter’s upbringing. This is apparent when Nanny forces Janie to marry Logan, an unpleasant and ugly man, to ensure security rather than contentment in her life. In justifying this action with the notion that she “would love Logan after they were married,” Nanny’s misguided belief system evidently hinders Janie even in adulthood (Hurston 20). In this scene, Janie’s impressionable nature and obvious lack of experience with love are indicative of how important Janie’s emergence into womanhood truly is. Yet, Janie soon recalls the deeper ideas …show more content…
Despite the myriad of opposing forces that Janie meets in her search for love, her identity is deepened throughout the novel as she transitions into womanhood and strengthens her sense of independence and self-reliance as results of her experiences with marriage. Within this story, Zora Neale Hurston unleashes a new perspective on the lives of women in the early 20th century that still rings true