Discovering one’s voice is a journey filled with obstacles and self-doubt. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston shows different ways that a person can develop his or her voice. A person’s priorities can impact how their voice is formed and its difficulty to maintain. Hurston also shows how voice can be concealed, suppressed, or wiped out entirely. Developing and maintaining one’s voice can depend on exertion or submission of power, outward appearances, and self-knowledge.
Throughout his time in the novel, Jody attempts to attain his voice through the exertion of power. After the street lamp showcase, Jody tells Janie that from the beginning, he wanted to be a “big voice” (Hurston 46). By this point, Jody is “clearly already a …show more content…
When Joe becomes mayor of Eatonville, “the communal, dialogic narrative at the store replaces the scattered individual narratives that seemed...to go nowhere” (Simmons 184). Jody unifies the people of Eatonville through his redevelopment of the town, but in doing so, he suppresses the individuality of each person. Jody attempts to control the voice of the community as a whole and manipulates the townspeople to align their desires with his own. Jody dominates both Janie and the community, and Janie “represents the community as an embodiment of their suffering and dissatisfaction” (Simmons 185). Janie is the only person in the town that is shown to speak against Jody during their time in Eatonville, and in many ways she “speaks for the townspeople” (Simmons 185). Janie’s years of silence reflect the silence of the community in regards to Jody’s reign. Her outburst in the store before Jody’s death allows the townspeople to see that Jody does not hold as much power as it seems. The voice of the community grows stronger as Jody’s becomes progressively weaker until his death. Janie’s connection to the community allows her to use her voice to bring Jody out of power and elevate the importance of the townspeople’s …show more content…
Walter, one of the townspeople, inserts himself into their argument: “You heard here, you ain’t blind” (Hurston 79). Through Walter’s comment, Hurston indicates that there is an association between voice and vision. As Hurston establishes a connection between seeing and hearing through dialogue, Jody establishes a connection between his voice and visual appearances by means of his materialism. Jody “sets himself and Janie apart from the other Eatonville residents by displaying material possessions” (Simmons 184). Jody uses material possessions to display his power over others. He considers appearances to be important in maintaining the authority of his voice. Jody treats Janie as one of his possessions, and at first displays her in his store, then ridicules “her body to point attention away from his own” (Hurston 78). As Jody ages, he loses confidence in his appearance and uses Janie to distract the community from the deterioration of his body. Jody first uses his appearance to develop the power of his voice, then uses his voice to maintain his authority and give the illusion that he is not weakened by age. Jody’s objectification of Janie causes her to value her appearance over her identity until she realizes that she has “an inside and an outside and suddenly knew how not to mix them” (Hurston 68). Janie learns to look past the materialism of her marriage to Jody and “to ‘look further’, a necessary precondition for
Throughout his time in the novel, Jody attempts to attain his voice through the exertion of power. After the street lamp showcase, Jody tells Janie that from the beginning, he wanted to be a “big voice” (Hurston 46). By this point, Jody is “clearly already a …show more content…
When Joe becomes mayor of Eatonville, “the communal, dialogic narrative at the store replaces the scattered individual narratives that seemed...to go nowhere” (Simmons 184). Jody unifies the people of Eatonville through his redevelopment of the town, but in doing so, he suppresses the individuality of each person. Jody attempts to control the voice of the community as a whole and manipulates the townspeople to align their desires with his own. Jody dominates both Janie and the community, and Janie “represents the community as an embodiment of their suffering and dissatisfaction” (Simmons 185). Janie is the only person in the town that is shown to speak against Jody during their time in Eatonville, and in many ways she “speaks for the townspeople” (Simmons 185). Janie’s years of silence reflect the silence of the community in regards to Jody’s reign. Her outburst in the store before Jody’s death allows the townspeople to see that Jody does not hold as much power as it seems. The voice of the community grows stronger as Jody’s becomes progressively weaker until his death. Janie’s connection to the community allows her to use her voice to bring Jody out of power and elevate the importance of the townspeople’s …show more content…
Walter, one of the townspeople, inserts himself into their argument: “You heard here, you ain’t blind” (Hurston 79). Through Walter’s comment, Hurston indicates that there is an association between voice and vision. As Hurston establishes a connection between seeing and hearing through dialogue, Jody establishes a connection between his voice and visual appearances by means of his materialism. Jody “sets himself and Janie apart from the other Eatonville residents by displaying material possessions” (Simmons 184). Jody uses material possessions to display his power over others. He considers appearances to be important in maintaining the authority of his voice. Jody treats Janie as one of his possessions, and at first displays her in his store, then ridicules “her body to point attention away from his own” (Hurston 78). As Jody ages, he loses confidence in his appearance and uses Janie to distract the community from the deterioration of his body. Jody first uses his appearance to develop the power of his voice, then uses his voice to maintain his authority and give the illusion that he is not weakened by age. Jody’s objectification of Janie causes her to value her appearance over her identity until she realizes that she has “an inside and an outside and suddenly knew how not to mix them” (Hurston 68). Janie learns to look past the materialism of her marriage to Jody and “to ‘look further’, a necessary precondition for