There are many factors that define a person’s life. From day one all the way until death, every moment has the potential to change your life. However, how others define you, is beyond your control. The cumulative human experience can be expressed through culture, family, community and inherited values. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Nanny Crawford, along with many others, is stripped at a young age of the ability to lead life the way she wants to due to slavery. Since the day Nanny was born her path was predetermined; society, culture and even her family forced a lifestyle upon her, without any input of her own. Due to Nanny's negative past with class and society, she urges and longs for a more positive future for Janie. Nanny’s life has been defined by the horrors of slavery, and her worldview is permanently altered as a result, making her force her perspective on others, including Janie.
From early on in life and a ways into adulthood, Nanny lives in a social hierarchy where black females live under the reign of white males and are both abused in victimized. Women are …show more content…
While Nanny is unable to have a voice of her own, she has certain ideas in mind for Janie, believing the only way for her to not be oppressed by white men like she was, is to have a man of her own. “So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up… De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah been prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you” (14). Nanny knows that the world can be a harsh place and therefore does not want a low place in society for Janie. Despite these wishes Janie does not want to marry Logan, but she goes along with it because it is what her grandmother wants. This perspective Nanny imposes on Janie has commonly been seen throughout history with generational
From early on in life and a ways into adulthood, Nanny lives in a social hierarchy where black females live under the reign of white males and are both abused in victimized. Women are …show more content…
While Nanny is unable to have a voice of her own, she has certain ideas in mind for Janie, believing the only way for her to not be oppressed by white men like she was, is to have a man of her own. “So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up… De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. Ah been prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you” (14). Nanny knows that the world can be a harsh place and therefore does not want a low place in society for Janie. Despite these wishes Janie does not want to marry Logan, but she goes along with it because it is what her grandmother wants. This perspective Nanny imposes on Janie has commonly been seen throughout history with generational