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Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

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The novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” By Zora Neale Hurston follows Janie’s search for unconditional love while she faces many challenges during the relationships she has. The novel starts with Janie being set up in an arranged marriage by her Nanny and not being happy, she proceeds to marry him and it ends poorly. Then Janie finds Jody Starks the mayor, the relationship starts off well, with Janie being treated fairly and with love but results in abuse and Janie being treated poorly. Then once Jody passes away Janie gets with Tea Cake a younger, poor, immature man who treated her well at first but then becomes toxic. As a result of these relationships, Janie finds herself and becomes more confident in who she is as a person. Overall, Hurston’s use of imagery throughout the book describes Janie’s relationships, connecting with readers to develop the theme of relationships and unconditional love. Unconditional love to Janie is being accepted and loved in the right ways for who she is, this is what she searches for throughout the novel. …show more content…

Her arranged marriage wasn’t something she wanted or was proud of. Janie and Logan do not love each other and are forced into their marriage, as their marriage progresses Janie begins to like Logan less and less. Hurston describes the scene of Janie's awakening, “... soaking in the chant of the bees, the golden sun, and painting breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her” (Pg. 11). The chapter shares Janie’s spiritual and sexual awakening. The bees and flowers in the quote symbolize Janie’s ideal view of love and what she wants in a partner. The quote ultimately connects to the love Janie is searching for and her realization of knowing she deserves and wants better than

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Janie has been through hard times, even as a young girl. She lived with her grandmother who took care of her because her mother ran off when she was young. It is because of her grandmother, who wants to be in control of Janie’s life and wants the best for her, that Janie ends up marrying a rich man and getting a good education. However, this is not what Janie really wants. Janie is more interested in happiness and love than being rich, high class, and educated.

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In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, a strong, empathetic woman, explores many different interpersonal relationships and has experiences specific to her identity as a black woman. Throughout the story she is oppressed and is forced to silence herself after being silenced by her husbands, Nanny, and the townspeople. Janie is first controlled by her grandmother, Nanny, when Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks, a much older man. Janie is placed under Logan’s authority until a seemingly ideal man named Joe Starks comes into Janie’s life with promises of a better future. After marrying Joe, however, Janie realizes that he is not all that he claims to be and is forced, once again, to be oppressed and silence

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Janies states, “ Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage was. it was just so.” (Hurston 25). Janie didn't like this marriage and it wasn't great. Janie left him after only a few months.

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Although Janie’s life is already partially determined at birth due to her race, bloodline, and gender, her actions and personality reveal her true identity. The time period in which Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God was not one of complete racial equality. That being said, in the novel, Janie faces belittlement for being biracial. Mrs. Turner, a biracial woman much like Janie, acts as a

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Complicated relationships, even family members can bring a person down but in the end, the hard times are what makes a person who they are. Janie Mae Crawford is a prime example of this, she goes through many relationships and even has complications with her own family that lead to her being unhappy. She finally learns that when she finds who she is and finds her own voice is when she becomes happy. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston examines the idea that Janie's past, where she has many complicated relationships, including her Nanny, aids her on her journey to find who she is and to establish her own voice.

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(Pg 87) This quote represents the new masculine aspect of Janie. The masculine and ruthless properties that Janie exhibits redefine what a woman is and indicates what a woman is to her and what she thinks a woman should be. Janie married Joe as he represented freedom to her in that cycle of her life. She entered a man's world where she was a part of the dreams along the horizon.

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In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is a main character whose outward existence conforms, and her inward life questions. This tension helps to evolve the author’s theme of the importance of individuality and how individuality creates happiness. Janie experiences most of her life in trying to conform, and grows to despise it. Once free, she becomes herself and becomes happy. Early in the novel, Janie marries Logan Killicks.

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Another scene that represents Janie is when it states “She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her” (Hurston 190). Janie waited the majority of her life for true love and someone that will treat her the way she wanted. When she found Tea Cake this changed completely, Janie truly loved him and thought he was the perfect man. This didn’t end the greatest for the two of them but it represents the way Janie grows and finds out who she is and what her standards are. This represents ideas of the Harlem Renaissance by showing how even in a horrible time, people are able to find that light in the darkness and find their true identity even with little opportunities.

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She reflects on her life and how “dat’s how everything wuz, jus’ lak [she told phoebe]. SO [she's] back home agin and [shes] satisfied tuh be heah. [she] done been tuh de horizon and back and now [she] kin set heah in [her] house and live by comparisons.” (Hurston 191) Janie speaks to her development as a character and her journey toward self-expression. Throughout the novel, Janie struggles to find her own voice and express herself in a way true to her identity.

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This makes Janie learn that you should marry someone that you actually like to be with and that marriage doesn’t always mean love. Throughout the book Hurston uses many forms of figurative language and symbols to describe Janie’s feelings about love. One of these is “She was a rut in the road. Plenty of life beneath the surface

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Janie has many encounters with men where she felt love but she couldn’t maintain them. Her first husband held no love but rather only respect for Janie. The first husband was a gateway to her second lover, Jody. Jody loved Janie and she to him but as time progressed his ambitions destroyed what they had previously cherished.

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Thus, Zora Neale Hurston uses community as a motif to help prove her theme, using specific details such as Janie’s disallowance to go to the funeral and the community scorning her. In conclusion, the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” presents the theme of love and that being in a relationship hinders independence but in an unique way. Hurston uses symbolism like Janie’s head rag which stifled her independence and when burned, made her feel free. She also uses the motif of communities, which are ever present throughout the book, using specific examples such as when Janie isn't allowed to go to the funeral, which hinders her independence because she isn't making choices for herself and isn't doing

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In Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," the protagonist Janie Crawford's search for love is a central theme. Throughout the novel, Janie experiences various types of love from her three husbands, each of which ends in a different manner. Janie's first husband, Logan Killicks, represents a traditional and practical form of love. Logan is a wealthy landowner, and Janie's grandmother sees him as a good match for Janie due to his financial stability.

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“Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made” (11). Janie’s first dream is love. She believes that with love she can feel complete and happy. However, it takes Janie three marriages to finally experience true love.

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more’n you kin say… When you pull down yo’ britches, you look lak de change uh life” (Hurston 79). Janie stands up for herself and verbally attacks her husband, which was unusual for the time

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