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Janie's personal development in their eyes were watching god
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When Joe instructed Janie to wear the head rag she didn't fight back. This reveals to us that Joe wants to confine Janie to
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
“I hate to hear you talk about all women as if they were fine ladies instead of rational creatures. None of us want to be in calm waters all our lives.” Jane Austen. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston depicted the travels of Janie Crawford and her understanding of womanhood and freedom through her several marriages. Throughout the book, Hurston portrays the growth of Janie and her ideals, her hair being a major recurring symbol.
Characteristics that are out of your control are often times the ones that cause the most trouble. Janie Crawford in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, realizes this at a very early age. Throughout the novel, Janie fights desperately to be independent, but she is constantly held back by those factors outside of her control.
Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, introduces Joe Starks into the novel as a controlling, yet successful man who falls under the control of his own problematic characteristics. These traits influence actions of his which work for and against his favor. Joe is notably prideful; however, his insecurities cause him to verbally and physically mistreat Janie because he feels threatened by her better attributes. Joe’s pride is the drive for his ambition. It motivates him to do various activities that will bring him success, recognition, and admiration from his peers, such as when “he [unwraps] [the street lamp] and [has] it wiped off carefully and put up on a showcase… for everybody [in town] to see” (44).
Nonetheless, one of the biggest obstacles that Janie faced in the novel was the belief associated with women: “inferior.” When I was a little girl, I quickly learned of this primitive idea. At the ripe old age of 6, I was playing in a sandbox and was suddenly struck with surprise when a little boy stole the toy that I was playing with. I approached him, and said, “Why did you take my toy? I was playing with it!”
Being a woman did not allow her dreams to be on the horizon which made her lay them on Joe. This chapter makes Janie realize what she wants in life and it is not what her grandma wants. She wants love and freedom. Joe gave her more than what her grandma wanted for her although Janie did not achieve the life she wanted while being married to Joe. Janie may have placed her goals in life onto Joe although he did not give her what she wanted deep down which made her resent him, show her selfish qualities,
During the early decades of the twentieth century, opportunities for women to speak up and share their voices were extremely limited. A defying woman of the era, Zora Neale Hurston, found an opportunity for her voice to be heard through her writing. At the Literary Awards Dinner in 1925, Hurston made a flamboyant entrance when she walked into a room of crowded people and shouted the title of her famous play: “Coooolor Struckkkk!” Clearly, Hurston proved she was not afraid to speak out and let her voice be heard. In her book Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston demonstrates many factors can influence a person’s decision to speak up or not by charting Janie’s relationships with those around her.
Another example of how Joe impacted Janie’s identity development was when Joe forced Janie to keep her hair up in the store. But when he did, Janie learned of her independence and her personal power. After Joe dies, Janie took control and let her hair down in public again. “Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist.” (Hurston
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.
In The Eyes are Watching God, the author Zora Neale Hurston expresses the struggles of women and black societies of the time period. When Hurston published the book, communities were segregated and black communities were full of stereotypes from the outside world. Janie, who represents the main protagonist and hero, explores these communities on her journey in the novel. Janie shows the ideals of feminism, love, and heroism in her rough life in The Eyes. Janie, as the hero of the novel, shows the heroic qualities of determination, empathy, and bravery.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is blatantly obvious that women, in this case Janie, led an interesting life both with and without a man. Both before her marriage with Logan and after her marriage with Tea Cake, Janie led a lifestyle that did not produce boredom by thinking for herself and always exploring with her mind. During her marriage with Tea Cake especially, Janie was able to live an interesting and fulfilling lifestyle in both Eatonville and the Everglades while at her husband’s side. Janie easily proves an ability an ability to enjoy an interesting lifestyle with or without men. When Janie was living with her grandmother she was able to live an interesting lifestyle by playing with the other white children.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford proves she is a weak woman by sucking herself into a bad relationship and not doing anything to get out. Jody, Janie’s second husband tried to control her more than anyone else, and he does so successfully. A few reasons why he was overly controlling of her include refusing to let her go do things she wants to do, will not let her talk and enjoy herself with the town’s people, and believes that all women are inferior. Although she does grow to realize that the way he treats her is not right, she keeps her mouth shut and puts up with it.
In the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, characterizes the meaning of the Harlem Renaissance through the story line of this book. “Their Eyes Were Watching God” tells a story about a black Southern lady by the name of Janie Crawford. Janie a woman who refuses to live her life in sorrow, fear, and dispair tries to pertinent as an independent woman, but catches herself going through three seprate marriages, all love with dispairety. In the beginning of this novel, the author depicts a picture of Eatonville (where the story takes place).
“I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want”-Muhammad Ali (brainyquotes). In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie's growth from a young girl without an identity, not knowing her own race, to a woman strong enough to return to her hometown of Eatonville allows her to discover who she is and how she has the power to change her own life. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God shows that the only way to achieve fulfillment is to ignore society's control and concentrate on one's own desires, while avoiding selfishness. This is revealed as Janie moves through abusive relationships to one which finally allows her room for her own thoughts and
