Comparison Of Their Eyes Were Watching God And In The Cage

Prompt 6: Their Eyes Were Watching God and In the Cage Throughout the course, the class closely examined many different styles of writing. Two of which were realist works, such as In The Cage by Henry James, and Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, a modernist novel. A key element in realist works, as illustrated in James’ work, is environment. The plot of In The Cage is heavily focused on how the main character, the telegraphist, is trapped by the social situations present. The readers see the internal dialogue of the telegraphist attempting to form a relationship out of her social group, which ultimately resulted in disillusionment from her reality, and readers see the conflict play out between James’ character and her environment.

This is the opposite of a work of realism. In Hurston’s novel, readers accompany the character Janie, on her journey through life. This journey allows for the importance of individualism to shine through, which is in part due to the author’s influence from the Harlem Renaissance. This time period was richest in self expression through a variety of media which is further support in the study of twentieth century modernist works. In addition, Hurston also expands perspective through an omniscient third person narrator throughout the majority of the novel; however when the focus shifts to Janie, aspects of limited narration are employed to allow readers to acquire their own interpretation in regards to the character's decisions. The distinction of the two varying types of work are made apparent as we see the telegraphist succumb to her environment and the social expectations present, and readers watch as Janie is able to overcome the status quo

In line with realist guidelines, the telegraphist ultimately becomes content with her social group, and In The Cage ends with her realizing that there is comfort in her current engagement, to Mr. Mudge, that would not be present if she had broken the environment's norms and pursued Everard. Had the novel been written in the modernist perspective, it could be expected that the telegraphist would push to break the expectations put into place due to her social standing, and she would have continued to actively pursue, or even, end up with the Everhard. This would follow similar themes to Their Eyes Were Watching God, as the readers would see the female character acquire goals and dreams that would have been previously looked down upon. Conversely, the ending of Hurston’s novel would have also been greatly altered had it been a work of realism. Instead of seeing Janie find her own peace in herself, the readers could expect to watch her fold to the societal expectations to once again marry within her means. Given often results in characters feeling trapped or confined by social situations, had the novel been written in a realistic fashion, Janie would ultimately not find peace in herself, but rather find peace in surrendering to the norms present in her community. The deviation in how the two novels would have concluded had they been written in a different style demonstrates the importance of how a text