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Examples Of Janie's Dreams In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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The "deaths" of Janie’s dreams

In the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie experiences a journey of self-discovery and the loss and regaining of her dreams. Her three marriages represent different aspects of her dreams and expectations for her future. In this essay, I will explore how Janie's perception of men and her future expectations change throughout the novel, as she navigates through different relationships.
Through her experience with Logan, Janie feels bewildered, as she realizes that he does not fulfill her emotional needs and desires. Janie learns that love and marriage should not be based solely on financial security and stability. Logan Killicks represents her loss of dreams in regard to love and marriage. …show more content…

Janie's second husband, Joe Starks, represents her loss of dreams in regard to personal freedom and individuality. Joe is ambitious and determined to achieve success and power, but he does not value Janie as an individual. He sees her as a trophy wife and expects her to conform to his expectations and ideals. Joe restricts Janie's personal freedom and does not allow her to express herself or pursue her own dreams. Janie's experience with Joe is transient, as she realizes that his idea of success and power does not align with her own desires and beliefs."He was a glance from God. But he didn’t seem to know it. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. But he didn’t know it. As he boarded the train, he didn’t even glance at her, didn’t seem to know that she was there. She could see his big back and shoulders glittering with sweat. He didn’t even stop to tell her goodbye. She wondered if he ever thought of her when he got back to the turpentine camp. Probably not. He was too busy feeling the power of his maleness among men. Women were there to do for him, not to think about him. (Hurston

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On the first page of chapter one, the quote sets the tone for the entire book. Janie Crawford, the protagonist, experiences three different marriages with three men of different personalities. The quote represents some aspect of each of her marriage. It also represented Janie in some way as being a beauty for many men.

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1041 Words | 5 Pages

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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998 Words | 4 Pages

In her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston traces Janie’s quest for independence and the search of her self-confidence through events that happened before and after her epiphany immediately following Joe’s death. Throughout the novel Janie’s view of life, her independence, and her view of love changed exceedingly depending on who she was married to. This story centers around an important epiphany that Janie has when Joe dies; that personal discoveries and life experiences help people find themselves. Before her revelation, when Janie is 16 years old, she experiences a moment of realization in she discovers new-found feelings about love, marriage, . Under the pear-tree, she has a perfect moment in nature, full of passion

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675 Words | 3 Pages

Personal experiences often shape how people see the world. This can be said for people’s views of love and what love means to the individual. In Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character Janie searches for love and what true love is to her ever since she first got married. As Janie lives her life, she experiences marriage with three men: Logan Killicks, Jody starks, and Tea Cake, each of whom she initially believes she loves. However, as the story continues, she realizes that she does not truly love any of them except for Tea Cake.

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471 Words | 2 Pages

In Janie’s growth, her thoughts and fantasies were shaped to only focus on simple matters. Nancy would pressure Janie to settle down, get married to a rich man, and live a certain lifestyle. The pressure Nanny applied succeeded as Janie married again and again to certain men. That man, being wealthy [Joe] which did lead her to wealth and prestige, yet did not grant what she deeply desired: freedom and happiness.

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1030 Words | 5 Pages

Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” This realization made by Janie supports one of the biggest themes in this novel, which is that the concept of innocence and womanhood can’t exist at the same time. Because Janie finally lets go of her “childish fantasy”, her innocence is lost and she is now a woman. The theme of lost innocence in exchange for womanhood is also prevalent in Hurston’s story Sweat. This idea is one of the reasons that Sykes and Delia’s relationship begins to fall apart when we meet them.

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660 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie, is influenced by others to change her ideals. Hurston vividly portrays Janie’s outward struggle while emphasising her inward struggle by expressing Janie’s thoughts and emotions. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening the protagonist is concisely characterized as having “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions,” as Janie does. Janie conforms outwardly to her life but questions inwardly to her marriages with Logan Killicks, her first husband, and Joe Starks, her second husband; Janie also questions her grandmother's influence on what love and marriage is.

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716 Words | 3 Pages

Janie threatens Joe because of her free will Joe Starks feels threatened by Janie because of her independence. When Janie is asked to give a speech, Joe cuts in and says, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s a woman and her place is in de home” (43). Joe Starks wants Janie to be an object that is to be admired and to help her husband when needed.

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1354 Words | 6 Pages

On the other hand, silence is used as a demonstration of individualism and expressiveness. This especially allows women of the 20th century to regain control and autonomy. The perspective that Domina presents allows the reader to find a feminist viewpoint of patriarchal events. Furthermore, critics, such as Claire Crabtree, dive deeper into the realm of the impact of feminism that is brought out by Hurston’s novel. Crabtree says, “The three marriages and the three communities in which Janie moves represent increasingly wide circles of experience and opportunities for expression of personal choice” (Crabtree 315).

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1254 Words | 6 Pages

Janie realizes what she deserves in a marriage and runs off with Starks to live a happy life with him. Things do not go as planned for Janie as she starts to realize how manipulative Joe Starks is of her. Starks has full control over Janie with his tyrannical behavior and takes things even further when he establishes complete dominance over Janie. Janie soon realizes that Starks has taken advantage of her “It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she saw that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams.

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802 Words | 4 Pages

Hurston’s most important intention in the novel is to emphasize that freedom is more fulfilling than love. The film adaptation of the novel does not showcase the book’s intention well, considering that Janie

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921 Words | 4 Pages

The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor. It was there to shake hands whenever company came to visit”. (71) Once again Janie is in a marriage in which there is no love or joy between the Husband and Wife. A marriage is supposed to be filled with joy and have mutual love but the way that joe silences Janie makes her feel nothing for him. They may have the titles of husband and wife but they do not support each other and they have no love for each other showing that they are not

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876 Words | 4 Pages

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford-KIllicks-Starks-Woods experiences three very different marriages. First, she is forced to marry Logan Killicks, a man she does not have any feelings for. After a little more than a year, she leaves Logan and marries Jody Starks. The marriage with Jody starts out well, but it ends up bad. After Jody dies, Janie spends nine months basking in her newfound freedom.

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824 Words | 4 Pages

The pursuit of dreams has played a big role in self-fulfillment and internal development and in many ways, an individual 's reactions to the perceived and real obstacles blocking the path to a dream define the very character of that person. This theme is evident in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, which is about the search for identity. A woman of a mixed ethnicity resides in several communities, each playing an important role and serve as crucial influences on her life. During the story, she endures two failed relationships and one good relationship, dealing with disappointment, death, the wrath of nature and life’s unpredictability.

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774 Words | 4 Pages

“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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