Societal Expectations In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston introduces readers to the life of Janie Crawford living in rural Florida during the early twentieth century. During this time, women, specifically black women, were considered to be property of men in the south. Legally, women had no voice. Janie Crawford, as well as many others find themselves in a society expecting more out of life than what the time period has to offer. Through love affairs, catastrophes and death, Hurston shows readers how a small voice can make a difference. Janie Crawford fights to live the life she imagines for herself. Being lively but voiceless, she holds the trigger to her own destiny. Janie’s main characteristics are her willingness to act upon her inner instincts and

They are told love is something to strive toward; yet, it is typically reliant on the type of man a woman decides to marry. As society blurs the lines between expectation and aspiration, readers see occurring societal expectations in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie’s expectations begin early in the novel with her Nanny. Janie is expected to marry a worthy man; however, she struggles to follow this gender role because she desires love in a marriage. Nanny says to Janie: “You com heah wid yo' mouf full of fullishness on uh busy day. Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo bown days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis' Killicks, and you come worrying' me 'bout love” (Hurston 23). Nanny voices her disappointment in Janie because she sees no reason for Janie to be unhappy in an arranged marriage. To escape these conformities, Janie finds interest in a second husband, Joe Starks. Though Janie’s marriage to Joe is partly an escape from her previous life, she realizes early on that her marriage to Joe has been a tradeoff for a new form of confinement and social subjugation. Despite her new conditions, Janie is not afraid to let her voice be heard. She asserts herself when she tells Joe: “Naw, Ah ain’t no young gal no mo’ bet den Ah ain’t no old women neither. Ah reckon Ah looks mah age too. But Ah’m uh women every inch of me, and Ah

If their spouses act out of line, it is not uncommon for them to be beaten. Janie’s second husband attempts to fit her into a submissive role by silencing her in conversations, beating her within their own house, and treating her as an object of possession. Janie finds herself in a predicament between what to do within her society. When Joe and Janie are seated among their store, Joe comments by saying, “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 uh women and her place is in de home” (Hurston 43). By silencing Janie, Joe proves that he has a sense of control over her. Joe does not believe Janie should be opinionated in the public eye. Hurston again writes about Janie’s behaviors by saying: “But Joe kept saying that she could do it if she wanted and he wanted her to use her privileges. That was the rock she was battered against” (54). Many men feel that women are completely ignorant and need to be told what to do all of the time; a sentiment that adds fuel to men feeling their gender is greater to their female counterpart. In chapter six Joe protests: “You sho loves to tell me whut to do, but Ah can’t tell you nothin’ Ah see!” “Dat’s ‘cause you need tellin’, It would be pitiful if Ah didn’t. Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t