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Summary Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Nora Zeale Hurston

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In Nora Zeale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she explores the different ways the modern world is too ambitious for its own good. The main protagonist, Janie, goes through 4 relationships within the book and film. For the duration of the book, she is pressured by countless people within each of her relationships. The first and foremost is her grandmother. Nanny was born into slavery and was brutally tortured by her owner. After being raped and molested, she got pregnant with Leafy. She eventually escaped, leaving Leafy to make similar mistakes and ending with Janie. Their mistakes led Nanny to pursue all of her dreams and wishes for Janie without any regard for what Janie wanted. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale portrays …show more content…

He did, however, have wealth and a statue to his name which was all Nanny cared for. She wanted Janie to be taken care of, rather than scrambling for scraps. Nevertheless, it was the last thing Janie wanted in life. Of course, she wanted stability, but she wanted a life with love and passion. However, in Janie's society, you married wealthy or you were nothing. She was considered unappreciative and needy. As Logan Killicks puts it, “Ah, thought you would appreciate good treatment. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act.” (SparkNotes). Logan Killicks represents the stable and comfortable life every black man or woman dreams of. It is the life Nanny wished for herself, for Leafy, and forced it upon Janie. Janie, however, wants the exact opposite. She wants a life full of ambition and passion, which she finds in Jody Starks and soon after in Tea Cake. The last relationship we see Janie in is with Tea Cake. He’s a young, flirtatious boy with dreams taller than him. Not long after Janie's second husband's death, she begins a relationship with Tea Cake. He was everything Janie wanted to be. Young, wild, free, ambitious, and most of all

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4. Nanny • Although she is not in the book for long, readers meet Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, early in the novel. Janie has grown up with this lady, after her mom left her at a young age. Nanny wants Janie to marry into wealth, which is why she motivates Janie into marrying Logan Killicks.

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Nanny was a big influence in trying to help Janie set herself up for a good life that Nanny never had. Yet Nanny really set Janie up for trouble even though that was not her goal at all. When Janie married Nanny's choice, Logan Kellicks for his money, it only leads Janie to a life that she didn't want. Feeling no affection from Logan she feels misplaced and is not happy with her marriage. Janie is in search for a better life and that's what she does all the way through Their Eyes Were Watching God.

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"People inspire you, or they drain you; pick them wisely" (Hans F. Hasen). These words are known by many but followed by few. Zora Neale Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, illustrates this with the primary character, Janie. She had three husbands: Joe Starks, Logan Killicks, and Tea Cake. Janie is held captive by these toxic relationships which are rife with greed, arrogance, and gaslighting.

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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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The novel “Their eyes were watching god” takes place during 1937. This time period is shortly after the women’s rights movement, and this is very critical to the novel and its characters as well. Janie, is a women of a new era and she is expected to do more than just domestic chores, she is expected to have opinions and feelings. Janie, is always the leading role in every relationship. Tea Cake plays a very significant role in her life but she always is always the main focus.

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The texts Goblin Market by Christina Rossetti, Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell, and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, explore the tensions between individual desires and social or institutional regulations. All three of the texts suggest that societies use regulations to protect individuals, from their own desires that may be harmful to them. The first example of this can be seen in the Goblin Market, with the character Laura. Laura’s desire to eat the goblin fruit, although forbidden, endangers her life and well being. Laura’s sister tries to prevent her from eating the fruit, yet Laura does not head this advice and eats the fruit anyway.

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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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Soon after she met Logan, it became apparent that Logan Killicks was not the best fit for Janie as he preferred an old-fashioned marriage and the responsibilities that came along with it. “‘You ain’t got no particular place. It’s whereve Ah need yuh. Git uh move on yuh, and dat quick.”’ (27) Logan expects Janie to do all the little “woman” things around the house, and he would bring in the money.

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From a young age, many people are told that they have free will to do what they want and that their actions are what define them as a person; however, what people are told isn’t always the complete truth. In the realms of reality, individuals are always influenced by the people they spend the most time around to such an extent that it can change who they are as a person. Zora Neale Hurston 's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, epitomizes such truth through the development of Janie, a women who grows from not knowing her own race or what love even means to someone that has gained and lost countless relationships with people. Initially, she marries a wealthy man named Logan Killicks for financial security, but then runs away with a man named

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Some difficulties include racism, religious discrimination, and dealing with others’ cruelness or kindness. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God the main character Janie returns back to her hometown Eatonville, Florida after being away for some time. All the townspeople gossip about what might have happened to Janie when she moved away. Janie clears up all the gossip and shares her story with the curious group.

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Janie’s husbands represent different periods in her life; each separation has a different impact on Janie by serving as a life lesson and broadening her world perspective. Her first husband, Logan Killicks, represents the old in every way. The main reason Janie marries him is because of Nanny’s traditional way of thinking, which is marrying for stability over happiness. Nanny

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In the Novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, author Zora Neale Hurston uses themes of identity and challenging traditional roles to reflect ideas of the Harlem Renaissance. The novel follows the life of Janie, a black woman who finds her way through the challenges of life independently for the most part. Janie finds herself in a society that is portrayed as men lead the world. She challenges these stereotypes by becoming a strong and independent woman.

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One of the universal themes of literature is the idea that children suffer because of the mistakes of an earlier generation. The novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" follows the story of Janie Mae Crawford through her childhood, her turbulent and passionate relationships, and her rejection of the status quo and through correlation of Nanny 's life and Janie 's problems, Hurston develops the theme of children 's tribulations stemming from the teachings and thoughts of an earlier generation. Nanny made a fatal mistake in forcibly pushing her own conclusions about life, based primarily on her own experiences, onto her granddaughter Janie and the cost of the mistake was negatively affecting her relationship with Janie. Nanny lived a hard life and she made a rough conclusion about how to survive in the world for her granddaughter, provoked by fear. " Ah can’t die easy thinkin’ maybe de menfolks white or black is makin’ a spit cup outa you: Have some sympathy fuh me.

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Janie hated Logan with a passion from deep inside her heart. The marriage between Janie and Logan was the worst out of Janie’s three marriages. On the bright side of this relationship was that Janie had the security

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With each marriage, Janie grows more self-aware and realizes what her true desires are. She wants to be with a man who makes her happy, but also treats her with the respect and dignity she deserves. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s independence grows as she yearns for true love through her three marriages. Janie’s willingness to do what others ask, leads to her being pressured into marriage at sixteen years old by her grandmother.

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