Summary Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Youth and old age carry with them connotations of all sorts. The young and restless contrast the wise elders in literature employing stereotypical tropes. Zora Neale Hurston plays with this idea in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Perhaps taking loose inspiration from her own life, Hurston explores the concept of youth and its impacts on the oppression of one’s freedom by framing relationships in the novel, both familial and romantic, through the lens of contrasting ages. Though Their Eyes Were Watching God is by no means a memoir, there are certainly elements that seem to be drawn from Hurston’s life and attributed to the novel’s heroine, Janie. Some describe Zora Neale Hurston as characterized by “independence, sardonic humor and

Regardless of the truth or legitimacy of the argument, the societal expectations played into Janie’s considerations regarding Tea Cake. Though she wanted to inquire about him, she was concerned her questions may be misinterpreted as interest which, as people later assured her, “he looked too young for her. Must be around twenty-five and here she was around forty” (Hurston 100). This age gap drove much of the gossip and some legitimate fears in the town, as well, that the reputable Mrs. Starks would end up deceived and penniless by a no-good, common man. These fears seen both in literature and in real life are based on theories about age gaps and their societal implications. Many people believe the larger the age gap, the less stable the marriage will be (Drefahl 314). However, this thought is more prevalent when the woman is the older of the two individuals because “men are generally less penalized for aging than women” (Drefahl 315). When applying these theories to Their Eyes Were Watching God, one can see this holds true. Joe is envied and applauded for winning such a young and beautiful woman. Tea Cake, however, is accused of depraved motives such as stealing all of Janie’s wealth, despite the fact that he never asks for a dime. Therefore, the age between Janie and her husbands plays a significant role in the perception of the legitimacy of her marriages to the public. Ironically, her opinions regarding the success of her marriages contradict the conclusions of the onlookers who base their perceptions of healthy marriages on the dominance of respectable