Symbolism In Their Eyes Were Watching God And Sweat, By Hurston

“Sometimes he strikes without rattling at all” (Sweat 7). Often men in Zora Neale Hurtston’s stories use their power to abuse their women for what appears to be no reason at all. Hurston wrote two pieces of literature, one being “Sweat '' a short story that follows Delia, who’s marriage is overrun by her abusive husband, Sykes. It takes place in the 1920’s and draws attention to the unfair treatment and discrimination women face. Their Eyes Were Watching God takes place in the early 20th century and looks into the protagonist, Janie's life, and how she found herself through her struggles with love. Janie also faced other racial discriminations and had to find her way through the world. Through both works, Hurston projects the idea of power.

Hurston displays the idea of power throughout both works using symbolism. In both stories the protagonists Janie and Delia were stuck in abusive relationships. In “Sweat '' Delia is married to Syke, who abuses her with physical violence. Hurston uses symbolism to convey the idea of the power dynamic between men and women. In one instance, Delia walked by the townspeople, who gossiped, “[Men] knows whut dey is doin’ while dey is at it, an’hate theirselves fuh it but they keeps on hangin’ after [women] tell she’s empty. Den dey hates huh fuh bein’ a cane-chew an’ in de way” (Sweat 3). Symbolism is utilized in the story to compare women to sugarcane, which is often chewed by men in a group. Hurston implements this in the story to give the readers a greater picture of how men treat women and the manipulation within their relationships.

Janie was married to Joe Starks who confined her in a box and wouldn’t let her speak her truth. Once Joe died Janie was able to let her hair down by, “[Burning] up every one of her head rags and [she] went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist.” (Their Eyes Were Watching God 89). This is important because the head rag represents Joe's power over her and takes away the free and wild Janie, by molding her into his vision of a perfect wife. Janie ignited the head rags indicating the growth she has, then later she let her hair down which represents her freedom and her determining her own life. Janie doesn’t conform to what she has been told to do after this sudden change in her life. This is also exemplified when Janie gets back from the muck and talks to Phoebe about what happened to her. Janie states, “De Grand Lodge, de big convention of livin’ is just where Ah been dis year and half y’all ain’t seen me” ( Their Eyes Were Watching God 6). This further presents the idea of Janie finding her own freedom by overcoming her past. Janie was muted by others but she has found herself with Tea Cake even when everyone in Eatonville judged her without knowing who or what she really was. When Janie was Mrs. Starks, she was shaped into someone else, but once she created a life on her own she