Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay

Written by Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, follows a young woman named Janie Crawford and her coming of age story. The novel is introduced with Janie returning back to Eatonville after the passing of her husband Tea Cake. In the opening scene, Janie opens up to her friend Pheoby and tells her how things have been since she had left with Tea cake two years ago. However, Phoebe doesn't understand the story Janie is trying to tell her because she incorporates events from when her grandmother was around thus confusing her friend. Therefore, the opening scene is actually the closing scene, which leads to a flashback that eventually encompasses the whole novel. At the age of 16, Janie was sitting outside under a pear tree when she witnesses a revelation. Under the pear tree, she witnesses a bee pollinating the

Hurston’s usage of natural objects in the world, such as a pear tree, horizon, and hurricane, correlate with one another allowing the reader analyze the three different marriages that take place in various events Janie goes through in her life. From viewing the act of sex through pollination, a destination holding dreams, and o the eyes of death staring back at her, these symbols showcase a coming of age story. In the novel, a pear tree located outside of Nanny’s house becomes a symbol for Janie’s belief of love. In the beginning of the novel, Janie is intrigued by the blossoming flowers on the tree where she soon begins to spend her free time under. She is drawn to its transformation, which foreshadows a transformation that is yet to occur within herself. Hurston narrates, “ Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard...ever since the first tiny bloom had opened. It had called to come and gaze on a mystery” (Hurston