Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

One of the many goals all human beings have is discovering and appreciating who they are as a person. Some people discover and appreciate themselves as a teenager, for some people it’s in their young adult or adult years, and lastly some people figure out who they are in their later years in life. A book that clearly illustrates this concept is Their eyes were watching god written by Zora Neale Hurston. In the beginning of Their eyes were watching god, the main character Janie is a young African American woman who is in the process of trying to discover who she is and what she will accomplish in life. In the book, Janie suffers through three marriages in which she isn’t allowed to do what she wants to do, dress a certain way, or do anything she wants to do unless her husband at the time agrees with it. But, by the end of the book Janie, who suffered through three marriages discovers herself and

Janie starts by saying she wasa young girl being raised by her grandmother named Nanny in West Florida. She is raised by Nanny and not her mother Leafy because Leafy left Janie when she was very young after giving birth to Janie and becoming addicted to alcohol. Although Nanny raises Janie the best she can do and loves her, she is very strict with what she wants Janie to do in life. As a result of this, Nanny and Janie argue more as Janie gets older. One day, Nanny decides to make sure Janie has a better life than Leafy and she sets up an arranged marriage with a man named Logan who although is rich, is much older than Janie and she doesn’t want to marry him because of that. But Nanny doesn’t care about how Janie feelings and as a result, Janie and Logan are married. Although Logan treats Janie with respect, they don’t have a great marriage because Logan basically has Janie work on his farm all day and she isn’t allowed to do anything else or dress the way she wants