ipl-logo

Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

697 Words3 Pages

Porch. A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. This inanimate object served to develop various themes throughout the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She reveals the theme of jealousy and envy, gender inequality and a sense of community with the help of the porch. When Janie first arrives to the town, she is greeted by envious glares and cruel remarks from the porch sitters. “Seeing [Janie] as she was” made them remember the “envy they had stored up from other times.” Their jealousy ate them them through till they couldn’t take it any longer. They made “burning statements with questions, and killing tools out of laughs. It was mass cruelty. A mood come alive. Words walking without masters; …show more content…

Women are confined to single roles and are expected to be submissive and respectful. When Joe married Janie, he forced her into a role of subservience. Hurston indicates that Joe attempted to mold Janie into what white women do on a daily basis which is to “sit on their high stools on the porches of their house and relax.” Doing this, Joe believes he is granting his wife all the wishes she ever wanted while neglecting the fact that Janie takes pleasure in the simple things in life like chatting, laughing, fishing and dancing. “Janie [especially] loved the conversation[s]” that took place on the porch and sometimes “she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge” because he didn’t want her to talk after those “trashy people” (Page 104). The porch also gives a clear vision of the how segregation in this town of Eatonville. Men sat around on the porch and played games but women were not allowed to participate in these activities because it lacked “class.” However, clearly not all men are alike so when Tea Cake came along, Janie felt the freedom she never experienced in her past relationships. Even before meeting Tea Cake, the death of Joe exonerated Janie from the shackles that were placed on her individuality and "[she] did what she had never done before, that is, thrust herself into the conversation." (Page

Show More
Related
293 Words | 2 Pages

She expected to obey for her husband like others. “He ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store” reveals that she did everything to his happiness not for her. Even though she is a wife of a mayor, she didn’t get any privilege rather she lost her social relationship with other people. She lived under the dominance of her husband

Read More
1109 Words | 5 Pages

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s flaws about love continuously brought her to the same ending with all of her husbands, no matter how long the marriage lasted. In The Odyssey, Calypso was trapped on an island to fall in love with men who washed ashore. The fatality of her faults was her over affection and her need for love while being so alone on her island, Ogygia. Their weaknesses are exact opposites, specifically in their relationships with men. The flaws are role in relationship, attachment to men, and lastly, their submissiveness to men.

Read More
984 Words | 4 Pages

Then after finding Tea Cake she uncovers the power within herself to fight for what she wants. As a young girl in the early 1900s Janie, even from a young age, had expectations for what her life was supposed to look like. She was beautiful, with long hair that most didn’t have, and because she was raised by a grandmother who grew up in slavery, was expected to use

Read More
584 Words | 3 Pages

The black culture is very diverse in different parts of the world-even in different parts of the state. Janie as moved throughout Florida to places such as West Florida, Eatonville, and the Everglades. Residing in these different places helps develop and define the character of Janie. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experiences many variations of black culture that helps build her character as she travels through Florida.

Read More
1726 Words | 7 Pages

During this time period, men were seen as a really powerful figure, they were expected to have full control over their wives and daughters only because they were females. Joe Starks didn’t fully have the mentality of giving orders to Janie at first, but he slowly began acquiring it as time went by. Once, Joe ‘’order[es] Janie to tie up her hair [whenever she is] around the store’’(Hurston 55). Her hair is being used to represent the power and confidence she had been born with, and Joe ordering for her to ‘’NOT show it in [public]’’ (Hurston 55) is a symbol that highlights how Joe doesn’t want her to show how powerful, independent, beautiful, and confident she can be.

Read More
722 Words | 3 Pages

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston. The novel portrays Janie, a middle aged black woman who tells her friend Pheoby Watson what has happened to her husband Tea Cake and her adventure. The resulting telling of her story portrays most of the novel. Throughout the novel, Zora Neale Hurston presents the theme of love, or being in a relationship versus freedom and independence, that being in a relationship may hinder one’s freedom and independence. Janie loves to be outgoing and to be able to do what she wants, but throughout the book the relationships that she is in with Logan,Jody and Tea Cake, does not allow her to do that.

Read More
1657 Words | 7 Pages

The “Rock Pile” by James Baldwin and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston are two stories that examined black male resistance to emasculation. The men in these stories lived in patriarchal societies, and they reaped the benefits of a structure that favored men. In both of these stories, the male characters are dominant figures in their households, and when they felt like their manhood was being attacked, they retaliate viciously. In “Their eyes were watching god”

Read More
876 Words | 4 Pages

Setting Analysis Their Eyes Were Watching God is a romantic novel written by Zora Neal Hurston. This book is set in the early 1900s in West Florida. During this time period, racism and segregation are prominent parts of daily life. The slave culture of the southern United States had a profound effect on the book.

Read More
648 Words | 3 Pages

Farlow, Sarah Farlow1 Mrs. Allison Honors English III May 26, 2023 The Power Of Self Discovery By Sarah Farlow In Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God," the author skillfully combines themes of self-discovery and individuality through her vivid language, elaborate symbolism, and complex characterizations. Through these literary devices, Hurston develops and supports the overarching theme of the transformative power of self-discovery and the importance of embracing one's individuality. In this analytical essay, we will explore how Hurston's writing style and the various literary elements she applies work together to create an eye-opening narrative that entertains and informs readers about the importance

Read More
1171 Words | 5 Pages

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.

Read More
946 Words | 4 Pages

They sit on their porches judging Janie as she runs off with Tea Cake to go on picnics, fishing and hunting, all things she wasn’t able to do with Joe. The people of Eatonville believe Tea Cake is not good enough for Janie and think she is “too old for a boy like Tea Cake,” and can do better (3). Furthermore, they disapprove of the fact that it's only been nine months since Joe passed. These criticisms from the townspeople prove the idea that certain qualities are expected of women even when they are unmarried or widowed. Ultimately, this supports Nanny’s opinion of the stereotype for women and that they are the “mules” of society by Janie being criticized due to her “doin’ wrong” by marrying Tea Cake although she was widowed (2).

Read More
938 Words | 4 Pages

Despite its profound position, the novel Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston has been challenged of its place in high school student’s education by parents and educational groups. Their main argument implied that the novel contained sexual explicitness, obscenity, racial remarks and vulgar reasons. However, Their Eyes were Watching God should contain its place in the high school English curriculum because of two reasons: its significance in American History and the moral of love and self-expression. First, this book withholds too many important factors in American history to be left out. Hurston uses various examples in order to express the hardships of

Read More
619 Words | 3 Pages

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. (Hurston.1)” This represents the dreams of men, always in reach, never too far. “Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget.

Read More
750 Words | 3 Pages

Jody wanted Janie to know that women were less than men and that they don’t think for themselves, he almost compares women to animals, “Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves” (Hurston 180). Once he passed away, Janie took a more feminist stand in her life, she started doing more of what she wanted to do and how she wanted to do it. Letting her hair down is an important point in the novel because it shows strength, “Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging below her waist”

Read More
1012 Words | 5 Pages

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the long-lasting effects of slavery have taken a toll on Janie Crawford. Janie’s grandmother was raped by her master and had a child named Leafy. Leafy, although not born into slavery, endured a similar fate, which led her to run away, leaving her mother to raise her child, Janie. Janie’s appearance, showing strong European features, was both praised and shamed by society. This double standard was created by racism and was able to remain present due to segregation.

Read More

More about Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

Open Document