Their Eyes Were Watching God Figurative Language

The Harlem Renaissance is widely considered the uprising of African American culture. The duration of this movement started in the 1920s and went on until the start of the Great Depression. This age reflected African Americans' talent to flourish through cultural, social, and artistic events. Zora Neale Hurston’s, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” reflects and departs ideas from the Harlem Renaissance to bring perspective to black womanhood in America. Through the character of Janie Crawford, Hurston explores the complexities of black femininity and identity, defying the male-dominated narratives at the time. The novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” by Zora Neale Hurston, reflects and departs from the Harlem Renaissance through its use of artistic

The author uses figurative language and imagery to bring her expressions to life. Throughout the novel, Hurston creatively expresses how women perceive love and marriage through the main character, Janie, and her experiences. A scene written in the novel describes Janie being introduced to womanhood and how it is she welcomes it. It is described as a pure welcoming when she was, “beneath the pear tree” simply enjoying her life as it is. The imagery and sensory language describe how, “the gold of the sun” and “the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight,” to represent womanhood as a discovery for Janie’s character (Hurston, Pg 11). Hurston applies artistic imagery to this scene in the novel to exhibit a woman's revelation of womanhood. This representation captivates the reader to immerse themselves into the perspective of Janie’s character. A popular motif found throughout the novel is the 'pear tree' that is used to depict Janie’s feelings towards love and marriage. The use of this

During the 1920s men held a more authoritative figure while women were still being discriminated against. Hurston departs from these ideas in the novel as she presents Janie as an independent, tough woman. With this, she takes on the role of challenging traditional gender roles through Janie’s character and the relationships she pursues throughout the novel. This challenge can be seen in Janie’s second marriage with Joe Starks, nicknamed ‘Jody,’ “She thought back and forth about what had happened in the making of a voice of a man…She went over to the dresser and looked hard at her skin and features. The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston, Pg 87). Through Janie’s second marriage, she felt as if her role as a woman was slowly rotting away due to her husband's controlling mannerisms. The relationship between the two is seen as a power struggle given Joe's strong beliefs on how a proper wife should act and be seen. In the entirety of their marriage, up until Joe’s death, his attitude demoralized and objectified Janie as a person- failing to treat her as an equal. Following her husband's death, Janie sought out her independence by slowly departing herself from the authority Joe left behind,