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Their Eyes Were Watching God Gender Essay

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Gabi Cruz Mr. Labrie IB English HL 10 May 2024 Janie’s Violation of Typical Gender Boundaries in Their Eyes Were Watching God In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s violation of typical gender boundaries is illustrated through the underlying theme of love and relationships versus independence, the symbolism of her hair and the motif of community. In their twentieth year of marriage, Jody begins to notice fundamental differences in the way time has treated Janie versus himself. Janie’s looks have changed minimally as he has become an old, tired man. Feeling his masculinity and superiority threatened, he consistently ridicules Janie’s body in front of others to keep the public eye off himself, eventually pushing …show more content…

Throughout their entire marriage, Janie submitted to Jody and tried her best to become his version of a perfect wife. Her inherent romanticism and belief that love is sacrifice sunk her deep within the confines of Jody’s manipulation. By fighting back, Janie defeated her internalized sexist belief that women are incapable of intelligent thought, a perception Jody impressed upon her. This integral shift in Janie’s perception of herself poses a significant threat to Jody and the men of Eatonville as she realizes love is not simply sacrifice, but reciprocal sacrifice in the name of love. Physically, she signifies this change the day of Jody’s death, as “Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house the next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist. That was the only change people saw in her” (89). Out of all the men seeking to own Janie, illustrated by the way one of them stroked her hair without her noticing, Jody asserted his dominance and control by forcing her to hide her hair under a rag. He views Janie’s hair as a possession only he is allowed to see and touch, dehumanizing Janie by equating an aspect of her body to that of an object to be

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston acknowledges the idea of sexism when she addresses that Janie Starks, the protagonist, never got to fulfill her dreams. Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, wanted the best for her granddaughter so she married her off to a man named Logan Killicks, a man who had a small farm and good wealth “Janie and Logan got married in Nanny’s parlor of a Saturday evening with three cakes and big platters of fried rabbit and chicken,” (Hurston 3). Years has passed within the marriage and Janie never found love for Logan. Logan comparing her to his ex-wife, discriminated Janie’s place of position, “Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grab dat ax and sling chips lak

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Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Janie’s use of language is limited by the men in her life, but as we go through the story, we see that she begins to express herself more openly through the use of language. Maria J. Racine’s criticism points out that Janie’s voice grows stronger with her relationships. The languages used by the women and men and Janie have big differences in how they see life, power, and their own identities. Furthermore, Racine’s criticism of the book tells us how the men in Janie’s life have controlled her through the use of voice or language.

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Nirvan Pandya Mr. Farnsworth English 11 Honors February 9th, 2023 The Progression and Fight for Feminism in Their Eyes Were Watching God In American literature, works of the 20th century are likely to be based on the progression of rights and freedom for minorities. Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, is a feminist novel analyzed by many critics, depicting the development of the protagonist, Janie May Crawford. Janie is a biracial woman who spent most of her life subdued by towering masculinity up until her third marriage.

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(Hurston 55). By using phrases such as “set on it” and capitalizing words such as “not,” Hurston emphasizes the fact that Joe was not going to change his decision or let Janie violate it under any circumstances. Not only does Janie not have the courage to speak up about her discomfort with the head rag, but Joe never gives her the chance to do so either. It is paramount to note that Joe is the person of power in the relationship between himself and Janie because of his role as mayor of the town and his assertion of this role throughout their relationship. Though this shouldn’t matter in terms of their relationship, Joe continually characterizes Janie as being “the mayor’s wife,” giving Janie no opportunity to express the way she feels, in private or public.

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In the Novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, author Zora Neale Hurston uses themes of identity and challenging traditional roles to reflect ideas of the Harlem Renaissance. The novel follows the life of Janie, a black woman who finds her way through the challenges of life independently for the most part. Janie finds herself in a society that is portrayed as men lead the world. She challenges these stereotypes by becoming a strong and independent woman.

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“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston wrote this book because she was writing about the Harlem Renaissance. I disagree on it being a Harlem Renaissance and more like a feminist modern book. For it to be a Harlem Renaissance, it should have all of the components, but it doesn’t have all of them. The book only has self-determination and destroys old racial stereotypes.

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Their Eyes were watching God In the book Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, there are many different elements and essential questions used in the novel. In the novel of essential elements is about the idea of family and power, and that is discussed throughout the book. The book tell what role that each character effect the main character Janie, and the plot of the book itself. Then also the book tells about gender roles, such as the relationship between Jody and Janie, and how Janie uses Jody to take her places, but Jody uses her as a person to control.

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Conclusion Their Eyes Were Watching God is Hurston’s document to explain the impact of the history which is represented by the legacy of slavery on the present dilemma of her female protagonist Janie. As Janie’s grandmother was abused physically and exploited sexually and her mother was also raped ,Janie develops her past history within the era of post- Emancipation and attempt to find the real concept of her identity and self-fulfilment. Janie tries to put an end to the African –American women’s thoughts which are influenced by the white culture.

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After catching Janie kissing a random boy out by their gate she tells Janie that she was stupid to do that and that she didn't work hard raising her right for Janie to go off with some random boy. This conflict stems from generations of rape in their family. Janie's grandmother was raped and impregnated by her master before escaping slavery and after escaping she sends her daughter to school to try to give her a better life only for her daughter to be raped and impregnated by a white school teacher. These instances make her grandmother hate men and be wary of their intentions so when she saw Janie kissing a boy for the first time those insecurities were made present and she tries instilling the same fear into Janie. These events also contribute to her diminishing Janie's dreams of finding true love.

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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.

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So then, this instilled in Janie that what was expected of her in life was to be a wife first and a human second. The stark degrading of Janie done by all of Janie’s romantic partners portrays the lengths they will go to push their insecurities onto her. Often, this degrading was the result of jealousy, “That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all for now. She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others” (31).

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston develops a contrast between the male and female genders of the time period of the story, and the male and female gender of today. Hurston wrote this novel in or about a time when women were considered simple-minded , women were disempowered by the empowered man in the relationship, and women can only gain power through marriage. But when Janie kisses Johnny Taylor, her view of men changes after seeing “a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; 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. So this was a marriage!

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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.

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, struggles to accomplish her dreams and establish herself for who she is. This dream is constantly changing as Janie matures, meeting new people and learning from her experiences. In addition, Hurston creates a clear division between men and women that is seen and developed throughout the novel. This theme of gender impacts how power is held and the associations between characters. Many women are silenced by their husbands and cannot be themselves.

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