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Their Eyes Were Watching God Harlem Renaissance

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“The earth is the mother of all people, and all people should have equal rights upon it.” (Chief Joseph) The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural, artistic, and social movement of the African American people. Blacks united and grew as one, formed new arts and developed their own culture. Their eyes were watching god is a novel about a young black woman who struggles to find her individuality. Zora Neale Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God, reflects the Harlem Renaissance through Janie 's individuality, and departs from the Harlem Renaissance with the common recurrence of black woman empowerment. In the novel, Hurston reflects the ideas of the Harlem renaissance with the ways in which Janie rebels and goes against norms for women. …show more content…

When tea cake shows up janie 's feels something she has never felt before, she is set free but the townspeople don 't think so.“‘Ain’t you skeered he’s jes after yo’ money him bein’ younger than you?’” (Hurston pg.133)Janie is in love with Tea Cake because he loves her for her youthful young side that was forced into hiding for so long because of her previous husbands. However the rest of the community is discouraging her and trying to keep her in the image as a mayor 's wife. They told Janie that Tea Cake was after her money but she didn’t listen to them and she continued to be with tea cake going against what her community said, empowering herself. This is departing from the Harlem Renaissance because the townspeople are trying to restrict her, and the Renaissance is all about setting yourself free of restrictions.“Well, you know whut dey say ‘uh white man and uh nigger woman is de freest thing on earth.’ Dey do as deyplease” (Hurston 189).The quote within the book clearly shows the departure from the Harlem Renaissance during the Renaissance black people weren 't really equal and in this part of the book it is said that a black women is as free as a white man. The empowerment of black women wasn 't present in the Harlem Renaissance and in this novel it shows the empowerment of black women.Zora Neale Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God, departs from the Harlem Renaissance through the common recurrence of black women

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“It was generally assumed that she thought herself too good to work like the rest of the women and that Tea Cake “pomped her up tuh dat.” But all day long the romping and playing they carried on behind the boss’s back made her popular right away” (Hurston 157). Men on the field were surprised to see her pick of the basket to pick beans, but as time went on they grew fond of her and their opinions of her changed. TeaCake and Janie’s relationship is going so strong and so well, and Janie starts to reflect on her previous relationships and how they compare to hers with TeaCake. He makes dinner with her, respects her, and see’s her as equal to him, whereas the men in past relationships have not treated her, or seen her, like that.

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- Zora Neale Hurston, born January 7th, 1891, was an African-American author, widely known for her classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Being raised in Eatonville, Florida, the first black township of the United States, Hurston was indulged in black culture at a very early age. Zora was described to have a fiery, yet bubbly spirit, befriending very influential people, one being American poet, Langston Hughes. With heavy influence from her hometown, along with the achievement of the black women around her, an abundance of motivation came when Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel promotes black power, all while rejecting the stereotypes held against women.

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Then she meets Vergible Woods, an impoverished young gambler who goes by the name of Tea Cake with absolutely nothing to offer her. Nothing to offer that is except his respect, friendship, and love. The power dynamic between Janie and Tea Cake is unlike that in any of Janie’s previous relationships, instead of viewing her as an object or an animal he sees her as a person. Tea Cake’s respect for Janie is expressed in many different ways, for example, he cares about what she has to say, teaches her how to play checkers, and does not put her down in order to build himself up. However, Janie did not just fall for Tea Cake immediately, in fact, she initially drew back, scared that he was playing her for a fool or taking advantage of her.

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Race, Gender, and Social Norms In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston it focused on a woman named Janie who was on the quest of finding true love. Hurston made sure she included the realities of the era in which the book was written which is the 1900’s. Hurston made sure to include issues like race, gender, and social norms into Janie’s life and everything and everyone that was around her.

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Is it worth risking everything in order to be happy? In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman named Janie makes many challenging decisions in order to be happy. This novel takes place in the 1920’s which creates many obstacles that Janie must overcome in order to achieve happiness. There are many stereotypes and inequalities during this time that make life extremely difficult for Janie. Although Janie allows others to mistreat her at points throughout the novel, she is overall an excellent role model for young readers because she overcomes several stereotypes of African American females during this time period, and she makes many difficult decisions based solely on her own happiness.

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And, Hurston’s theme of writing is not direct, the plot is similar, a young woman is forced to marry an older widower. Hurston indicate Janie values in the novel: Their Eyes Are Watching God is joyless with her life, Hurston writes, “Ah ain’t got nothin’ tuh live for” (118). The change of the character growth represents how she has learned about life, including love, and sorrow. The author engage the reader attentions to overcoming fear can lead to harmony. Janie survival help understand that life is challenging , it is wonderful.

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The United States Constitution states that the country values liberty, life, and happiness for all of its citizens. These three values shape the ideal American experience. Most view it as living freely, where all men, women, and races are created equal, and where oppression of genders and races does not exist. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, however, Zora Neale Hurston challenges the traditional view of this experience by illustrating how gender roles and racism change it, manifesting that it is not close to what the average citizen goes through, especially if he or she is black.

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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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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 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.

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