ipl-logo

Their Eyes Were Watching God Human Experience Essay

1049 Words5 Pages

Mara Rodgers
Mrs. Cross
American Lit and Comp
17th March 2023
The Human Experience
In Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God she uses human life/experience to demonstrate how human pursuits can't stop the forces of nature. Hurston uses Janie’s character to not only break societal norms but to support her message about the human experience through Janie’s complicated story. In spite of challenging relationships, Jaine learns to not only find her voice but also the ability to shape her own life which eventually provides her the ability to discover her freedom throughout Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Jaine’s first relationships in life are with Nanny and Logan which turn to suffocating and suppressing, therefore, causing …show more content…

Janie is so fed up she finally says, ‘Ah knowed you wasn’t gointuh lissen tuh me. You changes everything but nothin’ don’t change you-not even death.But Ah ain’t goin’ outa here and Ah ain’t gointuh hush. Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo’ you die. Have yo’ way all yo’ life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let yo’ self heah ‘bout it. Listen, Jody, you ain’t de Jody ah run off down de road wid. You’se whut’s left after he died. Ah run off tuh keep the house wid you in uh wonderful way. But you wasn’t satisfied wid me de way Ah was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh ne squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me”’(Hurston 86). Although Joe’s fake persona was transient Janie was scared of becoming independent, therefore, when she knew she had no reason to be afraid anymore she was brazen and let the years of resentment and apprehension fuel her words. Janie was relieved when Joe died it gave her freedom and the ability to be her “She went over to the dresser and looked hard at her skin and features. The young girl was gone, but a handsome women 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 87). Joe found her to be an affront, so he made her hide her hair and slowly suppressed everything that made her …show more content…

Tea Cake from the first time they met taught her and supported her through new things: “He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points. Those full, lazy eyes with the lashes curling sharply away like drawn scimitars” (Hurston 96). Janie was bewildered by the thought that someone wanted to teach her or that someone even wanted her to play. Janie spent years of her life being put down and degraded. This demonstrates that not only she gets more confident in her voice but it also expands. Even knowing Tea Cake for a short amount of time he begins to leave his mark on

Show More
Related

Similarities Between The Great Gatsby And Their Eyes Were Watching God

866 Words | 4 Pages

Jody was the odd man out in this case, he wanted money and power and to live a “perfect” life. The similarities they have together is with Gatsby and Tea Cake they just wanted to live a nice life with the ones they love, and Gatsby and Jody both wanted a “perfect” life with their loved ones. Jody and Tea Cake both wanted Janie but also money. Jody, Tea

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie's Identity

1067 Words | 5 Pages

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, a strong, empathetic woman, explores many different interpersonal relationships and has experiences specific to her identity as a black woman. Throughout the story she is oppressed and is forced to silence herself after being silenced by her husbands, Nanny, and the townspeople. Janie is first controlled by her grandmother, Nanny, when Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks, a much older man. Janie is placed under Logan’s authority until a seemingly ideal man named Joe Starks comes into Janie’s life with promises of a better future. After marrying Joe, however, Janie realizes that he is not all that he claims to be and is forced, once again, to be oppressed and silence

Read More

Similarities Between Sweat And Their Eyes Were Watching God

1043 Words | 5 Pages

Jody exhibits towards Janie, forcing her to wear a head rag and covering an essential feature that contributes to her self expression. Then, as well as Jody's constant demand for perfection, when he “gits on [Janie] ever now and then when she make a little mistakes round de store”, the townspeople present the inequality of power dynamics in Janie’s relationship (Eyes 49). Janie is depicted as a weak and obedient follower rather than her own person with thoughts. Through their inputs, Hurston entails the heavy baggage the protagonist shoulders from their treatment received in the relationship. By including others'

Read More

Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God

884 Words | 4 Pages

Janie tries to forget the chance to give a speech being taken, “but it wasn’t too easy. She had never thought of making a speech and didn’t know if she cared to make one at all. It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance”(Hurston 43). Hurston uses Janie’s negative reaction of being deprived a chance to express herself to show her support of the value of self expression. Janie’s feeling sad when not being able to express herself shows she truly values the ideas of self expression.

Read More

Janie's Inward Struggle In 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'?

660 Words | 3 Pages

Hurston describes Janie’s quest to finding love and to recovering herself, though

Read More

Literary Analysis Their Eyes Were Watching God

322 Words | 2 Pages

Literary Analysis The Quest for Independence Has one ever wonder what makes the world’s greatest novels so hard to put down? The ones that make one gasp aloud and bite one’s nails frantically; great novels that leave you on the edge of your seat, like, Romeo and Juliet, The Notebook, and even the Titanic. In each of these novels, they display a story of, the search for independence. In the novel, by Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God the protagonist, Janie Woods, begins her search for independence through three marriages and a life marked by poverty, trails and purpose.

Read More

Essay On Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

1490 Words | 6 Pages

Though Janie faces loss multiple times through the deaths of these people that she loves dearly, she gains qualities in herself which she can use later in her life. In her first relationship with Joe, Janie is continually oppressed in terms of when she’s allowed to speak and how she controls her own appearance but this oppression only works to shape her personality into one that can speak back and be more assertive in front of anyone. By having to be in a situation where she has to choose whether to shoot Tea Cake, she becomes more resilient and proactive. Only through the loss of youthfulness and two loved ones is Janie able to truly discover who she, conveying Hurston’s larger message that self-discovery is fueled through loss and

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Identity Essay

724 Words | 3 Pages

Finding her identity was a very difficult and powerful process and Janie is deemed as a strong independent woman because of it. Janie shows this when the novel states that “She was looking for the kiss of life. She was searching for something that was inside herself, and always had been” (Hurston 9). This proves Janie’s quest to find herself and who she is because she knows she has a purpose and that her life has meaning. Janie’s determination shows how she’s trying to fight the expectations for her and doesn’t want to die just being a normal woman.

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Research Paper

682 Words | 3 Pages

On his deathbed, Janie expressed to him her true emotions and

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Development

1199 Words | 5 Pages

Janie allowed her voice to be controlled by her lust in her relationship with Joe causing her to be unable to express her opinions to him. She let everything he did to her pass, “ no matter what Jody did, she did nothing” (76). She hopes

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Symbolism

1326 Words | 6 Pages

At the beginning of the story, Janie always wants to discover the outside world and has an ambitious attitude towards chasing her goals in life, and she often would “search as much of the world as she could”(11), showing how curious and confident Janie is to put herself out there. Additionally, enthusiastic and lively attributes are embodied by Janie’s character at first, as well as her aspirations because she has “glossy leaves and bursting buds”(11), wanting to achieve the chance to live life. Lastly, before Janie met Joe, she was happy and eager to get out and know the outside world and often “looked up the road towards way off”(25), longing for the adventure of that long road and not feeling discouraged or controlled to stay in one place. Although Janie was free and optimistic at first, when Joe came into the picture that attitude changed as he was restraining and controlling over Janie. With Joe wanting to be a big voice it ended up restraining Janie to just staying in the market place and having no value, which further lead her to putting “up a drape over her dreams”(72), showing how shattered and invaluable she felt in the position Joe gave her, not even

Read More

Liberation In Zora Neale Hurston's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'

1584 Words | 7 Pages

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.

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Voice Analysis

711 Words | 3 Pages

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses multiple voices throughout the story to show all the parts that come together to fully understand Janie’s story. It seems important to acknowledge that there are two narrators: Janie and the anonymous speaker that helps Janie tell her story. Although Janie is the main narrator, the anonymous narrator speaks every now and then about Janie. The main example is at the very beginning of the story when the anonymous narrator is telling of Janie walking back into Eatonville and describing the scene.

Read More

Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie's Dream

774 Words | 4 Pages

Jody’s image of Janie changes her into someone who she is not, submissive and non independent. Again, Janie’s marriage was not made in love and she was trapped. Unlike Logan, Janie puts up with Jody for 20 miserable years before she is finally freed by his death. To Janie, Jody’s death is an eye-opener. Janie is no longer going to settle for less than what

Read More

Janie's Self-Discovery

530 Words | 3 Pages

Jody controlled major aspects of Janie’s life, such as her appearance, when he forces her to keep her hair up. Janie does not like that Jody feels the need to control her: “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it... that was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was” (Hurston 55).

Read More

More about Their Eyes Were Watching God Human Experience Essay

Related Topics

Open Document