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Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Devices

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston composed a passionate story of a beautiful African American woman in the early 1900s. It embodies how life was for the women of color, and the struggles they faced. Hurston used literary devices to show the struggles Jaine had to go through to find her voice and the power within herself. In the relationship between her and her first two husbands, she struggled to figure out if marriage was really the equivalent of happiness. Not knowing what she needed in life she struggled to find the feeling she had always craved. 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 …show more content…

Because her and Tea Cake really loved each other Jaine was no longer afraid to speak out. She was no longer a trophy but worked alongside her husband. When she felt like she was being wronged by Tea Cake she didn’t think she just followed her feeling and called him out. (137) In that relationship, she would who she really was and found she no longer cared what people thought of her. Tea Cake loved her and that's all that mattered. Their Eyes Were Watching God doesn’t have the traditional happy ending. In the end, Tea Cake ended up going crazy with rabies and Janie kills him. But this had a purpose, Hurston did this to show the new found spirit Jaine had even after losing Tea Cake. In the end, she said “Of course he wasn’t dead. He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking,”(193) She was content with her life because it was her life, she lived it the way she wanted with Tea Cake and she didn’t need anyone for happiness anymore. She found

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Janie is furious and does not hesitate to share her rage with Tea Cake. This reaction of hers was different with her previous husbands because she was not expressive with her emotions. Instead, she remained silenced. Chapter Sixteen: 1. Mrs. Turner is racist towards the black community.

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Janie Crawford was influenced for better and for worse by many people throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. She was pushed towards comfort by Nanny, harder work by Logan, and a higher status by Joe. Mrs. Turner pushed Janie to look down on her own race and people. Finally, Janie’s dream of true love was fulfilled when she met Tea Cake. Although Nanny, Logan, Joe, and Mrs. Turner all had an influence on Janie, Tea Cake’s influence was the most significant because he allowed Janie to realize her dreams and led her to become a stronger individual; accomplishing both without infringing on her independence.

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Tea Cake was Jaine's first relationship where the connection between both individuals indeed did click despite the countless people who disapproved of the relationship. Hurston states, “She had wanted him to live so much and he was dead. No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep. Janie held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him wordlessly for giving her the chance for loving service. She had to hug him tight for soon he would be gone, and she had to tell him for the last time.

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With Tea Cake, she could be herself. He allowed her to be herself because he loved her the way she was and didn’t want to make her change to be something she wasn’t. Tea Cake encouraged Janie to be what she wanted and to follow her dreams and aspirations. Janie finally was able to find the bee to pollinate her pear blossom. She loved him with all her heart.

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses speech as a tool to show the progression of the story. Janie Crawford, the main character of the novel, finds her true identity and ability to control her voice through many hardships. When Janie’s grandmother dies she is married off, to be taken care of. In each marriage that follows, she learns what it is to be a woman with a will and a voice. Throughout the book, Janie finds herself struggling against intimidating men who attempt to victimize her into a powerless role.

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie suffers from hardship in two relationships before she can find her true love. Janie explains to her best friend, Pheoby, how she searches for love. Therefore Pheoby wants to hear the true story, rather than listening to the porch sitters. Throughout the book Janie experiences different types of love with three different men; Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods. At 16 Janie marries Logan Killicks.

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“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.

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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”

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Tea Cake is everything that Janie was searching for and broadens Janies horizons. The Harlem Renaissance gave African Americans opportunities that they did not have before and Janies experience with Tea Cake is an allusion to the time period.

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Just before the shouting match, they both fought physically. This just demonstrates further the level of seriousness and emotion in the environment. Jealousy of such an extreme level can lead to bad endings, such as described earlier with jealousy being, “the leading driver of homicide of romantic partners.” However, with all looking bad, Tea Cake and Janie did find a way to sort it out. The key to this turn around is with the passage stating, “Tea Cake never let go.”

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The love Tea Cake gives and accepts from her allows for her once divided selves that sought affection become unified, blossoming within her a passion that shines for her

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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.

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She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (96). Teacake respected her and allowed her to join him in wherever she wanted. He showed his love to her and gave her the respect that she deserved. He showed her that using her voice and being herself could make life much better. When Teacake died, Janie was distraught and she thought, “ He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking” (193).

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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

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston wrote in a way that conveyed a message through her characters, using a storytelling "frame" to express her ideas. Hurston did not stop by means to get her point across. Hurston uses Janie’s thoughts and actions to represents how during Reconstruction, African Americans were trying to find their identities and achieve their dreams of independence. At the start of the novel Hurston begins to illustrate how African Americans in Eatonville feel about their lives.

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