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Their Eyes Were Watching God Materialism Quotes

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Janie has realized that she hates her grandmother for raising her to value materialism and social status. Janie has always been searching for experiences and people to make her life valuable, and she states that “She had been getting ready for her great journey to the horizons in search of people; it was important to all the world that she should find them and they find her.” This quote displays the longing for people who made up value and joy in her life that Nanny never allowed and taught. Nanny shuts down any thought of exploration and self-development to thoroughly enjoy life, this includes new experiences and real relationships focused on love instead of practicality and protection. Janie’s longing for real relationships and experiences makes her aware that Janie ruined the previous chances she had to experience life and states “Here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon — for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you — and pinched it into such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her.” Nanny has taken the dreams and hopes for a fulfilling life and crushed them to force Janie down a path to for materialistic items and social status. …show more content…

Nanny’s obsession with materialistic items is not going unnoticed by Janie, and she notices that “she had been whipped like a cur dog, and run off down a back road after things. It is all according to the way you see things. Some people could look at a mudpuddle and see an ocean with ships. But Nanny belonged to that other kind that loved to deal in scraps.” In this passage, Janie finally had the realization that she had been trampled by thoughts of materialism and

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Janie has been through hard times, even as a young girl. She lived with her grandmother who took care of her because her mother ran off when she was young. It is because of her grandmother, who wants to be in control of Janie’s life and wants the best for her, that Janie ends up marrying a rich man and getting a good education. However, this is not what Janie really wants. Janie is more interested in happiness and love than being rich, high class, and educated.

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Elisa Ewing 4/17/24 Ms. Babb Rhet 2 How Was Joe Stark After Power? Joe Starks, who is often referred to as Jody, is Janie Woods's second husband in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Many times throughout the novel, you can see Joe’s search for power through others is stronger than everybody else in the novel. We can see how Joe seeks to gain power and control over Janie consistently throughout the novel.

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"People inspire you, or they drain you; pick them wisely" (Hans F. Hasen). These words are known by many but followed by few. Zora Neale Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, illustrates this with the primary character, Janie. She had three husbands: Joe Starks, Logan Killicks, and Tea Cake. Janie is held captive by these toxic relationships which are rife with greed, arrogance, and gaslighting.

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Because Nanny grew up with nothing, she valued financial and material values rather than the love Janie so desired. Up until Janie was about seventeen, Nanny did not imprint these values. Furthermore, when Nanny heard Janie’s conversations with the local boys, she scolded Janie, and immediately starts to set up plans for marriage. There is one key reason for this decision on Nanny’s part; she wanted to maintain respectability in order to keep Janie for turning into the social wreck her mother is. We can see here that Nanny is just trying to do what was best for Janie, although Janie does not realize this until after Nanny has passed away.

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Nanny’s portion of the novel shines a light on how Janie really views the world compared to her grandmothers. Ultimately Nanny wants Janie to be happy and well taken care of by any means necessary, regardless of how Janie feels. Nanny grew up while being in slavery and lived a hard, loveless life. She ended up getting pregnant with a white man, which to some degree helped her life and the life of her daughter better than it was before. Nanny believes that having the “ultimate life” is based off of status and what the man can bring to the table and provide for her, not solely from mutual

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Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, forces Janie to marry a man she is not in love with out of convenience. Nanny does not want Janie to suffer the necessities of life, but Janie cares little about materials and seeks love. Nanny’s ideology haunts Janie for much of her life, influencing decisions she takes later in marriage. Huston says, “The memory of Nanny was still powerful and strong,” which shows how Janie conforms to the ideology her grandmother instilled in her. And although Janie conforms, she continues to question inwardly about love.

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Nanny is successfully able to convince her granddaughter through her own traumatic experiences and make her feel “sympathy” as she tells Janie she doesn’t want her life to be spoiled like her own life was. At first, Janie refuses to marry Logan Killicks. Nanny being the older one, defends herself by saying “put me down easy” since she can no longer care for Janie and only her wish is for Janie to get married and be protected from the dangers she and her own daughter faced. By calling herself a “cracked plate” Nanny further elucidates that she went through many hardships in her own life and wants to do the right thing for her granddaughter by

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He was a lad with big dreams to build a prosperous all black community. Janie admired his character and way of thinking. While Jody did give Janie more materialistic things than she could have hoped, her thoughts and opinions were always held back since Jody saw her more as a trophy wife, than an equal. At around 20 years into the marriage, Janie finally realized that Jody was nothing of what she had thought, “just something she had grabbed up to drape her dreams”(72). It is clear to state that Janie once again found her way back to where she is able to know what she wants.

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Put me down easy, Janie, Ah’m a cracked plate. " Nanny is beyond exhausted. She grew up during slavery, was raped and had to raise her child, Leafy, without a father. Nanny never got married because she was worried that Leafy would be trampled upon like she was. But, she still lost her child after living to see her be trampled upon the same way she was.

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Janie grows up shaped by the rules of the people and society. Never in her life is she free of expectations, opinions, and rumors. As a child, she is governed by her protective, often overbearing grandmother, Nanny, who did her best to give Janie her idea of the best future. When Janie angrily questioned her, Nanny defended her choices for Janie’s future, saying that she “‘can’t always be guidin’ yo’ feet from harm and danger… Don’t you set dere poutin’ wid me after all Ah done went through for you!’”

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We can still see this in today’s society; in which parents wants what is best for their child or children. Making certain sacrifices to aid their child or children to become both successful and to not experience the same negative experiences that they (Parents) might have had. There is often a disconnect between parental guidance and the path in which a child might want to take. In contrast, based on the era that this story took place women were not given autonomy of choice and this social construct was not accepted by Janie. Janie’s intrinsic

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