Their Eyes Were Watching God Psychoanalytic Lens

I based my piece from the many references of the psychoanalytic lens in the article “The Compelling Ambivalence of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God” by William Ramsey. In my piece, the silhouette of the couple standing on the shore represents Zora Hurston, drawn with her infamous slanted hat and parts of her hair showing from a back view, and Arthur Price holding her hand. I also wanted to draw Hurston to represent Janie and Price to represent Tea Cake using the psychoanalytic lens. The clear divide drawn in my piece represents the difference in dreams Hurston and Price have, as do Janie and Tea Cake. In the article “The Compelling Ambivalence of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Ramsey frequently references the connection from Hurston’s personal life to the plot of Their Eyes Were

For example, Ramsey writes that “Latently, in Janie’s love of Tea Cake are the same seeds of contradiction that Hurston describes in her love of Arthur Price” (43). In reality, Hurston was a bright woman with dreams to become an “independent career woman” as Ramsey writes (43). In contrast, Price wanted her to be a supporting wife instead. Moreover, the side Hurston is standing on is visibly brighter than Price’s side, and the contrast is a parallel to how their dreams clashed with each other, as did Janie’s and Tea Cake’s dreams. To start, on the left side where Hurston is standing, I chose to use lighter and lively colors such as the bright green and light blue to represent Hurston and Janie’s attainable dreams. The colors are clear and easy on the eyes while the right side where Price is standing is visibly much darker and creates a sense of uncertainty and mystery. This sharp contrast between light and dark colors can also be applied to day to day events as well. For example,