Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses odd names. Each name serves its purpose. Hurston uses name such as: Logan Killicks, Jody (Joe) Starks, and Tea Cake. In Chapter 4, Janie and Logan had had a verbal fight.
Janie does this for her Nanna, not herself. The idea of a perfect marriage, often represented by a pear tree, grows in Janie’s heart and mind. Her marriage to Logan kills this dream. “My first dream was dead, so I became a woman.” This is the first major sacrifice Janie makes.
(Hurston 24). Logan does not show any love for Janie. Janie’s unhappiness taught her that love can not be forced upon anyone. Joe prevails as the first man to show, Janie attention and affection. Both, Janie and Joe run off to Eatonville to start a life together.
Life is full of challenges and learning experiences, everything we go through makes us stronger and better people. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie fumbles through three complex marriages that provide protection, stability, and love and happiness. After trial and error she realizes that she must think about herself by applying what she has learned from her relationships and cherishing her values. she is involved with three men who were all but perfect. The similarities and differences in Janie’s three spouses Mr. Killicks, Jody, and Tea Cake suggest that relationships present challenges which you can learn to overcome the complexities of marriage ultimately improving the quality of your
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”
In the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God, adapted from the novel authored by one Zora Hurston, Hurston utilizes the character Joe Starks to demonstrate the social issues such as domestic abuse and objectification of African American women of this time. Starks is a man that had been stripped of the possibility of power his entire life. Being a well of African American, starks had an understanding of wealth but subsequently craved the power typically associated with it. As mayor elect of the town Eatonville—starks utilized his newfound power to the fullest. However, with the town at his mercy Starks began to reveal his arrogance, impertinence, anger, jealousy and his constant objectification of women.
Toni Morrison’s A Mercy portrays a young slave, Florens, struggles with her past as well as her life as a slave. Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God shows a woman, Janie, who struggles through various relationships in her life, but in the end, they help her find her freedom and individualism. Both stories have different story lines, but upon a closer look, it is easy to see that Florens and Janie have common factors in their lives; which includes, both characters are isolated by others, both characters want to love someone, both character’s guardians make decisions for them that they do not understand which causes conflict, and finally, both characters commit difficult actions which ends up changing their lives.
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.
Janie hated Logan with a passion from deep inside her heart. The marriage between Janie and Logan was the worst out of Janie’s three marriages. On the bright side of this relationship was that Janie had the security
Differences are what make people interesting. Different religions, cultures, and beliefs affect everyone and are interesting to see. However, sometimes these differences cause people to be persecuted. Prejudices threaten the cultural diversity that make the world such an interesting place. In Zora Neal Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character, Janie is ostracized from her community because of the color of her skin.
The gender roles that Janie experiences ultimately prove to be the downfall of her first two marriages. Her relationships become rocky as she begins to chafe under the pressure of satisfying the men’s expectations. Unfortunately, these two marriages were likely not the only ones to perish during the same time period for the same reasons.
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.
Despite its profound position, the novel Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston has been challenged of its place in high school student’s education by parents and educational groups. Their main argument implied that the novel contained sexual explicitness, obscenity, racial remarks and vulgar reasons. However, Their Eyes were Watching God should contain its place in the high school English curriculum because of two reasons: its significance in American History and the moral of love and self-expression. First, this book withholds too many important factors in American history to be left out. Hurston uses various examples in order to express the hardships of
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God the author, Zora Neale Hurston, utilizes the motifs of the horizon and the road to symbolize the theme that a big part of achieving your dreams is the journey you choose to take to get there. Hurston uses these motifs to try and convey her message that without traveling on the right road you will never reach your horizon. If you do not focus on the journey you may never reach your dreams. Early in the novel Hurston uses the horizon motif to show that men have more unrealistic dreams and horizons, thus never reaching them because they never focus on the journey they take to get there.
“I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want”-Muhammad Ali (brainyquotes). In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie's growth from a young girl without an identity, not knowing her own race, to a woman strong enough to return to her hometown of Eatonville allows her to discover who she is and how she has the power to change her own life. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God shows that the only way to achieve fulfillment is to ignore society's control and concentrate on one's own desires, while avoiding selfishness. This is revealed as Janie moves through abusive relationships to one which finally allows her room for her own thoughts and
