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Their Eyes were Watching God features Janie, the main character, narrating her life and her growth through the form of storytelling. The author masterfully crafts the piece so that Phoeby and the audience learn of Janie’s hardships and struggles and, as a result, the reader learns about the complications within the relationship between Janie and Joe that culminate into one single paragraph. In Their Eyes were Watching God, the author Zora Hurston uses a plethora of literary devices, including similes, metaphors, and personification, to help develop the main character Janie and on a larger, more universal scale, express the idea that male dominance over females is detrimental for women, as shown by the negative effects on Janie caused by Joe. First, Hurston uses personification to develop the main character Janie. When Hurston writes “The years took all the fight out of Janie’s face.
In the face of adversity, what causes some individuals to fail while others prevail? Many people face difficulties. Depending on the person’s strength some will get through tough times, but some will fail to overcome them. I have chosen two books: Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Book Thief. These two stories deal with people overcoming the difficulties they face throughout their life.
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.
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.
The black culture is very diverse in different parts of the world-even in different parts of the state. Janie as moved throughout Florida to places such as West Florida, Eatonville, and the Everglades. Residing in these different places helps develop and define the character of Janie. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experiences many variations of black culture that helps build her character as she travels through Florida.
Over the years the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston has received many literary reviews and critiques both. Some praise her for bringing up gender inequality in the time period and showing how the main protagonist overcame her obstacles in life. Others think Hurston's writing style was confusing and needed more work to establish what exactly she was trying to say. Many reviewers think there is beauty in what they see to be a strong story both with the morals and writing story. One author writes of the dialect,"In case there are readers who have a chronic laziness about dialect,it should be added that the dialect here is very easy to follow, and the images it carries are irresistible" ("The New York Times Book Review")
“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.
in their Eyes were watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, it's far difficult to see Janie or her interactions along with her community as feminist. whether or not Janie is living in Eatonville or the Everglades, her status as a black running class lady locates her on the very bottom of the social hierarchy. The guys objectify her, her lover beats her, her community misunderstands her, and she fails to withstand. however, if we examine the fragmented narration and Janie’s position as the major narrator, a special view emerges about woman employer. The narration switches between the first- and third-person angle, and those perspectives, each one by one and collectively, assist to assert Janie as a narrator with authority and organization.
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”
Her Story, Her Voice The unique story that is Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story of voices collected together to create one big voice. Hurston uses many characters’ voices to help Janie find her own, actual voice and tell her story by the end of the novel. The story by Zora Neale Hurston is a frame story which is a story within a story. Hurston, like many other authors, uses the frame narrative to help the story come full circle and create a sense that the reader is part of the story.
In order for a bildungsroman novel to be successful, it must recount the development of its protagonist from youth to maturity, and the pivotal moment in which that character recognizes his or her place in the world. In Zora Neale Hurtson’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, the quester, Janie, completes a spiritual and psychological quest in order to achieve maturity and self-actualization. Ironically, in this coming-of-age novel Janie is an adult character; however, she experiences many struggles of balance of power in her relationships that eventually lead her to a critical moment in her adult life when she finally blossoms into an independent woman. At the very beginning of Janie’s journey, most of the events that occurred in her life were
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.
Everyone has inner ideas that they wish to expresses, however are unable to put them into words. When people do try to convey their ideas, their dialogue may be misinterpreted. One reason for this is because when you talk to people, emotions take a role in your dialogue. Being unable to express your emotions is what leads to people assuming things in your dialogue, potentially misunderstanding you. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie has many thoughts in her “high” monologue which she expresses; however, was unable to be interpreted in her “low” dialogue because of emotions changing the tone of her speech; which in turn, causes an inability for her audience to comprehend her intentions.
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.
