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Their Eyes Were Watching God: Voice Analysis

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“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches” (Fitzgerald, 6). Life is a mirage of ups and downs and often the extent of these circumstances relies on reactions presented when the situation occurs. The use of voice can often completely change the outcome of an event. However, when one uses their voice depends on not only the internal confidence but also external factors that can influence the decision for the use of voice. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston, depicts how the nature of a relationship can determine the limits that are places on the voice, through Janie’s relations with Nanny, Joe, and Teacake. Janie was raised by her grandmother who she called Nanny. Nanny had raised Janie as a parental figure until she was married off. Nanny encourage Janie to be herself by not distinguishing at an early age the difference between blacks and whites. Janie found out that she was black when a picture was taken and she did not recognize herself. …show more content…

When they first met, Teacaks suggested to play chess with Janie. This was a big turning point for Janie and her feeling towards Teacake. She felt that “somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it was natural for her to play. That was even nice. 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). He gave her a life that she was proud of herself a life that “she called in her soul to come and see.

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Tea Cake asks Janie to work on the field. However, Tea Cake’s intentions differed from Janie’s previous husbands because he wanted Janie to work with him so that he can spend some more time with her. He always missed her when they were apart. 3. “Only here, she could listen and laugh and even talk some herself if she wanted to.

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- Zora Neale Hurston, born January 7th, 1891, was an African-American author, widely known for her classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Being raised in Eatonville, Florida, the first black township of the United States, Hurston was indulged in black culture at a very early age. Zora was described to have a fiery, yet bubbly spirit, befriending very influential people, one being American poet, Langston Hughes. With heavy influence from her hometown, along with the achievement of the black women around her, an abundance of motivation came when Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel promotes black power, all while rejecting the stereotypes held against women.

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Janie’s skin color is lighter than most of the people in the book. Her mother was half white and half black and was raped by a caucasian man which created Janie. Janie had light skin, her light skin gave her many advantages such as more opportunities, people treating Janie kindly and also being more respected. Janie was treated differently by most of the people in her life such as Mrs. Turner. Mrs. Turner is a light skinned woman that was married to a dark skinned man.

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They had the kind of love that she had longed to have her whole life. One day Tea Cake had rescued Janie from a mad dog and was bitten instead. There were no effects for a few months, but when the rabies hit him, it was unbearable. Eventually it got so bad that Tea Cake tried to kill Janie. He didn’t do this out of hate for her but because of the mad dog that was within him.

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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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Next, Janie continues on her determined journey for love when she goes off to marry Tea Cake. In the quote,

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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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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses multiple voices throughout the story to show all the parts that come together to fully understand Janie’s story. It seems important to acknowledge that there are two narrators: Janie and the anonymous speaker that helps Janie tell her story. Although Janie is the main narrator, the anonymous narrator speaks every now and then about Janie. The main example is at the very beginning of the story when the anonymous narrator is telling of Janie walking back into Eatonville and describing the scene.

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In the first instance, Tea Cake is alive and physically sleeping beside Janie. However, at the end of the story, after Tea Cake has died, Janie’s adoring and loving memories of Tea Cake continue to live on and that in itself is enough to make her feel at ease. By paralleling Janie’s soul in these two moments, Hurston highlights the

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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.

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Thus it is still possible to see Tea Cake as having a degree of control over Janie until the moment of his death. In each of her relationships, we watch Janie lose parts of herself under the forces of male domination. The men are not the only characters who see the traditional take on gender relations, where the men are dominant, and the women are obedient, as necessary and

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She found the happiness that her two other marriages lacked. Jealousy and caring sets in during this chapter. Janie truly misses and cares about Tea Cake when he is gone for a long time. Janie turns to God and prays saying, “Ah been so lonesome, and Ah been waitin’, Jesus.

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With each marriage, Janie grows more self-aware and realizes what her true desires are. She wants to be with a man who makes her happy, but also treats her with the respect and dignity she deserves. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s independence grows as she yearns for true love through her three marriages. Janie’s willingness to do what others ask, leads to her being pressured into marriage at sixteen years old by her grandmother.

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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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