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What Does Hair Symbolize In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Hair is such a hard topic when it comes to African Americans. In our culture, it symbolizes our identity of resistance, creative expression, and freedom. In the novel “Their Eyes were watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman named Janie Crawford and her journey toward self- discovery and independence. Janie’s hair is one of the symbols Hurston presents in the novel; this plays a significant role in depicting her strength and independence as a black woman in a male dominated society. Janie’s hair is first introduced as a symbol of her beauty and youth. Her hair is long and dark, she would wear it in a tight braid down her back (chapter 1). Her Nanny would tell her to keep it braided, she views this style safe and respectable …show more content…

Joe seen Janie as a trophy wife or someone he could show people off to, but Janie was taken by his charms and believed that he would be the one to give her the love she was looking for. She soon realized that it was nothing like that, “And one night he had caught Walter standing behind Janie and brushing the back of his hand back and forth across the loose end of her braid ever so lightly so as to enjoy the feel of it without Janie knowing what he was doing. Joe was at the back of the store and Walter didn’t see him. He felt like rushing forth with the meat knife and chopping off the offending hand. That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store” (Chapter 5). Joe realizes that Janie’s hair makes her sexually attractive to men, so to his knowledge Janie must cover her hair to claim that her sexuality belongs exclusively to him. Janie’s hair is not only as symbol of her beauty but also for her behavior for immodest attention. Later in the book Joe dies from a fatal liver failure, “Before she slept that night, she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist. That was the only change people saw in her. So, one of the things Janie does is uncover her hair then she burns her head rags and lets her hair

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When Joe instructed Janie to wear the head rag she didn't fight back. This reveals to us that Joe wants to confine Janie to

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After hearing her say this about him Joe slaps Janie, which isn’t something a good husband would do. This situation is what causes the marriage to really go downhill, and soonafter Joe gets sick and he dies, while still fighting with Janie and overall being a bad

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Joe then interjects and stops Janie, saying that she doesn’t know how to make speeches. In the text Joe says, “ “ (Hurston __). In this quote, you can see a classic example of subtle control. While Janie doesn’t notice it at first, it is clear that Joe is starting his way into taking control of Janie’s entire life. Another example of Joe Starks seeking control over Janie when she tries to participate in town activities and talk is when the porch gossipers outside of Joe’s store start talking about Matt Bonner's mule and Joe stops Janie from adding to the conversation.

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Even when Joe’s jealously forces her to wear a head rag, Janie refuses to rebel against his rule. Her conformity is representative of her distaste for dissension, which seems to outweigh her unhappiness with their relationship. Even after Joe’s death, she conforms to the townspeople’s ideas of wearing mourning black, despite the lack of love and desire she had for

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Jaine's hair can represent divergence and conformity to male dominated society, But also a symbol of her power and strenght and individuality. It can also represent her independence and boldness of the communities standards the hold to her. The people of the town find it improper that Janie decides to wear her hair down but her refusal to put her hair up clearly shows she has a rebellious spirit.  Her hair can be a symbol of masculine power and strength. Janie likes to wear her hair down or in a braid unlike how most women would wear their hair back like the men tell them to do.

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It’s been shown that Joe is very self-absorbent and only cares about his reputation. His superiority complex is what is ruining him and everything decent thing around him. Joe is constantly mixing around his values and turning them into something horrible. He is so worried about being perceived as a weak man that he puts all of that into making sure Janie is perfect, “But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store.

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Throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston utilizes a variety of symbolism and imagery related to the natural world to convey Janie’s complex desires for impeccable life experiences. Additionally, Hurston employs figurative language through nature sources to represent the satisfactory and traumatic experiences that have occurred throughout her lifetime, as well as the journey that she has completed in order to fulfill these experiences. Juxtaposition and similes are present throughout this novel, which further parallels Janie’s connection to the natural world, while additionally demonstrating the intellectual strength that she possesses. Since the early parts of the novel, the reader has been continually reminded of Janie’s

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(Hurston 91). Because her husband didn’t feel comfortable with her hair being down, she was forced to cover it up. No other women her age were made to do so, and Janie slowly began to realize that she truly wasn’t in control of her own life. However, once Joe died, she reclaimed her power and sense of self. The act of defying the people of the town made her feel a little like the rebellious young girl of her youth again.

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As time progresses, Janie and Joe’s relationship goes from arguably unloving to abusive. After Joe beats Janie for the first time, “She stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she knew that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams.

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“Their Eyes Were Watching God,” a novel written by African American author Zora Neale Hurston is a story about the life of an African American women, Janie, who has trouble finding a husband that she really loves. Looking through the analytical lense of race one major theme that is identified in the first half of the book is beauty. Janie is a beacon of beauty that radiates into every character’s eyes and men can’t help but drool over her. Throughout the story it seems that not one women or man is anywhere close to looking as good as Janie does.

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In addition, Janie’s hair is a symbol of her beauty and overall identity, but Joe forces her to tie it up in a rag because he is afraid that other men will be attracted to her beauty. This further oppresses Janie as it conceals the way Janie expresses her identity

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These actions gain the attention of the other residents in Eatonville. The men become jealous of his possession over Janie. This fuels Joe into taking even more control over her. Clearly, Janie was controlled by Joe because of his jealousy and insecurities; he made all her decisions for her. When another man started to touch Janie’s hair, Joe said, “Her hair was not going to show in the store” (55).

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The texture and appearance of her hair reflects her white father and grandfather. Janie’s hair represents her independence and power, because when Joe Starks forced her to keep her hair in a rag, it constrained her feminist and hides her true identity, like she wants to be accepted by the community for who she is and her husband’s commands are constricting her from that, her hair represents her relationships and attraction, because she is known for her long and beautify hair, as the porch can easily identify her for her long and beautiful

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This indicates that Jody is jealous and believes he should be the only one allowed to see her hair. Janie’s hair is a big symbol to this story not only to symbolize her beauty but it also shows how women are treated unfairly compared to a man in this society. Janie should be allowed to wear her hair however she wishes, but because of Jody’s jealousy and insecurity over her, she is forced to tie it up and hide her true figure. After Jody’s death, the barriers brought

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While married Janie had to conform to what her husband wanted her to be like, look like, and act like. Janie’s hair is another powerful symbol in the novel. It symbolizes her power and freedom within society. It is what most of the men characters noticed about her right away. Her hair was so beautiful that while being married to Joe Starks, he made her wear it in a hair rag.

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