What Is The Thesis For Their Eyes Were Watching God

Layla Edwards January 20, 2023

Clamencia Paul

Stabihanka Dessources

English II Honors

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Hook- Blu Context/Background: Gre Thesis: Dar

Justification topic sentence-...... Context-...... Evidence-...... Explanation-...... Restated thesis-... . Evaluation-. ... Tie back into hook-. ...

The novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston, highlights women who quest for better love lives but face difficult struggles before gaining them. In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” which took place in Eatonville, Florida Janie

As Janie transitions into womanhood, she gains independence from abusive relationships, and she realizes being loved the proper way is everything. Symbolic representations are used throughout the novel to convey these messages. Two of the symbols that were brought up a lot in the book are the horizon and the gloaming pear tree. The horizon symbolizes Janie's struggle to find herself. The pear tree represents Janie's youth and desire for love in Hurston's novel. Readers are introduced to the pear tree at the beginning of the novel: "Oh to be a pear tree- any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her” (Hurston, 1937, 43). Janie's view of herself is reflected in this quote. It symbolizes how Janie believes the pear tree represents her. The memories etched in her mind are rooted in the ground, and her visions are rooted in the branches of the pear tree. As the pear tree sprouts, so do her dreams. Also, the pear tree gave her a sense of life and it gave her a view of harmony. Janie experiences some struggles in her maturity process as does the pear tree while going through the process of blooming. The novel revolves around Janie's realizations, maturation, and standing up for herself. Seeing that a future with Joe cannot be based on her youth, Janie realizes

This allows the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the characters through these comparisons. Throughout the novel, Janie’s horizon and hope is to find committed love, and she believes that it is with a wealthy, older man named Logan. The reader can infer that throughout most of the novel, Janie struggles with finding true love, being in several relationships that resulted in her being hurt in the end. During a conversation about why it is important for Janie to marry a wealthy man, Nanny says to Janie, “You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways.” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 40). Nanny emphasizes that during slavery, black families could never form roots, which is why she should marry Logan. A short time before, Nanny continued to persuade Janie into marrying Logan Killings, saying, “De n***** woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.” (Hurston, 1937, pg. 40). In her description towards black people, Nanny illustrates the harsh reality of black women post slavery in this quote. Which shows how societal norms force this notion that black women must do what others tell them to do, regarding relationships especially. In the novel, this is revealed by the comparisons Nanny made towards black women and the animal, which became one of the novel's key characteristics. The author