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Zora Neale Hurston's Contemporary Love Story

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Recommended: Their eyes were watching god and harlem renaissance

Every good fairy tale has an inherent truth that means something to someone of any age generation ,race ,color or creed. Whether its Beauty and the beast telling you not to judge a book by its cover or it’s the three little pigs telling you the virtue of preparation, they are all connected but a universal narrative that contains a concise message. Both of these key parts are present in zora Neale hurston 's contemporary love story their eyes were watching god.. This book is centered around the life of janie a woman in a scandalous relationship with a younger man named teacake who is considered a vagabond by his community and their blossoming romance and how it affects not only their lives but the their small southern community as a whole.All of this is taking place at a time of great social change and a new sense of being amongst african americans known as the harlem renaissance. …show more content…

New studies have shown that although they were popularized by the grimms brothers in the early 19th century the majority of the fairly tales they put in their book have existed for thousands of years, but now we have to ask ourselves why have these fables been continuously passed down through hundreds of generations to us. The most likely hypothesis is that they contain a large amount of the things i have already mentioned a Universal narrative and a concise message that teach us life lesson. But you might ask what does this have to do with Zora Neale Hurston 's their eyes were watching god well Hurston 's novel is to the Harlem renaissance what these fairy tales are to western culture a simple story that contains profound meaning and symbolism that teaches a life lesson but written through a lense that can show a different perspective. That 's why Zora Neale Hurston 's novel their eyes were watching god is both a reflection and a departure from the harlem renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston 's novel their eyes were watching god is both a reflection and a departure from the harlem

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Joseph’s Campbell’s The Hero With a Thousand Faces is a valuable novel for college students because it allows the reader to apply common elements in mythic adventures that easily connect and explain the journey of the protagonist. In Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, offers an excellent example of The Hero’s Journey. The book follows Janie Mae Crawford on her adventure in finding herself. The adventure is described within three main steps that make up The Hero’s Journey; the departure, the initiation, and the return. Through these steps, we follow Janie as she leaves her known world and travels into the unknown world.

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In her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston traces Janie’s quest for independence and the search of her self-confidence through events that happened before and after her epiphany immediately following Joe’s death. Throughout the novel Janie’s view of life, her independence, and her view of love changed exceedingly depending on who she was married to. This story centers around an important epiphany that Janie has when Joe dies; that personal discoveries and life experiences help people find themselves. Before her revelation, when Janie is 16 years old, she experiences a moment of realization in she discovers new-found feelings about love, marriage, . Under the pear-tree, she has a perfect moment in nature, full of passion

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1406 Words | 6 Pages

Their Eyes Were Watching God, one of Zora’s eminent bodies of work shows examples of Hurston using figurative language to bring Janie's (the main character) experience of tragedy to life. Janie wants something out of life and love that seems

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston acknowledges the idea of sexism when she addresses that Janie Starks, the protagonist, never got to fulfill her dreams. Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, wanted the best for her granddaughter so she married her off to a man named Logan Killicks, a man who had a small farm and good wealth “Janie and Logan got married in Nanny’s parlor of a Saturday evening with three cakes and big platters of fried rabbit and chicken,” (Hurston 3). Years has passed within the marriage and Janie never found love for Logan. Logan comparing her to his ex-wife, discriminated Janie’s place of position, “Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grab dat ax and sling chips lak

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The Harlem Renaissance was a period of time in history where African Americans revived their cultural and intellectual self. Key ways African Americans achieved this was through self determination, destroying outdated racial stereotypes, being racially conscious, group expression, modern ideas, and through political and civil rights. In literature there has been a major debate about books marked as Harlem Renaissance reads and whether or not the book meets the criteria of the Harlem Renaissance. One book in particular that has been criticized for not meeting the Harlem Renaissance Ideals is “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. After reading this book, I determined that it should still be considered a Harlem Renaissance book.

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All people grow and develop at different rates, with factors such as heredity and environment strongly influencing one's development. The age-old debate of nature-vs-nurture is at the forefront, as always. The people one meets, and the experiences one goes through play vital roles in forming that person. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford grows as a woman with the men she was married to. Through the tides of life and relationships she realizes how a person is truly supposed to live their life.

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The United States Constitution states that the country values liberty, life, and happiness for all of its citizens. These three values shape the ideal American experience. Most view it as living freely, where all men, women, and races are created equal, and where oppression of genders and races does not exist. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, however, Zora Neale Hurston challenges the traditional view of this experience by illustrating how gender roles and racism change it, manifesting that it is not close to what the average citizen goes through, especially if he or she is black.

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Janie’s experience with race relations influenced her journey of self-revelation. Her story was set in the Deep South before World War II, a time period with strict racial segregation laws. While race was not the central part of the story, Janie’s experiences with racial tension guided her path to discovering individuality. “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston was written during the Harlem Renaissance and published in the 1930s. The two most notable experiences of race relations in the story are Janie’s interactions with Mrs. Turner, a black woman who takes pride in her white features, and the treatment of the mule, which symbolizes slavery and oppression of the black community.

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A lesbian is a woman- indentified woman and Adrienne Rich calls it ‘Lesbian continuum’ she explains lesbian continuum is “Include is a range through each woman’s life and throughout history of woman indentified experience no simply the fact that a woman has had consciously desired genital sexual experience with another woman (25)”. Rich argues to embrace many more forms of primary intensity between and among women including the sharing of a rich inner life. Their Eyes were watching God is overwhelmingly centered on Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake. Whereas certain critics recognize the female search for self and need for community as key issues in the novel, most still give priority to heterosexual love and experience as the sole informers of Janie’s existence.

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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.

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“Hurston became the most successful and most significant black woman writer of the first half of the 20th century. Over a career that spanned more than 30 years, she published four novels, two books of folklore, an autobiography, numerous short stories, and several essays, articles and plays” ("Zora Neale Hurston. " The Official Website of Zora Neale Hurston). One of the most famous and a accomplishment was a novel that she had written called, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which received great praise. “In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the novel is a brilliant study of black folk and their language, their stories, and their mannerisms.

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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.

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Zora Neale Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God, reflects the Harlem Renaissance through Janie 's individuality, and departs from the Harlem Renaissance with the common recurrence of black woman empowerment. In the novel, Hurston reflects the ideas of the Harlem renaissance with the ways in which Janie rebels and goes against norms for women.

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421 Words | 2 Pages

Disney, alike many other popular storytellers, want these known stories to be friendly, animated, and with an intended audience of children. This is ironic because a retired professor of German and comparative literature from the University of Minnesota, Jack Zipes, directly compares this theme to a news interviewer that “the Grimm’s did not collect these tales for children. They collected these tales to show what life was like. And they wanted to reveal what they considered the divine truths of the tales.” It is obvious that Disney does not have the same motive as the Grimm’s did.

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In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the long-lasting effects of slavery have taken a toll on Janie Crawford. Janie’s grandmother was raped by her master and had a child named Leafy. Leafy, although not born into slavery, endured a similar fate, which led her to run away, leaving her mother to raise her child, Janie. Janie’s appearance, showing strong European features, was both praised and shamed by society. This double standard was created by racism and was able to remain present due to segregation.

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