Their Eyes Were Watching God Symbol Analysis

In a literary work, a symbol can represent numerous things to a character and also a story as a whole. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston often used the recurring symbol of beauty/ appearance and hair throughout Janie’s life through illuminating incidents. In the novel, Janie’s hair and youth is a symbol commonly used. When Janie re-entered Eatonville, Hurston utters, “ ...the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume...(Hurston 2).Though Hurston’s descriptions, we can tell that Janie isn’t an ordinary woman. Most women of African American descent don’t have hair like Janie’s which could cause Janie to have a higher position in society as well as in the community since she wasn’t

This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly...Her hair was NOT going to show in the store”(Hurston 55). Hurston details Janie’s initial thoughts about wearing head rags. This caused Janie to become silent and limited her freedom. Janie also became submissive and was beaten by Jody. But, all this changed after Jody’s death.Hurston writes,“ Janie starched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil. It was like a wall of stone and steel...She did not reach outside for anything, nor di the things of death reach inside to disturb her calm”(Hurston 88).Hurston’s language reveals how much Janie was an unemotional person as opposed to other mourners. ”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”(Hurston 89).Though Hurston’s direct and free indirect discourse, readers noticed a change in Janie. The burning of the head rags brought on Janie’s freedom. The fire underhandedly symbolized Janie’s freedom and the official end of her marriage to