Oprah takes a magnum opus, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and remakes it into an entirely different story that does not comply with the book. By altering Janie’s character, moral fiber, relationships, and public acts, it changes the meaning of the novel. The hurricane scene, symbolism, and the significance of the title vary from the book. The story morphs into a tale of love when made into a movie. Zora Neale Hurston’s book holds a disparate meaning before it falls into the hands of Oprah, who annihilates it.
Janie’s character obtains strength in the movie when she does things that most women of her time would not have done and she would not have done in the book. When Joe and Janie Starks went to build the town of Eatonville, Janie helped out by carrying logs and doing laborious work with the other women. In the book, she never would have been allowed by Joe to do all that work. “‘Jody classed me off. Ah didn’t…Ah always did want tuh git round uh whole heap, but Jody wouldn’t ‘low me tuh. When Ah wasn’t in de store he wanted me tuh jes sit wid folded hands and sit dere’” (Hurston 132). Joe did not allow her to do many things that he or any other people from the town did because he thought of her better than that so he classed her off from the other people of the town which made her higher so she couldn’t hang out with them or do many of the things that they did. He also would not permit her to do some of the things that he did because of her gender. Men thought of women as lower, therefore they had fewer rights and freedoms unless they were with a man. “‘Dat’s right, but Ah’m uh man even if Ah is de Mayor. But de mayor’s wife is somethin’ different again. Anyhow they’s liable tuh need me tuh say uh few words over de carca...
... middle of paper ...
...st Janie. The only pure relationship in the book exists between Janie and Pheoby Watson. From true and unconditional in the book to judgmental and impure in the movie, the relationship changes completely. Oprah made these changes to keep the relationship between Janie and Tea Cake the only truly undiluted one so that it can be the main focus and be unrivaled. When Janie packs to leave the town to be with Tea Cake, Pheoby judges her and acts rudely towards her because she barely knows him. Janie also tells Pheoby that when Tea Cake asked her to marry him, she said no. In the book, they decided to get married. “‘Tea Cake don’t talk dat way. He’s aimin’ tuh make hisself permanent wid me. We done made up our mind tuh marry’” (Hurston 133). That also changed Tea Cake’s character and made it seem like he would take her off to a different place even if they aren’t married.
" (Ch.18). Tea Cake wants Janie to know that he is nothing like her other husbands, but is perfect for her. Tea Cake is essentially perfect for Janie because he helped her accomplish her her ultimate dream of love. Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage is the key to a good marriage because they treat each other with equality and
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
Janie Crawford in the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God and Janie in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God differed tremendously in character. While reading the novel everyone would have read that Janie a young mixed female who did not come from much money, she never met her parents and Janie tries really hard to find herself even through some of the obstacles she faces. Janie in the book never like she equaled to the men she married because she already knew she was not above or better in any way . That was really the only time Janie really said something that was disrespectful and out of the way. Watching the movie everyone should see a major change in Janie’s whole character Oprah made Janie a more outspoken, uncouth, and a gallant person who had a different personality. Janie in the book would have never been so rude to Pheoby like she acted towards her in the movie becau...
It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of love and protection in return. When they threaten to annihilate and hush her with these definitions, however, she uses her voice and fights to save her dream and her life. Hurston shows how Janie’s parental figures transform into metaphorical hurricanes, how a literal hurricane transforms into a metaphorical representation of Janie’s parental figures, and how Janie survives all five hurricanes.
Hurston uses Janie and Tea Cake's relationship to establish the message that respect can do wonders in a marriage. When there is understanding and equality, a healthy relationship will surely form. Money and power will provide temporary happiness; whereas, Tea Cake makes Janie feel the type of happiness only true love can bring. She's finally getting to feel the idealized love she has always wanted.
...out what is for her and how she wants to live. So in the end, she is where she wants to be. Janie pulls in the horizon that she has spent her whole life searching for. She calls her soul to come in and see. Where once her soul was separate from her, it is now a part of her. Janie grew throughout the novel into a strong and independent woman. Although Janie cared for Tea Cake, she needed to kill him in order to keep him from suffering. Janie shows the reader that she has lived her life fully the way she wanted too and is now able to die having no regrets in life. Although Janie did recognize that most men were obsessed with power and thrived for complete control, she did discover a man who helped push her to her goals. Tea Cake helped Janie a lot, but he made sure she did not rely on him because from the moment they met, he knew how strong of a woman Janie truly was.
Zora Neale Hurston uses narrative structure to convey the theme and meaning of the Their Eyes Were Watching God novel. Throughout the novel, she utilizes an interesting narrative structure, splitting the presentation of the story between high literary narration and idiomatic discourse. The long passages of discourse celebrate the culturally rich voices of Janie’s world. These characters speak as do few others in American literature, and their distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and tone mark their individuality. Zora Hurston’s use of language parallels Janie’s quest to find her “voice.” Henry Louis Gates Jr. makes a remark about the novel, that it is primarily concerned “with the project of finding a voice, with language as an instrument of injury and salvation, of selfhood and empowerment” (Harper). This is demonstrated in the novel when Jody stifles Janie’s speech, when he prevents her from talking after he is named mayor. Her hatred of him stems from this conquest of her individuality (Hurston). On the other ...
The beginning of Janie’s journey is with her marriage to Logan Killicks, a man with tons acres of land to his name, but to Janie’s knowledge, is just an ugly old bag that has a huge lack of any love or companionship for her. For example, when Janie talks to Logan one night about their relationship he only says “Considerin’ youse born in a carriage ‘thout no top to it, and yo’ mama and you bein’ born and raised in de white folks back-yard” (30). Logan is emotionally destitute towards Janie in the beginning of the marriage. She cannot relate to him in any way what so ever and they both know it as well. In addition, at a point later on in the marriage Logan asks Janie to help him with chores outside, she replies “you don’t need mah help out dere, Logan. Youse in yo’ place and ah’m in mine,” (31). Not only does Logan have an absence of emotion, he also has an absence of love and he expresses the exact opposite of it through his bitterness and anger for Janie. She can now understand that Logan sees himself as supposedly “higher” than her and she loathes it even more. The marriage between Logan and Janie isn’t equal...
In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, by Zora Neale Hurston there were many contrasting places that were used to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of this work.
Though Janie had three marriages in total, each one drew her in for a different reason. She was married off to Logan Killicks by her Grandmother who wanted her to have protection and security. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, its protection.” (Hurston 15) says Janie’s grandmother when Janie said she did not want to marry Logan. Though Janie did not agree with her grandmother, she knew that she just wanted what’s best for her. Next, she married Joe Starks, Janie was unsatisfied with her marriage to Logan so Joe came in and swept her off her feet. Janie did not like the fact that Logan was trying to make her work, so Joe’s proposition, “You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated like a lady and ah want to be de one tuh show yuh.” (Hurston 29) was too good to pass up, so she left Logan and married Joe. Janie’s last marriage was to Tea Cake. Fed up after having been treated poorly by Joe, Janie finally found someone who liked her for who she was. “Naw, ...
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford, the protagonist, constantly faces the inner conflicts she has against herself. Throughout a lot of her life, Janie is controlled, whether it be by her Nanny or by her husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Her outspoken attitude is quickly silenced and soon she becomes nothing more than a trophy, only meant to help her second husband, Joe Starks, achieve power. With time, she no longer attempts to stand up to Joe and make her own decisions. Janie changes a lot from the young girl laying underneath a cotton tree at the beginning of her story. Not only is she not herself, she finds herself aging and unhappy with her life. Joe’s death become the turning point it takes to lead to the resolution of her story which illustrates that others cannot determine who you are, it takes finding your own voice and gaining independence to become yourself and find those who accept you.
In the beginning of the story, Janie is stifled and does not truly reveal her identity. When caught kissing Johnny Taylor, a local boy, her nanny marries her off to Logan Killicks. While with Killicks, the reader never learns who the real Janie is. Janie does not make any decisions for herself and displays no personality. Janie takes a brave leap by leaving Killicks for Jody Starks. Starks is a smooth talking power hungry man who never allows Janie express her real self. The Eatonville community views Janie as the typical woman who tends to her husband and their house. Janie does not want to be accepted into the society as the average wife. Before Jody dies, Janie is able to let her suppressed anger out.
Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.
The contrast of these two places reinforces the theme of a search for love and fulfillment. To see what an ideal situation for an independent woman like would be, Hurston must first show the reader what Janie cannot deal with. Hurston has her character Janie go on a quest, one that was begun the day she was forced to marry Logan Killucks. The contrast in the setting is similar to one between good and evil.
Oprah’s first mistake, changing Janie’s character to making her equal to men, strengthened Janie in order to show that she controlled her life. Zora Neale Hurtson wrote Janie as a woman subordinate to men, such as Logan Killicks or Joe Starks. “‘She’s uh woman and her place is in de home’” (Hurston 51). By making Janie lesser to men, Hurston portrays the way that men treated women in the 1920s and 1930s and how their husbands expected their wives to act. Janie, a wife, and strictly that, bound to the things that wives existed, at the time, to do had known that she had to follow these unspoken rules and act subordinate to men. Oprah’s change creates an essence of strength for her character in order to make Janie independent and that she does what she wants. In the movie, she played checkers with the people of Eatonville, mouthed off to Joe in front of the town, and even worked in the field with Logan Killicks. Joe Starks nor Logan Killicks would not allow Janie to do these things as the men believed that a wife should do her womanly duties of cooking and cleaning, not a man’s work. Oprah’s alteration created equality with Janie’s character, ther...