Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Although on the surface, Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” appears to be primarily a commentary on racism, given that it takes place in a time where there are many former slaves still alive, a deeper inspection of the messages being communicated reveals that the character of Janie Mae Crawford truly serves to comment on women’s place in society at the time. As Janie explores her own role in society while going through three marriages, Hurston is able to present ideas such as female independence and how it is hindered by sexism in African-American culture. In order to convey these themes, Hurston utilizes a specific setting to allow her to portray society in a particular way, the comments of other characters to represent several

mindsets that existed during the time, as well as the character of Janie Mae Crawford to specifically show what women thought and how they acted as a result of how they were treated.
Given that she was born in 1891, Hurston speaks, at least partially, from her own experiences.

Having lived through the time period, she provides an accurate depiction of what it was like to live as an African-American woman during the early 1900’s. As evidenced by her portrayal in Their Eyes Were Watching God, the chosen time period was one of extreme social stratification on the basis of race and gender. As a result, the character of Janie Mae Crawford allows us to empathize with someone who was truly at the bottom of the social ladder. Social stratification was rampant, given that slavery was only recently abolished and there were still active efforts to suppress them politically. Additionally, this was still a time where even white women were expected to be submissive to their husbands. Education was still a very low priority because women were expected to simply marry and have kids, as evidenced by Nanny Crawford marrying Janie early to Logan Killicks (Hurston 21). Using a character from the most oppressed group in her time, Hurston sets the stage for a tale of exploration that leads to female empowerment and

independence.
Expanding upon the idea that Hurston used culture to introduce feminist ideas and comment on society’s attitudes towards women, Hurston also uses different characters to highlight the distinct mindsets that existed at the time.

For example, Nanny Crawford represents the older generation of women who essentially agree that it is a woman’s place to marry, have kids, and take care of the house. Not only is Hurston identifying this mindset, but she also juxtaposes it with Janie’s much less conservative mindset in the beginning. Another mindset she reveals is how white and black men alike treated African-American women as less than them. This is demonstrated by how Janie’s mom was raped by her professor (Hurston 19) and how Janie’s second husband quickly treated her as nothing more than a trophy wife (Hurston 60). It is through these characters that Hurston brings society’s attitudes towards African-American women to life in a tangible, relatable, and understandable form. These characters allow for not only Janie to react to, revealing common responses of black women towards those attitudes, but also for the audience to react to and ponder. However, at the end, Hurston sheds light on a solution, rather than only commenting on the problems with society, in the form of the character Tea Cake. Tea Cake was presented as the most ideal of the men presented in the book. He sought to build up Janie, such as when he taught her how to shoot (Hurston 144), rather than control her or

neglect her like the other men did. Essentially, Tea Cake is Hurston displaying another feminist ideal by presenting, at least partly, how a man should treat a woman. Overall, these characters portray the different mentalities that were common during this time period, allowing Hurston to comment on how they affect the treatment of women in society and for the audience to react to them as well.
In order to use these characters for conveying the feminist themes throughout the novel, as opposed to simply use them to comment on certain mindsets that society held, Hurston used Janie and her reactions to each character to tell a tale of growth and eventually empowerment and independence. In fact, Jody’s main role was arguably to bring about one of the first major instances of feminist ideas. Tired of being constantly controlled and treated as property, Janie courageously fights for herself and eventually becomes independent after his death (Hurston 71). As the story progresses, Janie becomes more sure of herself, such as when she is initially cold to Tea Cake and is cautious that he might only be nice because he thinks she’s already fallen for him because he is younger (Hurston 105). As previously mentioned, he eventually forms the most loving relationship Janie has experienced. However, after he dies, the fact that she is able to carry on after such a tragedy not only speaks on her maturation as a character, but is also punchline to Hurston’s story of female empowerment and independence. She wasn’t completely crushed by the death of her first love, but instead soldiers on. She defies the stereotype of the damsel in distress and overcomes a lifetime of people attempting to suppress her. As a result, Hurston’s feminist themes culminate in how Janie reacts to the previous two elements: how she deals with societal expectations and the actions of other characters.
After exploring how feminism is expressed in the novel, it’s important to analyze why this particular aspect of the story is relevant in our study of the African-American experience. One of our main goals in studying the African-American experience is discovering how to better understand it in terms of our own lives. As a result, the idea of exploring the African-American female, rather than simply African-Americans as a whole, demonstrates the complexity and uniqueness of the African-American experience. As a society, we consider our problems as a whole, but also focus on the treatment of women in general. Similarly, African-Americans as a whole fight for equal treatment, but there is a subsection that highlights the plights of African-American females specifically. In essence, the African-American experience is both unifying for black people, but distinct in each of their lives. This conveys the idea that African-Americans are not just a racial group, but another group of people, not unlike the rest of society. They don’t fit stereotypes and are entirely human, with different experiences and upbringings that shape them each as people. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a reminder that the African-American experience is much more than being black, and it allows us empathize with African-Americans through Janie’s development as a woman, not just a black character.
In conclusion, Their Eyes Were Watching God is a tale rich with feminist themes. By choosing the time period of the early 1900’s, Hurston is able to highlight and expose the societal hierarchy in which the African-American female is at the bottom of. She then uses characters to target specific ideas that were common and impacted the way people treated African-American women, both in African-American society and society as a whole. Finally, she uses Janie Mae Crawford to react to such a hostile environment and still tell a story of female empowerment. As a result, Hurston targets the life of an African-American woman to reveal the complexities of the African-American experience by making readers understand that it is a very human and unique idea.