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The portrayal of women in literature
The portrayal of women in literature
The portrayal of women in literature
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Critically acclaimed African American author, Zora Neale Hurston, discusses the life of a young woman, Janie Crawford, as she searches for love in multiples marriages and eventually finds herself in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Taking place in the early 1900s, the story contains many scenes of racial tension and gender inequality. As the main character ventures through different abusive relationships and overcomes gender boundaries, the theme of feminism becomes evident. Within Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the theme of feminism is revealed through her commentary on gender inequality, the psychological change experienced by Janie, and the author’s decision to give Janie the power of storytelling.
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African American literature, there are many common themes and topics that are discussed which give the pieces their unique qualities. Many works within this area of literature include themes of racism, gender roles, slavery, social inequality, and so on. Their Eyes Were Watching God, being no different, can be argued as focusing mainly on the topic of gender inequality. Given the large presence this issue had on the history of this culture, which is still evident today, Hurston was able to comment on it and introduce early feminist ideas. Through the course of the story, the author of the novel was able to emphasize the strong contrast between Janie’s character in her first two marriages, and her character when the story ends. Having a character overcome the barriers of gender roles in order to find herself and happiness incorporates aspects of African American literature and Hurston’s own unique beliefs. Possibly one of the most noticeable aspects of Hurston’s piece that hints at feminist ideas is her representation of gender roles and how she comments on them. Through the course of three different marriages, the readers are able to view different, seemingly historically accurate depictions of men at the time. Within each relationship, the men, in their own way, belittle Janie’s character, with some more than others. At one point in the story, the author herself even seems to comment on the submissive role of women at the time. Within Chapter 6, Hurston draws a connection between Janie and a mule, which is discussed by a critical analysis written by Tyler Black. Within his piece, he notes that, “Hurston aptly portrayed Janie through her relationship with Joe, the mule metaphor, and her dialogue as a strong woman who did not care for what her female counterparts felt was the ideal; sitting up on a high chair and overlooking the world” (Black). The author of Their Eyes Were Watching God wanted the readers to be able to recognize this similarity in treatment from others to bring to light the social injustice at the time. This goes along with all the other numerous examples of male characters showing abusive and demeaning behavior to Janie. It is essentially Janie’s actions of rising above these struggles that really emphasize the traits of feminism within the novel. It shows how women are capable of so much more that they are portrayed as accomplishing. Hurston expands more in-depth on this point in Janie’s change of character through the course of the novel. Another key component of Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is the psychological change that the main character, Janie Crawford, undergoes.
When the flashback within the novel begins, she is portrayed as a young woman who is unsure of herself or what she wants in life. In addition, her fascination with the pear tree and witnessing the bee coming into contact with the pear tree flower in perfect unity causes her to search for a relationship so strong. This can be seen in the quote, “So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid” (Hurston 11). With this, on more than one occasion, she settles for less in an effort of finding this type of love. As the story progresses, and through the course of three marriages, she has become a changed person. Not only is she much more independent, Janie has experienced what it is like to love and be loved. She has found her voice and self-identity, “Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder” (Hurston 193). With the readers being able to follow Janie as she experiences one pivotal event after another, they sense her character change for the better. Her various struggles and achievements accentuate female empowerment, highlighting feminism within the novel. As mentioned before, she was able to overcome many barriers involving sexism and now has the ability to share her own story, another crucial aspect of the
novel. Within literature, oral tradition holds a lot of importance and “all literatures have an essential connection with orality; indeed one might say that the foundation of every literary connection is oral, whether it is visible or invisible in the text (Jones 3). With African American literature being no different, having the author, Zora Neale Hurston, choosing to have a female character contain the power of storytelling is rather significant. As mentioned previously, the end of the novel introduces a completely different, much more confident Janie Crawford. With her new found traits, she chooses to pass down her story of empowerment to her friend, Pheoby, “They sat there in the fresh young darkness close together… Janie full of that oldest human longing-- self revelation. Pheoby held her tongue for a long time, but she couldn’t help moving her feet. So Janie spoke” (Hurston 7). Given that the entire book is essentially Janie passing down her own story, it really highlights not only her power gained through the course of the story, but her ability as a woman to have such an important role (Jones). The theme of feminism is once again evident within Their Eyes Were Watching God through the author’s decision to have Janie, a female character, demonstrate one of the key components of literature as a whole. This allows her to deviate from submissive roles common for women at the time and really embrace her new identity by telling the story from the point of view of a woman. Within Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the theme of feminism is revealed through her commentary on gender inequality, the psychological change experienced by Janie, and the author’s decision to give Janie the power of storytelling. Whether it is interpreted as a feminist novel or not, the novel as a whole contains many themes that can be appreciated by diverse audiences. On top of that, it serves as a meaningful contribution to the genre of African American literature as a whole by reflecting the racial tension and gender inequality that African-Americans dealt with in the 1900s through the perspective of a woman.
What is one’s idea of the perfect marriage? In Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie has a total of three marriages and her best marriage was to Tea Cake. Janie’s worst and longest marriage was to Joe Starks where she lost her dream and was never happy. The key to a strong marriage is equality between each other because in Janie’s marriage to Joe she was not treated equally, lost apart of herself and was emotionally abused, but her and Tea Cake's marriage was based on equality and she was able to fully be herself.
..., she found her identity. It did not come easy for Janie. It took her years to find out who she really was.
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
Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neale Hurston in the year of 1937. In the novel, the main character is Janie Crawford. Janie has been treated differently by others during her life because of how she was raised and the choices she has made throughout her life. The community is quick to judge her actions and listen to any gossip about Janie in the town. Janie is known to be “classed off” from other members in her community in various ways. “Classed off” means to be separate or isolated from other people.
The character Janie in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is portrayed as a woman who has a modern mindset that is much too advanced for her thinking. Janie does things that raise much controversy with the community and endures situations that would be deemed inhumane in today’s society. Examining the abuse, oppression and criticism Janie undergoes in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God from both a contemporary woman's viewpoint and an early twentieth century woman's viewpoint reveals differences, as well as similarities in the way people respond to events.
Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a thriving woman. Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards life has to offer.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman that is lost in her own world. She longs to be a part of something and to have “a great journey to the horizons in search of people” (85). Janie Crawford’s journey to the horizon is told as a story to her best friend Phoebe. She experiences three marriages and three communities that “represent increasingly wide circles of experience and opportunities for expression of personal choice” (Crabtree). Their Eyes Were Watching God is an important fiction piece that explores relations throughout black communities and families. It also examines different issues such as, gender and class and these issues bring forth the theme of voice. In Janie’s attempt to find herself, she grows into a stronger woman through three marriages.
In Zora Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie Crawford was an attractive, confident, middle-aged black woman. Janie defied gender stereotypes and realized others cruelty toward her throughout the novel. Behind her defiance was curiosity and confidence that drove her to experience the world and become conscious of her relation to it. Janie’s idealized definition of love stemmed from her experience under a pear tree, an experience that was highly romanticized and glamorized in her sixteen year old eyes. Janie’s ability to free herself from the confining, understood, stereotypical roles enforced upon her allowed her to not only find true love but define true love as well.
Zora Neale Hurston, an acclaimed African-American writer, wrote the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God during a time when women did not have a large say in their marriages. The novel follows the main character Janie in her quest to find what she thinks is true love and happiness. Hurston highlights the idea of healthy and unhealthy relationships throughout Janie’s three marriages. Each marriage had its advantages but they were largely overshadowed by their disadvantages resulting in Janie learning the hard truth about married life for a women of color in the 1920s. Ultimately the reader and Janie learn that in order to be happy in a marriage you must love, learn, and lose from past relationship experiences to figure out what truly makes you
Zora Neale Hurston once said, “Happiness is nothing but everyday living seen through a veil.” In post-slavery African American society, this statement was unusual, as society was focused on materialistic values. The “veil” Hurston mentions is a lens used to sift through one’s beliefs; to help one understand that what they have is more important than what they don’t. Hurston alludes the veil in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in the form of a fish-net, saying “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it in from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulders" (193). Just like the veil, the “fish-net” allows one to sift through one’s beliefs, deciding what is important and what is not. Essentially, Hurston
To add depth in regards to the central theme, Hurston utilizes a pear tree to depict self-fulfillment and love. Hurston conveys Janie's constricted freedom when Nanny forcibly weds her to Logan and he “... was desecrating the pear tree” (Hurston 17). The pear tree represents Janie’s vision of idealized love: erotic, full of energy, passionate interaction, and blissful harmony; these elements are being destroyed by her arranged marriage with Logan. In particular, Hurston constructs Janie’s nuptial bond with Logan as “purely-materialistic,” meaning the purpose of the marriage was for property, wealth, and security; these ideals are what Janie's grandmother equates with love. Nanny restricts Janie from obtaining the idealized love that she desires. This prevents Janie from fulfilling her own happiness, and slowly “desecrates the pear tree”, along with her vision of romance. Still yearning for passion and energy, Janie continues to seek those qualities of love. After failed attempts at “love” with Logan Killicks and Joe
Just about everyone has had a relationship. Sometimes these relationships can help a person grow and feel whole, and sometimes they can hurt and make a person question himself. In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, a woman named Janie Woods goes through life trying to find love. This search gives Janie heartache, self-doubt, and at times joy. Throughout her search for love, she meets and marries three men: Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake. These three men have an effect on Janie’s emotional, spiritual, and physical growth.
Janie struggles with her marriages with Logan Killicks and Joe Starks throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, but finds a good man and husband in Tea Cake. Logan goes to marry Janie because Janie’s grandmother forces her to marry him because Nanny wants her to have a good marriage and thinks Logan can give it to her. While Joe comes in and shows Janie he has authority and is loving, but later tries to control her and what she does. Tea Cake on the other hand show Janie love and is willing to let Janie be herself and do the things she likes to do. Janie doesn’t love Logan or Joe because they try to change and control her, while Tea Cake loves her for who she really is.
Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God follows protagonist Janie Mae Crawford’s journey into womanhood and her ultimate quest for self-discovery. Having to abruptly transition from childhood to adulthood at the age of sixteen, the story demonstrates Janie’s eternal struggle to find her own voice and realize her dreams through three marriages and a lifetime of hardships that come about from being a black woman in America in the early 20th century. Throughout the novel, Hurston uses powerful metaphors helping to “unify” (as Henry Louis Gates Jr. puts it) the novel’s themes and narrative; thus providing a greater understanding of Janie’s quest for selfhood. There are three significant metaphors in the novel that achieve this unity: the pear tree metaphor, metaphors representing the inside and outside world, and finally the figure of the mule.
During a time when racial injustice was still in existence in the southern half of the United States, Zora Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama. After a brief amount of time, Zora and her family moved to Eatonville, a miniscule African American town in central Florida. Throughout her childhood she would give her attention to the elders of the community when they would tell the stories of their past. This town had an enormous impact on her writing style.