27) but also Bessie Smith seems to be very superior in the poem. Back during the period the book was written women would wait around for men to sweep them off their feet, but Janie is the type of woman to show one what she is capable of what she is willing to do. In the poem, the reader states she is a young woman and is tired of waiting around,
“Woke up this mornin' when chickens was crowin' for day
Felt on the right side of my pilla', my man gad gone away
By this pilla' he left a note readin', "I'm sorry, Jane, you got my goat
No time to marry, no time to settle down"
I'm a young woman and ain't done runnin' 'round
I'm a young woman and ain't done runnin' 'round”
Zora Neale Hurston uses the African American culture during the Harlem Renaissance because it helped her with the political, religious and
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social views. Stating that Zora used the Harlem Renaissance as her time period helped capture the motivation that Janie had to be free and be able to see how beautiful the world is. Janie was in love with nature and whenever she was able to feel growth upon herself, she took the chance. Janie harmonizes her daily life to a pear tree giving herself an important image. The pear tree compares to her in many ways and one way is that the tree will continue to grow no matter what season it will be. The tree will face seasons where growing is not the option but the tree will still grow. Janie still managed to develop during the seasons. Zora Neale Hurston also used the socio political point of view which is coming social and political factors together to create an argument. Women view their aggression as often from excessive stress and a loss of self-control but males often view aggressive acts as an exercise in control over others, brought on by a challenge to their self-esteem or integrity. Sexualisation is supposedly problematic is cultural context for gender equality. What is ironic is that when one considers of being independent, one first thinks of a woman. Woman are considered to be more independent. While Janie seemed to lack the mindset of being alone she soon realizes that love comes, goes but it will always be there. Her friends back where she once lived seemed to keep their mindset open for Janie because her first marriage did nothing but made her depressed. Janie thrives to do better and Tea Cake showed her the world. Jody, did nothing but made her stay at home while he went to work or when he had something fun and interesting planned. Tea Cake showed Janie things she did not even know existed but that is when Janie became blind, and let her love life determine her future. Spiritually, morally and intellectually can achieve greatness. Janie found greatness at the very end of the book. At the finale, Janie found herself and began to be free. To be free as a women comes very hard because living up to standards and not being able to be the person one wants to be is very hard, to find youself or even to complete the things Janie did. Once she began to be free, everything seems to come naturally to her, as in her smile. Janie smiles throughout the book, but the very last one looked natural. How one states, one does not know how strong they are until they have gone through it. Janie went through two men, one that did not respect her, and another that showed her what the world actually appealed to look like. Janie did a wonderful job keeping herself sane. In the novel, Janie starts to pick up certain standpoints the more she is married to Jody. One comment Jody had said was “ beatin’ women is just like steppin’ on baby chickens. He claims ‘taint no place on uh woman tuh hit”(Hurston 75). Throughout the years, the US Office on Violence Against Women defines domestic violence as a pattern of abusive behavior in any relationship that is used by one partner to maintain power and control over another intimate partner. The definition adds that domestic violence "can happen to anyone regardless of race, age, sexual orientation, religion, or gender", and can take many forms, including physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional, economic, and psychological abuse. In 2011, women in the United States had medium levels of security, throughout the world, United States was one of the top countries where women had security. One strong example on how African American woman were treated is Sarah Baartman. She was known due to her “big buttocks” and was exhibited as a freak show in the 19th century, spending four years on stage in England and Ireland. Henry Taylor took Sara Baartman to France around September 1814. Taylor then sold her to an animal trainer, S. Réaux, who exhibited her under more pressured conditions for fifteen months at the Palais Royal. In France she was in effect enslaved. In Paris, her exhibition became more clearly entangled with scientific racism. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the novel stood as alludes of politics of rape and lynching, Janie’s sexual misconduct” (Carol 103).
African American women have been lynched throughout America. Mary Turner (died 19 May 1918) was a married black woman and mother of two who was lynched by a white mob in Georgia, for having spoken out in protest at the lynching death of her husband Hazel "Hayes" Turner the day before. Many more African American women have has been through the same feeling, being scared her love ones will not return because for the color of their skin. My first line states, one grows from different households, but being the same skin tone one deals with the same obstacles. One learns to stand strong, and protect what their beliefs are. Plants grow from different soil, but they also have the same needs. The same factor is needed for woman.
In the last example it showed how an African American woman wass treated because of the genes she was born with. One can only imagine what other woman experienced for their features. Women have been used for many reasons but they are not the honorable ones. Sarah was not the onlye woman taken from her home
land. After Sarah Baartman’s story started to become more popular. People became involved on the case. Even though, nothing could really be done because women, even African American women did not have a say so. Her body was considered a project and it is doleful to say, in today’s society women are still looked at for their body parts. This topic relates to the novel because Jody went for Janie’s features, and once she began to age, he did not treat her the same. Sex discrimination was used with most women which means women are used for house wives and nothing more. Housewifes are not as common in today’s society, but in cultures it is more common. Cultures carry their practices and beliefs through children, and today, becoming a housewife is a strong role for numerous cultures. An example is, in the hispanic culture, one wants their child to marry within their ethnicity. I am well aware of this because I am Hispanic, and my family has taught me how to do “housewife” duties. Zora Neale Hurston showed the revolution of how a woman can be happy without a man by her side, showing her at the end experiencing nature. Comparing herself to a tree and un-naming herself helped the reader understand what Janie’s motive is. Her motive is finding herself within the situation she is set on. Finding determination is difficult. When one lacks the feeling of being grounded, it is more difficult to succeed. The world was repressive against Janie, which meant the world is restraining freedom of a person. The reason why I chose the world is because during the time period, like I stated before, women had to do everything. Janie stood outside the box of normality as in, she went against the odds. Janie “ran” off with a man younger than her, and everyone was against her doing it. Her closest friends did not approve, losing her friendships little by little. Everyone saw Janie as a rebel because she did
The black women’s interaction with her oppressive environment during Revolutionary period or the antebellum America was the only way of her survival. Playing her role, and being part of her community that is not always pleasant takes a lot of courage, and optimism for better tomorrow. The autonomy of a slave women still existed even if most of her natural rights were taken. As opposed to her counterparts
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.
Men and women’s treatment has been different as long as the two have been around to notice the difference. Even in the realm of slavery, women and men were not treated the same, although both were treated in horrible ways. Harriet Jacobs and Fredrick Douglass’ story is very similar: both were born into slavery and later rose above the oppression to become molders of minds. In time of subjugation to African Americans, these two writers rose up and did great things, especially with their writing. Both Douglass and Jacobs’ experienced different types of slavery, it shaped their perspective on everything and it also shows the importance of their freedom.
When thinking about the novels that are read in high school, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby come to mind for most people. The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston usually is not thought of. Throughout the years, critics believed Hurston’s novel to be just fiction and that it pose no meaning. In spite of the novel not having much politics, it does contain many social issues from the past that are still somewhat relevant today. Above all, Their Eyes Were Watching God deals with the way people are unequally treated in society based on their gender, race, or anything that makes them diverse from others. It is probable that Hurston brings up the controversial issues of her time era in the hope to cause a transformation in the world.
The Harlem Renaissance was all about freedom of expression and the search for one's identity. Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows these goals through the main character Janie and her neighbors. Janie freely expressed what she wanted and searched for her identity with her different husbands. Even though Janie was criticized by everyone except her friends, she continued to pursue. She lost everything, but ultimately found her identity. Hurston's writing is both a reflection and a departure from the idea of the Harlem Renaissance.
One of the most important things in life is finding one’s self. Although this may be difficult to achieve, it is necessary. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie, struggles with finding her true identity. This led to her round and multi-layered character. Janie has trouble finding herself due to other characters depriving her from the opportunities she has; she allows other characters to take advantage of her. Although Janie has a very independent personality in the novel, she is dependent on others to make important decisions for her.
Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist. Zora plays an important role for the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the titans of twentieth-century African American literature. Despite that she would later fall into disgrace because of her firm views of civil rights, her lyrical writing which praise southern black culture has influenced generations of black American literary figures. Hurston’s work also had an impact on later black American authors such as Ralph Ellison, Alice Walker, and Toni Morrison.
2. The African American culture blossomed during the Harlem Renaissance, particularly in creative arts, and the most influential movement in African American literary history. Embracing literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts, participants sought to reconceptualize “the Negro” apart from the white stereotypes that had influenced black peoples’ relationship to their heritage and to each other. They also sought to break free of Victorian moral values and bourgeois shame about aspects of their lives that might, as seen by whites, reinforce racist beliefs. Never dominated by a particular school of thought but rather characterized by intense debate, the movement laid the groundwork for all later African American literature and had an enormous
This source goes generally explains the history of colorism and how it relates to slavery. It is relevant because it shows how black woman were sexually exploited by their slave masters. This unfortunate occurrence then is lead to the conception of a mixed race child. The subject of sexual exploitation goes hand and hand when talking about woman affected by colorism. Women of a darker skin tone are often perceived to be promiscuous, single mothers who have children with multiple men. Most would assume that the fathers of the children are not involved with in their lives; which is parallel to what occurred during slavery. During slavery, when the child was old enough, he or she was able to work and live in the slave masters house. These mixed race children were referred to “house Negros.” They were clothed, fed, and treated differently than slaves that did hard, physical labor in the fields. This can be compared to the treatment of people of color today. People of a lighter skin tone are thought to have more access to social opportunities than people of a darker skin tone. My mother is a figure in my life that has faced these social issues of sexual exploitation and discrimination as a black woman. She has had a career in a professional setting and although these statics that black women face are not in her favor she has still managed
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
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.
Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s pursuit of true love remains crucial in her life. A summer-time fantasy, a pear blossom and a bee, imprint within her mind a vision beyond the futility of riches and reality. This natural beauty becomes her lifelong quest – to find within her life true love. Two men leave her fruitless, having not given to her that which is her heart’s pursuit. However, one man, poor and unknown, actually bestows upon her the beauty that remained shrouded in mystery so long. Janie does find true love, and it is not only a detail in her life.