Analysis Of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Throughout history, women conformed to societal expectations of marrying for financial security rather than pursuing a strong emotional relationship. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist Janie struggles to find her autonomy through the ubiquitous scrutiny from others. While transitioning from adolescence to adulthood, Janie’s internal conflicts in self exploration heighten, forcing her to comply to other’s opinions. Once wedded to Tea Cake does Janie finally comprehend her cause of happiness: love. Through Janie’s maturation, Hurston conveys Janie’s deviation away from monetary stability as a source of happiness, but instead finds fulfillment in ardor, which reveals no amount of material wealth ensures a jubilant life.

Under the jurisdiction of her grandmother, Nanny, Janie learns that once married to a financially reliable husband, love will follow. Epitomizing protection, the pragmatic marriage between Janie and Logan Killicks

While conversing with the naive Janie, Nanny declares, “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection” (15). By referring to Janie as “baby,” Hurston utilizes a childish connotation to exaggerate Janie’s ignorance of marriage. Preparing for the potentially disastrous future, Nanny impregnates security as a top priority for Janie instilling that a prudent marriage will lead to love. Accommodating to her grandmother’s desires, Janie marries Logan. Through this union, Janie assumes an emotional attraction will coincide; however, Janie’s perception of love depreciates as Nanny equates affection to material wealth explaining how Logan “got a house bought and paid for and sixty acres uh land right on de big road... Dis

The exterior influences of society affect a woman’s autonomy, forcing her to conform to other’s expectations; however, once confident she creates her own