Critics have analysed his death with respect to Janie’s search for an authentic self. Diane Sadoff remarks that while Janie had killed Jody metaphorically through her verbal lashing, she kills Tea Cake literally (qtd. in Jordan 110). According to Alice Walker, Janie kills Tea Cake as he forced her into a position where she had to pretend to enjoy the role of a battered wife (qtd. in Pryse 14). Mary Helen Washington notes that the ending subverts the romantic trope of a married happily ever after and locates the journey for self-awareness outside the rubric of patriarchy (18). Kaplan remarks that though tragic, his death makes sense at the narrative level as the novel’s “erotic justice” and it liberates Janie to continue her quest and satisfy …show more content…
However, there is a tension in their fiction between the bourgeois-inspired femininity and the “contrary instinct” of hardiness, as their very survival was dependent on their resourcefulness and strength (235-36).
She singles out Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God as an exception to this trend as it portrays the growth of Janie as a self—aware and empowered being. Though contemporary literature emphasised on femininity and financial stability, this novel critiques both these goals. The novel is structured in a way that Janie moves through three phases that represent different opinions of what a Black woman should be. While marriage with Killick represented her status as a mule, with Jody she was the “lady” and the “Queen of the Porch” who in reality was merely ornamental, isolated from her community and had as little rights as the mule. Hurston critiques the attainment of stability through submission in a marriage that leads to the suppression of natural desires. Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake, though not ideal, offers us a glimpse of the possibility of parity in a marriage that is not based on economics but emotions and thought (236). The circular journey leads us back to her telling her story to the representative of the society, Phoeby (237). Thus we see a transformed self that now seeks to change the community through its
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.
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
...her silent thoughts and how they pulled her away from her love for Logan and Jody, now those same silent thoughts preserve Tea Cake for her in perpetuity. And in Seraph on the Suwanee, Jim’s departure allows Arvay to realize the chasm between her and her past, and in so doing, realize that her struggles portray a woman destined to be a caregiver. For both Janie and Arvay, inner turmoil is quelled into a role that reconciles both themselves and their relationship with their men. And, perhaps most remarkably, this idealization of their partners persists despite – indeed, is even enhanced by – the fact that both women see their former love interests, those who came before Tea Cake and Jim, as now standing on cracked or even shattered pedestals. Both Janie and Arvay in the end take comfort in their new-found roles and those men who best compel them to adopt these roles.
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.
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston describes the horizon as possibilities and opportunities. When the story starts out Janie’s perception of the horizon changes first from desire for love to the need of love, and ultimately the feeling of contentment towards love to show Janie maturing throughout the novel.
Through her three marriages, the death of her one true love, and proving her innocence in Tea Cake’s death, Janie learns to look within herself to find her hidden voice. Growing as a person from the many obstacles she has overcome during her forty years of life, Janie finally speaks her thoughts, feelings and opinions. From this, she finds what she has been searching for her whole life, happiness.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 explains that, “love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NLT). Author Zora Hurston takes this definition of love and applies it to young Janie as she struggles to find her identity in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. As Janie experiences three juxtaposing marriages, she recognizes that love doesn’t exist to appease a third party, requires respect, and truly “endures through every circumstance,” which aids her development into an independent woman (1 Corinthians 13:7b).
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.
“Death is the greatest gift you never want to receive. It is the great equalizer of mankind. For death knows no name, no race, no social class or status. It is the only way man to enjoy a meaningful existence. For if there were no death, there would be no meaning” by Dan McDaniel. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Death is consistent throughout the book. Death is found throughout the book as an equalizer, it shows that despite people's thoughts that they are better than one another, or that they will not die until they believe that they are ready, however, that is wrong. Death, in this book, does not discriminate, does not wait, and does not care about human-made hierarchies.
Love in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) is a search for self-fulfillment and true love. On a porch in a small town called Eatonville a story is told about an attractive African American women's journey. Her name is Janie Crawford. Her struggle to find companionship and herself starts as a young girl who had lost both of her parents.
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.
...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.
The Towns people and Janie’s best friend Pheoby are skeptical of Tea Cake’s intentions. They think Tea Cake is after Janie’s money and widowhood. However, Janie explains to Pheoby, “Tea Cake ain’t draggin me off nowhere Ah don’t want tuh go. 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 hand and sit dere.” Janie admitted her desire to get up and go wherever she pleased. Joe, however, did not want his woman to be wise or conscious of the world around them so he kept her confined and immobile in the store. Janie loved Tea Cake because he was not threatened by her desire to be adventurous. Janie loved the fact that Tea Cake treated her with class as an equal and intelligent person. “He set it (the checkers) up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play.” Tea Cake proved he was not self-absorbed like Logan or Joe. He presented Janie with a chance to finally experience the love she has been pursuing her entire life. Janie had only known men who took pleasure in pleasing themselves; however, Tea Cake took pleasure in pleasing her. This endeared him to her and brought them mutual happiness. Janie loved Tea Cake because he was open with her. He was determined to do anything to please her if he saw she was unhappy. Unlike Logan and Joe,
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
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the character of Janie Crawford experiences severe ideological conflicts with her grandmother, and the effects of these conflicts are far-reaching indeed. Hurston’s novel of manners, noted for its exploration of the black female experience, fully shows how a conflict with one’s elders can alter one’s self image. In the case of Janie and Nanny, it is Janie’s perception of men that is altered, as well as her perception of self. The conflict between the two women is largely generational in nature, and appears heart-breakingly inevitable.