If Zora Neale Hurston Were Alive
Oprah Winfrey has twisted the whole book Their Eyes Were Watching God and made a movie which consists of some major changes. Janie’s character changed completely in the book than in the movie, also her relationship with friends and her companions. Oprah reiterates some major parts which also concluded how the hurricane happened which did not last long as it did in the book, symbolism also differed in the movie and some major symbols remained as noticeable as it was in the book. Winfrey changed the whole meaning of the title even though she did not change the title Winfrey made the meaning different when everybody watched God instead of just Janie. Zora Neale Hurston would have been disappointed if she still lived due to the fact that Oprah has remade her book and made it her own version which differed from Zora’s novel.
Janie Crawford in the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God and Janie in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God differed tremendously in character. While reading the novel everyone would have read that Janie a young mixed female who did not come from much money, she never met her parents and Janie tries really hard to find herself even through some of the obstacles she faces. Janie in the book never like she equaled to the men she married because she already knew she was not above or better in any way . That was really the only time Janie really said something that was disrespectful and out of the way. Watching the movie everyone should see a major change in Janie’s whole character Oprah made Janie a more outspoken, uncouth, and a gallant person who had a different personality. Janie in the book would have never been so rude to Pheoby like she acted towards her in the movie becau...
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...ld have incorporated the horizon somehow in the movie taking it out completely does not make the movie as complete.
Janie and her second husband Joe Starks did not always see eye to eye some things he did for her were really sweet and compassionate. Joe knew exactly what to say to get Janie with him “De day you puts yo’ hand in mine, Ah wouldn’t let de sun go down on us single. Ah’m uh man wid principles. You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated lak a lady and Ah wants to be de one tuh show you” (Hurston 35). Joe says that and right then Janie has fell for him he was the one she wanted now. Joe and Janie’s relationship in the movie was very different from the book Janie had a lot to say in the movie she never kept her mouth shut. Janie had more power over Joe in the movie seemed like then Joe had over Janie. Joe was not always the best husband to Janie
The next husband that Janie comes into her life in Joe Starks. Joe starts was a very rich man and had lots and lots of money. Janie seen him coming down the road one day and this is how Joe and Janie meet. Joe affected Janie spiritual growth. For example, When Joe starts to belittle her and try to make himself boss. Joe said, “I am the boss missy and you are going to do what I say”(Hurston.41). This shows how abusive and mean Joe can be. Joe also affects Janie emotional growth. For example, When joe starts to abuse her Janie gets very upset and starts to cry and wants to leave. This shows you how much pain emotionally Joe is making Janie. joe also affects Janie spiritually. For example, When Joe starts to argue with Janie. Janie say, “I am
All three husbands are similar in the way that they all have expectations of Janie as a wife. Logan Killicks, Janies first husband, has expectations of Janie. His motives for his expectations though, are because he wants her to help out on the farm. Logan shows this expectation by saying, “ Naw Ah needs two mules dis yeah. Taters is goin’ tuh be taters in de fall. Bringin’ big prices. Ah aims tuh run two plows, and dis man Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout is got uh mule all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im” (21). He has the idea that Janie can work with him, Logan makes her carry wood to the house, cut seeds from potatoes, and even move piles of manure. In the same way, Joe Starks expects much from Janie as well. He is motivated by improving his image however, by making Janie Mrs. Mayor Starks she is now Joe’s eye candy. His vision for being a big voice is mainly in Janie’s perfect looks, like in this quote that states, “ Everybody was coming sort of fixed up, and he didn’t mean for nobody else’s wife to rank with her” (34). He expected Janie to be his trophy wife and just look better than everyone else. Tea Cake Woods’ expectations of Janie as a wife is the same as well. He had a different approach on it though, all Tea Cake wanted is for Janie to be his equal and nothing more. His motivation, is love. Tea Cake loves Janie and the way he expresses this is when he says, “Put dat two hundred back wid de rest, Janie. Mah dice. Ah...
..., she found her identity. It did not come easy for Janie. It took her years to find out who she really was.
Though Janie had three marriages in total, each one drew her in for a different reason. She was married off to Logan Killicks by her Grandmother who wanted her to have protection and security. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, its protection.” (Hurston 15) says Janie’s grandmother when Janie said she did not want to marry Logan. Though Janie did not agree with her grandmother, she knew that she just wanted what’s best for her. Next, she married Joe Starks, Janie was unsatisfied with her marriage to Logan so Joe came in and swept her off her feet. Janie did not like the fact that Logan was trying to make her work, so Joe’s proposition, “You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated like a lady and ah want to be de one tuh show yuh.” (Hurston 29) was too good to pass up, so she left Logan and married Joe. Janie’s last marriage was to Tea Cake. Fed up after having been treated poorly by Joe, Janie finally found someone who liked her for who she was. “Naw, ...
But Janie is young and her will has not yet been broken. She has enough strength to say "No" and to leave him by running away with Joe. At this point, Janie has found a part of her voice, which is her not willing to be like a slave in her husband's hands. After Janie marries Joe, I think that she discovers that he is not the person she thought he was.
In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author takes you on the journey of a woman, Janie, and her search for love, independence, and the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit seems to constantly be disregarded, yet Janie continues to hold on to the potential of grasping all that she desires. In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Hurston illustrates the ambiguity of Janie’s voice; the submissiveness of her silence and the independence she reclaims when regaining her voice. The reclaiming of Janie's independence, in the novel, correlates with the development and maturation Janie undergoes during her self discovery.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford confronts social and emotional hardships that shape who she is from the beginning to the end of the novel. Living in Florida during the 1900s, it was very common for an African American woman to face discrimination on a daily basis. Janie faces gender inequality, racial discrimination, and social class prejudice that she is able to overcome and use to help her develop as a person.
The next man Janie has to lean on is Joe Starks. He was a kind of salvation for Janie. He was a well-dressed black man who had worked for “white folks” all his life and had earned enough to travel to a place where black people ran the town. Janie met Joe while she was still married to Logan. She wanted to leave Logan, but I do not think she would have if Joe had not come along. Joe convinced her that He would be better for her to depend on by telling her, “Janie, if you think Ah aims to tole you off and make a dog outa you, youse wrong. Ah wants to make a wife outa you.”(p.28) Janie took this invitation as a way to leave Logan without losing the dependency she needed.
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford, the protagonist, constantly faces the inner conflicts she has against herself. Throughout a lot of her life, Janie is controlled, whether it be by her Nanny or by her husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Her outspoken attitude is quickly silenced and soon she becomes nothing more than a trophy, only meant to help her second husband, Joe Starks, achieve power. With time, she no longer attempts to stand up to Joe and make her own decisions. Janie changes a lot from the young girl laying underneath a cotton tree at the beginning of her story. Not only is she not herself, she finds herself aging and unhappy with her life. Joe’s death become the turning point it takes to lead to the resolution of her story which illustrates that others cannot determine who you are, it takes finding your own voice and gaining independence to become yourself and find those who accept you.
Oprah Winfrey mutilated the classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston by turning the movie into a story with no resemblance to the book. Throughout Janie Crawford’s life, love is a dream she wished to achieve. Oprah makes changes to Janie’s character, her marriages, and the differences of symbolism, the change of themes, and the significance of Janie’s childhood which will alter the entire moral of the story. Another difference is the way the townspeople gossip. Oprah changes the point of Janie’s life journey to find herself to a love story.
His voice continuously oppresses Janie and her voice. She retreats within herself, where she still dreams of her bloom time, which had ended with Joe, “This moment lead Janie to ‘grow out of her identity, but out of her division into inside and outside. Knowing not to mix them is knowing that articulate language requires the co-presence of two distinct poles, not their collapse into oneness’ ” (Clarke 608). The marriage carries on like this until Joe lies sick and dies in his death bed.
The next man that Janie confides in is Joe Starks. Joe in a sense is Janie's savior in her relationship with Logan Killicks. Joe was a well kept man who worked for "white-folks" all his life and had earned enough money to move himself to a town called Eatonville that was run completely by black people. Janie meets Joe while she is still married to Logan and she begins to lean on him ever so slightly. She has wanted to leave Logan, and she wouldn't have if Joe had not come along. Joe convinced Janie that he would be better off for her by telling her, "Janie, if you think Ah aims to tole you off and make a dog outa you, youse wrong.
In the beginning of the story, Janie is stifled and does not truly reveal her identity. When caught kissing Johnny Taylor, a local boy, her nanny marries her off to Logan Killicks. While with Killicks, the reader never learns who the real Janie is. Janie does not make any decisions for herself and displays no personality. Janie takes a brave leap by leaving Killicks for Jody Starks. Starks is a smooth talking power hungry man who never allows Janie express her real self. The Eatonville community views Janie as the typical woman who tends to her husband and their house. Janie does not want to be accepted into the society as the average wife. Before Jody dies, Janie is able to let her suppressed anger out.
...d feels that she is lucky to have him. Joe Starks, Janie's second husband, seems to be her singing bee when they first meet but she realizes that he is not. When Joe becomes what he strived to be, he tried to control Janie and change her into what he expected and thought for her to be. Only Tea Cake, Janie's final husband, truly cared for the person that she really was and treated her as his equal. He encouraged her to speak her mind and tell him her opinion so that they can gain a better understanding of each other. In the course of these marriages, Janie is lead toward a development of self and when she arrives back in her hometown she has grown into a mature, independent woman who was still left with the warm memories of love and laughter with Tea Cake.
Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.