Their Eyes Were Watching God

1372 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Thematic statement of janie's growth in their eyes were watching god

Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie battles to find Individualism within

herself. Janie, all her life, had been pushed around and told what to do and how to live her life. She searched and searched high and low to find a peace that makes her whole and makes her feel like a complete person. To make her feel like she is in fact an individual and that she’s not like everyone else around her. During the time of ‘Their Eyes’, the correct way to treat women was to show them who was in charge and who was inferior. Men were looked to as the superior being, the one who women were supposed to look up to and serve. Especially in the fact that Janie was an African American women during these oppressed times. Throughout this book, it looks as though Janie makes many mistakes in trying to find who she really is, and achieving the respect that she deserves.

Living with her Grandmother and theWashburns’, Janie was surrounded and raised with white children. She always believed that she was white herself, and that she was no different than anybody else. As she was growing up, she was told what to do and how to live by her grandmother. Janie’s grandmother planned her life out for her. She told her that she must get married right away. “Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhood on yuh. So Ah mout ez well tell yuh whut Ah been savin’ up for uh spell. Ah wants to see you married right away.” Janie’s grandmother did want what was best for Janie, but she basically told her what to do instead of letting her know what she wanted for her. Janie’s grandmother told her exactly who she was going to marry and who she wasn’t even to think about. “Whut Ah seen just now is plenty for me, honey, Ah don’t want no trashy negro, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foots on. Brother Logan Killicks, he’s a good man.......You answer me when Ah speak. Don’t you set dere poutin’ wid me after all Ah done went through for you!” She is basically telling Janie that she can’t marry Johnny Taylor, the one she is exploring her womanhood

with, the one she wants, and that she must marry Logan, for protection. Towards the end

of the book, Janie resents her grandmother for “living” her life for her and planning her future. To find out what will happen in a persons future, they need to live their life on their own an...

... middle of paper ...

... and scratching the dandruff from her scalp.” Tea Cake and Janie obviously shared a special love between them as their relationship grew. The things he did for her made her feel unbelievable. They did things she had never even thought of. Tea Cake took her places she had never been. “To Janie’s strange eyes, everything in the Everglades was big and new.” Janie went to many new places and met many new people that she would’ve never met had she stayed with Logan or stayed in Eatonville with Joe. She would’ve just kept on living the same life...never doing anything new with the same boring people. With Tea Cake, Janie began to work, and to feel a certain freedom she had never felt before.

Janie found what she was looking for. She searched all her life to find what was within herself, and one special person was all that was needed to bring it out in her. Even though her and Tea Cake’s relationship ended in a tragedy, she knew that he really loved her for who she was. She didn’t need to be with him for protection, or she didn’t need to be the leading lady of a town or a mayor’s wife, she just needed the right kind of love and affection to bring out what was best in her.

Show More
Related

  • Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1505 Words  | 4 Pages

    After this incident he continually puts Janie back in her place and allows her no authority, which causes her to relinquish her love for him. After his death, Janie is once again longing for power, which she finds in her love for Tea Cake. Tea Cake is younger than her, which automatically gives her more authority. He also loves her, an older woman, and that also gives her a sense of more power. She follows her power, and consequently her love, to the Everglades.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis Of Janie's Phoeby

    1131 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tea Cake is more fun and relaxed than the previous husbands. What’s more important however, is that he views Janie as more of an equal than either of the previous husbands. Both of Janie’s first two husbands viewed Janie almost on the same level as an object, or a piece of property. Tea Cake sees Janie more as an equal and a companion.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Hurston

    2115 Words  | 5 Pages

    When Janie marries Logan, her life is changed completely. She was not only forced into a loveless marriage but she was also forced into a slave like position. Logan sees nothing wrong with the marriage and when Janie complains he responds with, “Ah thought you would ‘preciate good treatement. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act” (Hurston, 42). Logan sees marriage much the same way that Nanny does; he believes that because he does not abuse her and provides the necessities that Janie should be happy. According to Tracy L. Bealer’s article “The Kiss of Memory: The Problem of Love in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God,” “Though Logan does not abuse or violate Janie, even his money proves no protection from unsatisfying labor, as his ominous purchase of a mule ‘all gentled up so even uh woman kin handle ‘im’’ (26) implies the treat of compulsive labor” (316). The physical labor was only one of the problems that Janie had in her marriage with Logan; Logan looked down on Janie for having grown up with and around white people. He would insult Janie by saying, “Considerin’ youse born in a carriage ‘thout no top to it, and yo’ mama and you bein’ born and raised in de white folks back-yard” (Hurston, 40). Logan resented that Janie did not identify with other blacks as a child and saw Janie as his lesser because of this.

    Read More

  • Looking for the Horizon with Tea Cake in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Reflecting on her journey, Janie is genuinely fulfilled. With help from Tea Cake, she has experienced the life.

    Read More

  • Janie’s Learning Experiences in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    1426 Words  | 3 Pages

    From Janie’s first relationship with Logan Killicks, she learns about marriage. Janie is forced to marry Logan by Nanny, Janie’s grandmother. Janie was really young and she did not have any plans on getting married, but Nanny wants Janie to marry someone soon: “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection. Ah ain’t gittin’ ole, honey, Ah’m done ole. One mornin’ soon, now, de angel wid de sword is gointuh stop by here. De day and de hour is hid from me, but it won’t be long. Ah as de Lawd when you was uh infant in mah arms to let me stay here till you got grown.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: Character Analysis

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    In conclusion, Janie is an outgoing and caring person who wants to meet and have fun with other people. Most of the people in her life made her avoid being able to fit in with the crowd. Janie could not overcome the control others had over her. People always continued the gossip throughout the community because she was different. After Janie met Tea Cake, she was determined to do as she wanted without anyone’s say so. Janie will always be known as the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Janie's Evolution Through Hardship In Their Eyes Were Watching God

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Facing Inner Conflict in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Impact Of Janie's Role In Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1080 Words  | 3 Pages

    Earlier Tea Cake had gotten jealous of Ms. Turner’s son, and has slapped Janie just to relieve his fear inside him that he had. Also to show Janie, Ms. Turner and her son who is boss. Tea Cake begins to the men, “Ah, didn’t wants whup her last night, but ol’ Mis’ Turner done sent for her brother tuh come tuh bait Janie in and take her way from me. Ah didn’t whup Janie ‘cause she done nothin’. Ah beat her tuh how dem Turners who is boss” (TEWWG.17.148). Tea Cake wanted to prove a point to all the men in the town that he can control what 's his.Then suddenly the next day the storm had came over the Everglades and had flooded the whole town. Janie and Tea Cake had to leave their home because they would have drowned if they stayed. On their way to a safe location, Tea Cake had gotten bit by a furious dog which was intended to bit Janie but didn’t because he jumped in front of it. When the storm was over they went back to the Everglades and Tea Cake had rabies. The doctor had ordered that they don’t sleep in the same bed but Tea Cake feels abandoned. Tea says, ““How come you ruther sleep on uh pallet than tuh sleep in de bed wid me?” Janie saw then that he had the gun in his hand that was hanging to his side.” (TEWWG.19.183). The rabies had gotten to him and was making him go crazy. Janie was scared and didn’t know what to do about the sickness of Tea Cake. He got worse and worse that has changed himself of being into someone that’s not him. The gun that Tea Cake had pointed towards Janie,“The pistol snapped once….and shoved in the shell as the second click told her that Tea Cake’s suffering brain was urging him on to kill....The pistol and the rifle rang out almost together” (TEWWG.19.183-184. He tried to kill Janie so she used a rifle to protect herself and shot Tea Cake. Also he shot back but missed. Tea Cake dies and Janie goes back the her old

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Book Analysis

    1804 Words  | 4 Pages

    Janie’s character undergoes a major change after Joe’s death. She has freedom. While the town goes to watch a ball game Janie meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake teaches Janie how to play checkers, hunt, and fish. That made Janie happy. “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Tea Cake gave her the comfort of feeling wanted. Janie realizes Tea Cake’s difference from her prior relationships because he wants her to become happy and cares about what she likes to do. Janie tells Pheoby about moving away with Tea Cake and Pheoby tells her that people disapprove of the way she behaves right after the death of her husband. Janie says she controls her life and it has become time for her to live it her way. “Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (Hurston 114). Janie becomes stronger as she dates Tea Cake because she no longer does for everyone else. Janie and Tea Cake decided to move to the Everglades, the muck. One afternoon, a hurricane came. The hurricane symbolizes disaster and another change in Janie’s life. “Capricious but impersonal, it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys the

    Read More

  • Janie: a Hero?

    359 Words  | 1 Pages

    When Tea Cake enters Janie's life, Janie really starts to come out of her shell. She lets down her hair that was kept up the entire time with Starks. This symbolizes Janie letting all her inhibitions out. In finding Tea Cake, Janie has "completed her voyage" of self-discovery. Tea Cake allows her to feel exhilarated and young again. She makes more friends and becomes more social. During this time in her life Janie is an excellent role model for other black women. She does not give a second look at what other people think about her, which is very admirable. This is shown when Hezekiah Potts tells Janie that Tea Cake is too low of a man for Janie yet, she stills persists on seeing him. Many people also think that Tea Cake is courting Janie for her money only. Janie pays no regard to these onlookers though.

    Read More

  • Janie’s Courageous Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God 4

    985 Words  | 2 Pages

    Janie who continually finds her being defined by other people rather than by herself never feels loved, either by her parents or by anybody else. Her mother abandoned her shortly after giving birth to her. All she had was her grandmother, Nanny, who protected and looked after her when she was a child. But that was it. She was even unaware that she is black until, at age six, she saw a photograph of herself. Her Nanny who was enslaved most of her lifetime only told her that a woman can only be happy when she marries someone who can provide wealth, property, and security to his wife. Nanny knew nothing about love since she never experienced it. She regarded that matter as unnecessary for her as well as for Janie. And for that reason, when Janie was about to enter her womanhood in searching for that love, Nanny forced her to marry Mr. Logan Killicks, a much older man that can offer Janie the protection and security, plus a sixty-acre potato farm. Although Janie in her heart never approves what her Nanny forced her to do, she did it anyway. She convinced herself that by the time she became Mrs. Killick, she would get that love, which turned out to be wrong.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1549 Words  | 4 Pages

    As the novel opens Janie creates a visual demonstration which lets us know that there is a large difference between her and the other women in the novel (n.p.). She becomes one with her sexuality after lying under a pear tree. Hurston stated, "Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches" (pg.8).This leads to her eventually kissing a young man by the name of Johnny Taylor. Nanny sees her kiss him, and says that Janie is now a woman. (pg. 12) She wants her to marry now and suggests that Janie marry Logan Killicks because he has shown an interest in Janie by always coming around their house. (pg. 13) Janie does not want to marry Logan because she feels he's unattractive and he does not resemble her image of a blooming pear tree. With this being said, Nanny leads Janie to believe no matter who she marrys, she will eventually learn to love them (Kubitschek 23). Janie hated Nanny because of the choices she made for her (pg.85). Thereafter, Nanny arranged for Janie to marry Logan Killicks. She felt that getting married to him will protect Janie from the burdens of being a black woman. Janie did nothing but obey.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God

    957 Words  | 2 Pages

    She communicates different messages through her characters within the text. The way Jody treats Janie in the story is evident of the struggles of black women even at the hands of their spouses. "They plan and they fix and they do, and then some kitchen-dwelling fiend slips a scorchy, soggy, tasteless mess into their pots and pans. Janie was a good cook, and Joe had looked forward to his dinner as a refuge from other things. So when the bread didn’t rise, and the fish wasn’t quite done at the bone, and the rice was scorched, he slapped Janie until she had a ringing sound in Their Eyes Were Watching God 85 her ears and told her about her brains before he stalked on back to the store" (pg 87). She seemed more like a servant than a wife at this point in the story. It is obvious that "the spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor. It was there to shake hands whenever company came to visit, but it never went back inside the bedroom again" (pg 86). We can assume that this is a familiar way of treatment for black women during the period of time, because of the way other characters like Walter Thomas,saying that he would kill his wife if she ever "embarrassed" him by essentially asking for help for the whole family.

    Read More

More about Their Eyes Were Watching God

Open Document