In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston explores the effects of race and genders on developing one’s identity. Janie was able to ignore other opinions of her and becomes the woman she wants to be. She is a beautiful black woman that was looking for love in her three different marriages. Janie’s life is affected for better and for worse by the intersection of racism and sexism.
Throughout this novel, Janie’s life is affected by racism and her being a woman. Janie was having a hard time being a black women and looking for love in her marriages. As Hurston has noted, she knew know that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman (30). Janie decided to become a woman after her first
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dream did not come true. She was trying to find love in her first marriage, and it seems like it did not work out. Janie was not a woman in her first marriage, because she had no idea what the outcome was going to be during her first marriage. However, she knew for sure that in her first marriage, she would not find love or fall in love with her husband because of the difficult times. In first marriage, some women did not find love or did not fell in love with their spouse. The reason might be being that they were forced to be married instead of getting know their partner first. It the same reason with Janie when she married Logan, her Nanny forced Janie to marry him when she really did not want to marry Logan. Another thing that was discovered in the novel when Logan told Janie “Ah thought you would ’preciate good treatment. Thought Ah’d take and make somethin’ outa yuh. You think youse white folks by de way you act. (36)” With Janie being a black woman, Logan think that she cannot demand any good treatments or respect and expect for her to be happy. He also thinks that, if she demands for better, she would go to a white man. I mean to me, Janie deserve to be treated the right way and deserve to be happy. She also deserves to have good treatment and respect as her husband’s workhorse. Being a black woman, you would want respect from your man and wants to be happy. Nevertheless, if they do not get that, the black men will think that they will leave them to be with the white folks. No woman does not want their husband to love their work more than he love his wife. Every woman deserves better treatments and respect from their husband. This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all…Joe was… there in the store for him to look at, not those others, writes Hurston (64-65). With Janie being the wife of Joe, she had limits. Joe would not allow certain things to happen in the store. With Joe being a very jealous husband, Janie could not let her hair down while he is in the store. He did not want any man to look at her hair or to look at all. Janie was in the store for Joe and only Joe to look at, nobody else. He even made Janie covered her hair so no other men would look at her. For Janie, it was hard for her to be a woman; she could not have much freedom, and had to obey as whatever her husband tells her to do. Having a jealous husband, you cannot do anything as you pleased. He will think that you are flirting with another man. Just like how Joe thought Janie was flirting with another man. It is not fair for Janie; she should not be living her life like that. She should have at least some freedom from her husband. However, if she cannot, Janie should leave Joe alone and never come back to him. Janie deserves better. Some people thinks that being a black woman is not complicated.
Well, it is complicated being a black woman, especially if you’re married. Hurston agrees that women reconstruct their pasts by selectively forgetting and remembering different aspects of their lives. In this way, women see themselves living outside of their dreams. Also that women have the ability to accurately look back at their past (1). Women have the ability to remember what they want to remember and forget what they want to forget in their pasts. That is what make their dreams so true, because they live outside of their dreams. Women would not just sit around and let things just happens. That is why women act and do things accordingly the way they do. Women will make things happen for themselves. Just like in the beginning of the book, Janie remember what she wants to remember and forget what she wants to forget in the pasts of her life. Only women can make a choice to remember or forget whatever they pleased. This is related how Janie, in the beginning of the novel, remembered the things she wants to remember. In the novel, Nanny said, “So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see. (17)” Men treats women as if they are animals, when they supposed to be treat like queen. No black women in this world want no men to treat them …show more content…
like animals. Instead, they want to people to treat them as if they are queens. If anyone treat a woman as if she is an animal, then it will make her feel less than a person she is. Nanny can see that black women get the worst lot in life and have to go through a lot. Nanny knows that white men are the highest in hierarchy. She knows that the white men look down on black men. In return, the black men would drop the burden onto their women’s shoulder. That is why black women everyone treats black women like animals. Men be having their women doing their work for them and work them like a dog. Men should respect women more, especially black women. I know that white women does not have any problems with anyone disrespecting them, because no man would disrespect them at all. However, no women of all race should have different treatment from people. In the novel, Janie and Nanny were having a with Janie conversation, “Don’t tell me you done got knocked up already... “You ain’t got nothin’ to be shamed of, honey, youse uh married ’oman. You got yo’ lawful husband same as Mis’ Washburn or anybody else! (26-27)” Women that are married should bear children with their husband. They should not be ashamed of being pregnant by them. On the other hand, women that is not marred should be ashamed of pregnant. To Nanny, women should be married and pregnant. Also in Nanny eyes, the women’s worth defined by their position relative to men. Women should know where they stand with a man to know their worth. Because basically, their worth defined where they stand with a man. Women have to know their worth before making any mistake. That is why Nanny said you should be ashamed of yourself if you are pregnant and unmarried at the same time. Men get more privileges than women, just because they have more power than women.
Men also understands things more than women, they knows the difference between things. As stated in the text, ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with… his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men (1). Unlike women, men are more practical, men knows their dreams are unattainable. Their dreams is illustrates as if it in a ship that is distant and would not make it onto the shore. Which saying that men are lazy and will not be able to purse their dreams because they know that it would not come true. They realized that their dreams are unrealistic, meaning that they become more resigns with their fate and move on with their life. Men are not like women. Women live their life between dream and reality. The author illustrates this point when she asked, Why must Joe be so mad with her for making him look small when he did it to her all the time? Men always put down women and expect them to take it while it not true. It was an unfair double standard of what Joe says about Janie. Joe expect for Janie nothing to do nothing while he is talking foolish about her in front of other people. Woman do not want a husband that would talk down on them in front of people. Women expect their men to talk about them positively around people, because it shows other people how well the relationship between the two is. The women cannot insult their men without
strong effects and often-public consequences. Men think that women cannot talk down on them, just because they think women do not have the power to do that. On the other hand, Janie decided to step her game up and stop letting Joe talks down on her. Instead, she decided to talk down on him in front of everyone, by saying how small his reputation is and how small his actual manhood is. Women can always come back stronger once they get tired of their man talking down on them. Toward the end of the story, when Mrs. Turner’s brother came and she brought him over to be… No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show he was boss (172). In a man perspective, hitting a woman around people shows that he’s boss. For a man to prove that he is the boss of his woman, he should not be putting his hands on her. No man should not put their hands on women at all. No woman wants to be abuse by their man in front of other people or behind closed doors. I am not saying that Tea Cake be abusing Janie behind closed doors. I understand that Tea Cake want to show ownership of Janie also want to relieves the fear the he was feeling. He feared that Janie would leave him and give her heart to another man. However, the question is why would she leave him? No man should not abuse a woman just to show that she belongs to him. In addition, that Tea Cake was just jealous at the time. His jealousy bring out the worst of him, making him think that he need to be the boss of Janie. In addition, that he should possess her like her like she is an object in order to keep her with him. Women should not be possess as an object for the man to keep her. If you treat a woman right and give her the world, she would stay and she would not give her heart to another man. In conclusion, Janie’s life is affected for better and for worse by the intersection of racism and sexism. Janie have hard times being a married black woman and looking for love in her different marriages. Being a married black woman is very complicated. Married black women also struggles to find the right type of love with the right type of person. Lastly, that men have more privileges and power than women. They are basically the boss of them and men basically knows and understands things better than woman.
Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the religion of black people as a form of identity. Each individual in the black society Hurston has created worships a different God. But all members of her society find their identities by being able to believe in a God, spiritual or otherwise.
Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God tells about the life of Janie Crawford. Janie’s mother, who suffers a tragic moment in her life, resulting in a mental breakdown, is left for her grandmother to take care of her. Throughout Janie’s life, she comes across several different men, all of which end in a horrible way. All the men that Janie married had a different perception of marriage. After the third husband, Janie finally returns to her home. It is at a belief that Janie is seeking someone who she can truly love, and not someone her grandmother chooses for her. Although Janie eventually lives a humble life, Janie’s quest is questionable.
Zora Hurston was an African American proto-feminist author who lived during a time when both African Americans and women were not treated equally. Hurston channeled her thirst for women’s dependence from men into her book Their Eyes Were Watching God. One of the many underlying themes in her book is feminism. Zora Hurston, the author of the book, uses Janie to represent aspects of feminism in her book as well as each relationship Janie had to represent her moving closer towards her independence.
It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of love and protection in return. When they threaten to annihilate and hush her with these definitions, however, she uses her voice and fights to save her dream and her life. Hurston shows how Janie’s parental figures transform into metaphorical hurricanes, how a literal hurricane transforms into a metaphorical representation of Janie’s parental figures, and how Janie survives all five hurricanes.
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.
People are constantly searching for their voices. A voice gives someone independence and the ability to make her own decision. The First Amendment ensures that all United States citizens possess the freedom of speech; however, not all people are given the ability or opportunity to exercise that right. When a person has no voice they rely on others to make their decisions. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Are Watching God, Janie constantly struggles to find her voice. Her marriage to Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake help her discover and utilize her voice in different ways. During Janie’s first marriage to Logan she has no voice, Joe silences Janie’s tiniest whisper and controls her similar to a slave; in contrast to Logan and Joe, Tea Cake encourages Janie to use her voice and make her own decisions. Janie cannot express her voice until she discovers happiness and independence through her final marriage.
The contrast of these two places reinforces the theme of a search for love and fulfillment. To see what an ideal situation for an independent woman like would be, Hurston must first show the reader what Janie cannot deal with. Hurston has her character Janie go on a quest, one that was begun the day she was forced to marry Logan Killucks. The contrast in the setting is similar to one between good and evil.
Hurston uses the power of language and different narrative techniques to show Janie's transition throughout the novel. It is important to notice that in Janie's journey from object to subject, the narration of the novel shifts from third person to a mixture of first and third person; thus, the shift shows the awareness of self within Janie. Language becomes an instrument of injury and salvation and of selfhood and empowerment. The use of powerful language is exemplified well in the text when Janie is asked to say a few words as the new Mrs. Mayor. Joe, her second husband, quickly cuts in and says, "Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for not...
Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a thriving woman. Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards life has to offer.
Janie sets out on a quest to make sense of inner questions. She does not sit back and
The late first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it." Mrs. Roosevelt means that although one person may feel alone through the hardships one faces, one has millions beside oneself who can relate to and understand what one may feel. Zora Neale Hurston shows that even though Janie's family and spouses continue to be abusive and harsh toward Janie, their hate and control left her stronger than before, preparing her for the next challenges thrown at her. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the deaths' of close relatives and family positively affect Janie because she tends to become more educated and wiser with each death she overcomes in the obstacles she calls her life.
From the beginning of society, men and women have always been looked at as having different positions in life. Even in the modern advanced world we live in today, there are still many people who believe men and women should be looked at differently. In the work field, on average women are paid amounts lower than men who may be doing the exact same thing. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston brings about controversy on a mans roles. Janie Crawford relationships with Logan, Joe and Tea Cake each bring out the mens feelings on masculine roles in marital life.
Gender inequality has been a major issue for many centuries now. Societies insist in assigning males and females to different roles in life. The traditional stereotypes and norms for how a male and female should present themselves to the world have not changed much over time. But individuals are more than just their gender and should have the right to act and be treated the way they want. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
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.
... Janie is free-spirited and unconcerned about what others think of her. When she returns to Eatonville after Tea Cake’s death, she shows no shame for what she has done or where she has been, because she is finally able to live the life she always wanted to lead. Hurston’s own struggles in life for individuality and an outlet for her suppressed spirit clearly contribute to the development of Janie’s character. Just as Hurston struggled for recognition, equality, and purpose in the literary world during the Harlem Renaissance, Janie’s struggle for the recognition, equality, and purpose in her relationships.