Jimin Park Mrs. Tiller 10 Honors English 24 October 2016 A Framework for Independence “Running blind in truth. I’ma rains on this bitter love. Tell the sweet I’m new… Freedom! I can’t move. Freedom, cut me loose...I break chains all by myself. Won’t let my freedom rot in hell.” In her song “Freedom,” Beyoncé, notable American musician, describes the relationships between love, freedom, and self-fulfillment. She explains if someone is in a “bitter love,” they can not be autonomous until they liberate themselves from the negative constraints and exercise their right to choose. These relationships may be commonly seen in modern-day pop culture but they are distinctly conveyed in the 1937 novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. …show more content…
Hurston writes of the fictional character Janie Mae Crawford, who embarks on a journey to seek her own idealized version of love. Hurston articulates the relationships between love, freedom, and self-fulfillment by utilizing a pear tree and Janie’s head wrap as symbols to present that autonomy is a prerequisite to self-gratification.
To add depth in regards to the central theme, Hurston utilizes a pear tree to depict self-fulfillment and love. Hurston conveys Janie's constricted freedom when Nanny forcibly weds her to Logan and he “... was desecrating the pear tree” (Hurston 17). The pear tree represents Janie’s vision of idealized love: erotic, full of energy, passionate interaction, and blissful harmony; these elements are being destroyed by her arranged marriage with Logan. In particular, Hurston constructs Janie’s nuptial bond with Logan as “purely-materialistic,” meaning the purpose of the marriage was for property, wealth, and security; these ideals are what Janie's grandmother equates with love. Nanny restricts Janie from obtaining the idealized love that she desires. This prevents Janie from fulfilling her own happiness, and slowly “desecrates the pear tree”, along with her vision of romance. Still yearning for passion and energy, Janie continues to seek those qualities of love. After failed attempts at “love” with Logan Killicks and Joe
Starks, Janie meets Tea Cake, a young man who views love the same way she does. While Janie continues to gaze upon Tea Cake, Hurston describes him as “a bee to a blossom—a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his foot- steps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God” (Hurston 126). This relationship, described as a symbiosis, clearly conveys the compatibility of the two lovers. This compatibility is portrayed through the image of a blossoming pear tree, which symbolizes Janie’s hopes for romance. Tea Cake reciprocates the way Janie shows affection. She sees him as a magnificent, attractive man who is perfect for her vision of a lover. In order to fulfill her vision of love, Janie marries Tea Cake, and is satisfied with their radiant relationship. This allows the formerly “desecrated” pear tree to blossom once more through their romance. Throughout the book, Hurston incorporates the pear tree to demonstrate that one’s ability to make decisions is key to self-gratification. Hurston not only uses a pear tree as a symbol but branches out and employs Janie’s headwrap to signify restraints on her freedom and self-autonomy. In particular, Janie’s second husband, Joe Starks requires Janie to wear a head-rag which “... 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. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was... he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all. She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others” (Hurston 64). Janie’s hair and her beauty have always been a mark of distinction, but Joe finds her beauty a concern and forces Janie to hide it. By tying Janie’s hair up, Joe asserts his dominance and possession over her. He limits her freedom of choice to the point where she is not even allowed to choose the appearance of her hair. Joe continues to berate and suppress Janie’s independence but eventually falls ill and after his death, Janie “...went over to her dresser and looked hard at her skin and features. The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair” (Hurston 104). The unwrapping of Janie’s hair represents her liberation from Joe. When she takes the head-rag off and allows her hair to flow freely, Janie allows her individuality to radiate and relish her freedom. Consequently, Janie continues to seek her version of idealized love with her personal revelation. By lacing Janie’s headwrap as a symbol throughout the story, Hurston conveys that constraints on freedom restrict one’s happiness. Ultimately, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel proves that in order for one to be content with self-gratification, they need to be autonomous. The author carefully articulates the relationships between love and freedom by using a pear tree and headwrap as symbols. The pear tree represents the intertwined factors of love and freedom, while the headwrap supports the underlying theme of constraints of freedom and their effects on happiness. Clearly, these themes are found in 20th-century literature but are also parallel in modern-day pop culture. Beyoncé’s song, “Freedom,” conveys that themes of love and freedom are not only limited to present-day music, but are perpetuated through discussions in the past, present, and the future. Works Cited Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print. "BEYONCE KNOWLES LYRICS." AZLYRICS.COM. Stream-It-Online, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2016.
The pear tree, the ocean, the horizon, the hurricane are how Janie views nature. Hurston uses spring as a sign of fertility, blossoming sexuality, and a new start. The pear tree represents Janie blossoming into womanhood. In Janie’s eyes the pear tree represents beauty and freedom because she is able to reflect on her life, and her future. No one is telling her what to do when she sits under t...
In the beginning, the pear tree symbolizes Janie’s yearning to find within herself the sort of harmony and simplicity that nature embodies. However, that idealized view changes when Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks, a wealthy and well-respected man whom Janie’s Nanny set her up with. Because Janie does not know anything about love, she believes that even if she does not love Logan yet, she will find it when they marry. Upon marrying Logan, she had to learn to love him for what he did, not for that infallible love every woman deserves. After a year of pampering, Logan becomes demanding and rude, he went as far to try to force Janie to do farm work. It was when this happened that Janie decided to take a stand and run away with Joe. At this time, Janie appears to have found a part of her voice and strong will. In a way, she gains a sense of independence and realizes she has the power to walk away from an unhealthy situation and does not have to be a slave to her own husband.
Zora Neale Hurston uses many rhetorical devices to depict the relationship Janie has with Joe Starks in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. In chapter 7 Hurston uses devices such as metaphors in three paragraphs to convey how Joe Starks role of a mayor has a tremendous weight on him and Janie. Also how he’s aging physically and mentally is affecting their relationship in a negative way.
Every novel has a protagonist and an antagonist of the story. There has to be a "good guy" and "bad guy" in order for there to be some sort of an interesting plot. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, my most and least favorite characters happen to be the protagonist, Janie, and the antagonist, Jody Starks. There are many things that symbolize these characters that are both comparable and contradictory of my personality. Symbols, objects or characters that are used to represent abstract ideas or concepts, play a major role in this novel. Janie is represented by her hair and Jody by his power, wealth and status of the town. Janie Jody and the symbolic representations are the three most appealing fundamentals of the story.
Of least significance to Janie is her first husband, Logan Killicks. Hurston uses pathos to show that Janie and her first husband are not meant to be even though society thinks otherwise. Nanny thinks that Logan is really made for Janie, but Janie doesn’t love Logan. Janie tells Nanny, “Cause you told me Ah
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.
In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, the image of a pear tree reverberates throughout the novel. The pear tree is not only a representation of Janie's life - blossoming, death, metamorphosis, and rebirth - but also the spark of curiosity that sets Janie on her quest for self-discovery. Janie is essentially "rootless" at the beginning of her life, never having known her mother or father and having been raised by her grandmother, Nanny. Nanny even says to Janie, "Us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways" (Hurston, 16). Under a pear tree in Nanny's backyard, however, Janie, as a naïve sixteen-year-old, finds the possibilities of love, sexuality, and identity that are available to her. This image, forever reverberating in her mind through two unsuccessful marriages to Logan Killicks and Joe Starks, is what keeps Janie's spirit alive and encourages her quest for love and life. "It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep" (10).
In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Sweat,” Hurston uses the characters Janie Crawford and Delia Jones to symbolize African-American women as the mules of the world and their only alternative were through their words, in order to illustrate the conditions women suffered and the actions they had to take to maintain or establish their self-esteem.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s romantic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, two settings are contrasted to reinforce the author’s theme of a search for true love. The setting of Eatonville, Florida, where main character Janie experiences life as the mayor’s wife, is contrasted with the Florida Everglades, where Janie lives with Tea Cake in a much more relaxed atmosphere.
Zora Neale was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist. In her best known novel Their eyes were watching God, Hurston integrated her own first-hand knowledge of African American oral culture into her characters dialogue and the novels descriptive passages. By combing folklore, folk language and traditional literary techniques; Hurston created a truly unique literary voice and viewpoint. Zora Neale Hurston's underlying theme of self-expression and search for one’s independence was truly revolutionary for its time. She explored marginal issues ahead of her time using the oral tradition to explore contentious debates. In this essay I will explore Hurston narrative in her depiction of biblical imagery, oppression of African women and her use of colloquial dialect.
Zora Neale Hurston opens Their Eyes Were Watching God with an eloquent metaphor regarding dreams: “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others, they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time (Hurston 1).” Hurston describes here how some dreams are achieved with time while others lurk out of reach until the dreamer gives up. Janie Crawford, protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God, encounters numerous ambitions throughout her life, mainly concerning a desire to somehow achieve something in life, and to not just go through the motions. While Janie’s dreams and my own do not exactly correspond, we both aspire to discover a greater passion in life and find a voice that will enable us to make a difference.
“She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight,” (11). The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching, God by Zora Neale Hurston, tells a story of a woman, Janie Crawford’s quest to find her true identity that takes her on a journey and back in which she finally comes to learn who she is. These lessons of love and life that Janie comes to attain about herself are endowed from the relationships she has with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake.
Nanny Janie’s grandmother disapprove the kiss between Janie and Johnny Taylor under the pear tree (11). Janie was only sixteen years old and naïve to think that was love. Nanny knew Johnny Taylor did not mean to cause no harm, but she felt Johnny was trying to mislead Janie to hurt and humiliate her by being sexual that can be dangerous (Hurston 12-15). Likewise, Janie was forced into marrying Logan an older man, Nanny approved of because Janie will have a husband that will love her. Same as, Hurston describe Janie emotions of unhappiness within the marriage not having affection and desire for Logan, Hurston implies, “Ah ain’t got nothin’ tuh live for.” (118) Hurston also describes Janie as confident that caught men attention as well as her physique, the women were jealous of Janie implying “Janie will never fit in the upper class of white men because of her appearance.” (Hurston 41) The women try to make Janie feel worthless and unattractive of not having enough sexually appeal. . Hurston writing engage the character from love to lust in a unhappy marriage that lead to a prolonged period of difficulty
In this world, there is no such thing as a perfect husband, they can have a lot of good traits but also some bad ones. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, their were a lot of examples of how a husband should and shouldn’t act. The character Janie gets married two different times before she married the guy she really felt infatuated for. Although he wasn’t the perfect husband, his traits outweighed the other two guys. In her first marriage with a gentleman named Logan Killicks, she was not allowed to have any input in the marriage, therefore did not have the feelings which a relationship really needs. Her second marriage was a lot better than the one with Logan Killicks, but with Joe Starks, he was completely
We have read multiple books throughout this semester and they all are tied together in many ways. They all have themes of family, lying, switching at birth etc. We did not read the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston but it fits into many of the themes we have seen in the books we read this semester. This book has many themes such as love, power, and language. I will be comparing how the different themes connects this book with many others we have read throughout this semester.