“Their Eyes Were Watching God” In a galaxy of shades, skin is like the night sky, like constellations full of moles, freckles, and birthmarks that tell the story of who we are. A beautiful canvas without words, full of tones and textures. And what about the gender? The world's most awesome treasures like the unique flavor each of us brings. The deep complexities of Janie's relationships in Zora Neale Houston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” demonstrate how deeply established power inequalities may taint the pursuit of equality and personal freedom, acting as a microcosm for the traumatizing legacy of slavery. Gender roles and race are not just background topics, they are the very fabric that weaves together the story of Janie Crawford’s hunt …show more content…
Turner’s prejudice is a reflection of colorism in the community; although she is more aware of Janie’s attire selection due to her lighter complexion, she nevertheless carries deep-seated presumptions, as evidenced by her disapproval of Tae Cake’s darker complexion and her mistaken notion that she can use her brother to “correct” Janie’s marital “mistake”. A detailed portrayal of the skin tone discrimination that Janie encounters throughout her life. Mrs. Turner’s interactions that influence Janie are colorists who challenge Janie’s choices, which also strain her relationship with Janie. Karla Rahova delves into how Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” investigates how race and gender are connected, highlighting African American women’s difficulties in the early 20th century. Through her research, Rahova looks at how Janie, the main character, overcomes racial and gender-based difficulties to establish their voice and negotiate societal expectations. Let’s begin by examining these topics and their significance in the narrative in more detail, as presented by Rahova. “Historical dehumanization of African Americans in the South perpetuated discrimination and
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 other. Grandma’s worship of Jesus and the “Good Lawd,” Joe Starks’ worship of himself, Mrs. Turner’s worship of white characteristics, and Janie’s worship of love, all stem from a lack of jurisdiction in the society they inhabit. All these Gods represent a need for something to believe in and work for: an ideal, which they wish to achieve, to aspire to. Each individual character is thus able to find himself or herself in the God that they worship.
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.
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
Zora Hurston's novel “their eyes are watching God” portrays the ideas of social norm through colloquial diction, connotative diction, and isolation syntax.
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.
Each person, whether they realize it or not, has been shaped by their relationships with others. The effects that piers or family members can have on someone are limitless and often times profound. In many instances, people do not even know that they are being influenced by others. Even if it is in the most subtle manner, all characters in novels are directly influenced by other figures. Authors use rhetorical strategies to demonstrate the different ways in which relationships affect and shape character’s identities.
The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, is a novel that is a perfect representation of its time period. The novel was written in the 1930’s which was a time period filled with racism and sexual oppression, and this time period caused black women in American to become the most oppressed. The numerous symbols within the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God are able to capture these cultural ideals at the time and were influenced heavily by the time period. Specifically, Janie’s hair and her rags are representative of her non-conformity to society's standards which further characterizes her as independent.
The character Janie in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is portrayed as a woman who has a modern mindset that is much too advanced for her thinking. Janie does things that raise much controversy with the community and endures situations that would be deemed inhumane in today’s society. Examining the abuse, oppression and criticism Janie undergoes in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God from both a contemporary woman's viewpoint and an early twentieth century woman's viewpoint reveals differences, as well as similarities in the way people respond to events.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a good place to start examining the roles of African-American women. It is written by a woman, Zora Neale Hurston, and from a woman's perspective. This book examines the relationship between Janie and...
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman that is lost in her own world. She longs to be a part of something and to have “a great journey to the horizons in search of people” (85). Janie Crawford’s journey to the horizon is told as a story to her best friend Phoebe. She experiences three marriages and three communities that “represent increasingly wide circles of experience and opportunities for expression of personal choice” (Crabtree). Their Eyes Were Watching God is an important fiction piece that explores relations throughout black communities and families. It also examines different issues such as, gender and class and these issues bring forth the theme of voice. In Janie’s attempt to find herself, she grows into a stronger woman through three marriages.
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. She lives with her grandmother who is a nanny for a wealthy white family. Janie would play with the children without realizing a difference in their race. She first realized how separate she was when she looked into the mirror for the first time. This struggle of separation stayed with her for her whole life. She was then forced by her grandma to marry an older man who would provide her with security and a nice home. Her marriage lacked love, which was replaced with the control of her husband. She was then swept away by a young black man, Joe Starks, who at first promised her a life of the love that she deserved. Joe became the beloved mayor of Eatonville and was knee deep in wealth.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is greatly praised by most critics today but was held in a different light when first published. Popular black authors during Hurston’s era held the most disdain for Hurston’s novel. Famous writer Richard Wright harshly criticized the book as a “minstrel technique that makes the ‘white folks’ laugh. Her characters eat and laugh and cry and work and kill; they swing like a pendulum eternally in that safe and narrow orbit in which America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears” (Wright, Between Laughter and Tears). Wright dominated the 40’s decade of writing for blacks (Washington, Foreword). His review explains Hurston book is feeding the whites additional reasons why black are the “lower” race. This was the complete opposite idea of what blacks strived to be seen as and as such Hurston’s novel would be unread by the black culture. This made Wright’s review the most crippling towards Hurston because it was intensely harsh and his influence greatly urge the readers to dismiss Their Eyes Were Watching God leading to its disappearance.
In Zora Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie Crawford was an attractive, confident, middle-aged black woman. Janie defied gender stereotypes and realized others cruelty toward her throughout the novel. Behind her defiance was curiosity and confidence that drove her to experience the world and become conscious of her relation to it. Janie’s idealized definition of love stemmed from her experience under a pear tree, an experience that was highly romanticized and glamorized in her sixteen year old eyes. Janie’s ability to free herself from the confining, understood, stereotypical roles enforced upon her allowed her to not only find true love but define true love as well.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, is a book that demonstrates the journey of a woman that stepped out of the box in community that was so sexist. The book explores the life of a young southern Black girl in the 1930s searching and attempting to understand her wants and her needs.Janie Mae Crawford, the protagonist, brings the reader through the journey of love, tradition, and judgment. Janie gives the reader the inside scope of her life. She was born a mixed baby, her mother left her, her grandmother raised her, and she was married off at sixteen years old with her grandmother’s wishes to a much older gentleman named Logan Killicks. Marriage wasn’t what she expected it to be, loving and happy. Instead, it was unloving and
Throughout history and even today, women are undoubtedly perceived as inferior. Women are often associated with passivity and domesticity, while men are associated with robusticity. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston explores the theme of gender roles and relations through the audacious protagonist, Janie. Janie unveils the eventful life she endured upon her return to her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, as she speaks to her best friend, Pheoby Watson. Through her imparting, Janie describes her past relationships with men, which accentuate the demeaning aspects of gender roles in society.