Themes In Their Eyes Were Watching God

1146 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Their eyes were watching god essay about marriage

Zora Neale Hurston presents unique relationships and themes in her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which assist in the transformation of the main character, Janie, from a naïve adolescent girl into a strong and independent woman. Janie yearned for her freedom and voice, thus she had to adapt and fight to reach that position. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston presents a transformation with the main character Janie through her three marriages to Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake. Janie desired an equal and loving marriage, neither of which she obtained with her first marriage. Janie was forced into marriage by Nanny, as Nanny thought this would protect Janie after she had been caught kissing Johnny Taylor (The Concept of Love and Marriage …show more content…

Joe quickly spoke up before Jane could speak by saying, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home” (Hurston 43). Janie’s transformation was interrupted with being married to Joe, as she lost the voice that she had gained at the end of her marriage to Logan (Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie Crawford Character Analysis). While Janie still has her will power inside, Joe continued to manipulate Janie (Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie Crawford Character Analysis). Janie knew that Joe’s stifling of her continued to diminish her freedom and self-identity (Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie Crawford Character Analysis). Joe wanted her to be in the background of things and to be his trophy wife (The Concept of Love and Marriage in Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God). Joe’s domineering nature continued when he saw other men paying particularly close attention to Janie’s hair, so he instructed Janie to cover her hair (The Concept of Love and Marriage in Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God). Joe considered Janie to be a possession of his and only he was allowed to view her in that way. …show more content…

Joe isolated Janie from the community, and never gave her an opinion on the matter (The Concept of Love and Marriage in Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God). Joe abused Janie physically throughout their marriage, but also verbally abused her as time went on (The Concept of Love and Marriage in Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God). When Janie spoke out against Joe, it would be the biggest first step in Janie’s journey to equality, voice, and freedom (Roberts and Kendall). Janie speaks out against Joe in the store after being ridiculed for her looks (The Concept of Love and Marriage in Zora Neale Hurston 's Their Eyes Were Watching God). When Janie does fight back against Joe finally using her voice, she destroys his self-image and power (Analysis of Major Characters). Joe abuses Janie for this vocal outburst in front of community members

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis: Their Eyes Were Watching God

    571 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Hurston

    2115 Words  | 5 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Janie's Three Marriages in Hurston's There Eyes Were Watching God

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, she was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it. So, she left him for Joe Starks who promised to treat her the way a lady should be treated, but he also made her the way he thought a lady should be. After Joe died she found Tea Cake, a romantic man who loved Janie the way she was, and worked hard to provide for her.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    One of the underlying themes Zora Neale Hurston put in her book, Their Eyes Were Watching God was feminism. Hurston used each of Janie’s three marriages to represent Janie moving closer to her liberation and freedom from male dominance. She finally found her liberation and became truly independent after graduating from her final relationship with Tea Cake by killing him.

    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

  • Janie and Contemporary Women in Zora Neale Hurston’s "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 in 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. The response to abuse has metamorphosed drastically from Janie’s time to the present day. During the days of the early 20th century in which the novel was set, spousal abuse was accepted and even promoted in some cases.

    Read More

  • Search for Identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character, Janie, struggles to find herself and her identity. Throughout the course of the novel she has many different people tell her who she should be and how she should behave, but none of these ideas quite fit Janie. The main people telling Janie who she should be is her grandmother and Janie’s 3 husbands. The people in Janie's life influence her search for identity by teaching her about marriage, hard work, class, society, love and happiness. Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny, instils in her during her life.

    Read More

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

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Are Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she utilizes an array of symbolism such as color, the store, and her husbands to solidify the overall theme of independence and individuality. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered by many a classic American Feminist piece that emphasizes how life was for African Americans post slave era in the early 1900s. One source summarizes the story as, 1 ”a woman's quest for fulfillment and liberation in a society where women are objects to be used for physical work and pleasure.” Which is why the overall theme is concurrent to independence and self.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1463 Words  | 3 Pages

    The movie and the book of Their Eyes Were Watching God both tell the story of a young woman’s journey to finding love; however, the movie lacks the depth and meaning behind the importance of Janie’s desire for self-fulfillment. Oprah Winfrey’s version alters the idea from the book Zora Neale Hurston wrote, into a despairing love story for the movie. Winfrey changes Hurston’s story in various ways by omitting significant events and characters, which leads to a different theme than what the novel portrays. The symbolisms and metaphors emphasized throughout the book are almost non-existent in the movie, changing the overall essence of the story. While Zora Neale Hurston’s portrayal gives a more in depth view of Janie’s journey of self-discovery and need for fulfilling love, Oprah Winfrey’s version focuses mainly on a passionate love story between Janie and Tea Cake.

    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

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1372 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Unhealthy Relationships

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston, an acclaimed African-American writer, wrote the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God during a time when women did not have a large say in their marriages. The novel follows the main character Janie in her quest to find what she thinks is true love and happiness. Hurston highlights the idea of healthy and unhealthy relationships throughout Janie’s three marriages. Each marriage had its advantages but they were largely overshadowed by their disadvantages resulting in Janie learning the hard truth about married life for a women of color in the 1920s. Ultimately the reader and Janie learn that in order to be happy in a marriage you must love, learn, and lose from past relationship experiences to figure out what truly makes you

    Read More

More about Themes In Their Eyes Were Watching God

Open Document