Women In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Throughout the twentieth century, women have struggled with their rights in the social, economic, and political fields. Women have gained a lot of ground towards equality through organizations such as the League of Nations (De Haan 58). The twentieth century dealt heavily with creating a stronger and more independent identity for women as a result of their actions to achieve equality. The growth in independence and strength of women during the twentieth century is an idea echoed in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. In the novel Zora Neale Hurston compares the lives of men and woman and uses Janie’s three husbands to reveal a theme that as a woman ages, the woman grows stronger, more independent, and more mature as a result

of sexism, her surroundings, and her want for independence and freedom.
Janie’s grandmother has a traditional outlook on the lives of men and women. She treats women as dependents and controlled people. While Janie is living with her grandmother, the dependency of women evident in her grandmother’s beliefs is echoed in Janie. As soon as Nanny sees Janie kiss Johnny Taylor, Nanny forces upon Janie a marriage that is similar to a life of servitude, dependency, and control (Crabtree 2). The dependency of women is apparent in Nanny’s beliefs because as soon as Janie matures into a woman when kissing Johnny Taylor, Nanny feels that Janie needs to be married because she feels that Janie cannot live and survive on her own. Nanny is paradoxical in that she distrusts men and wants Janie to live freer than she did, but is negative towards feminism and believes that women need men for economic and social reasons (Crabtree 3). Janie mostly agrees to her grandmother’s paradoxical requests, and, as a result, is controlled and is dependent not only on her husband of the time, Logan Killicks, but also on her grandmother.
The effects of sexism on Janie are apparent through the differing treatments of the people of Eatonville towards Joe Starks and towards Janie. In the store, Janie accidentally makes a mistake while cutting tobacco. Immediately, the people of Eatonville respond with criticism and “good-natured laughter at the expense of woman” (Hurston 74). The people of Eatonville, like with the tobacco cutting incident in the store, are always quick to find criticism towards Janie and other women, no matter the size of the problem.
On the other hand, when Joe Starks is dying, all the citizens are caring and sympathetic towards Joe, while they are critical and disapproving of Janie.

Even though the sympathy may be due to Starks dying, the disgust shown towards Janie is clear and evident. They know that Joe mistreated Janie, but remain oblivious to that, but are conscious and sensitive when Janie does something wrong or against the will of her husband. The contrast between kindness and forgiveness towards mistreatment by men and the alertness and criticalness towards actions of women reveals the criticism of the town towards Janie and women. Even when Janie leaves the overbearing husband Logan Killicks and her controlling grandmother, Janie remains weak and controlled because of the criticism of other people. Eventually, Janie becomes free and more independent when she leaves Eatonville; she finally lives the life she yearned for (Jordan

3).
The treatment of Janie by each husband is different due to each husband’s different outlook on women and marriage. Janie’s first husband, Logan Killicks, asserted, “Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten” (Hurston 25). To Logan Killicks, a woman should be able to obey to every order of her husband without hesitation. When Janie is married to Logan Killicks, she is very unhappy because she is not allowed to live the free life she constantly yearns for. Killicks limits her actions and forces her to obey to his will. Janie is at her weakest, least independent, and least mature during her marriage with Logan Killicks because she has no voice in decisions and no ability to defy the standards and her husband.
When Janie meets Joe Starks, she sees a man who will allow her to live freely and according to her own will.

Immediately, with little hesitation, she leaves to live with Joe Starks. While at first Starks offers Janie more say in decisions, Starks still asserts his dominance over Janie. He does not allow Janie to enjoy herself and do the things she wants to do, but rather controls and confines her to the store for the majority of her time. Starks allows Janie some of her own freedom and own independence, which allows Janie to grow more mature and more independent as a woman, but still controls Janie’s actions, not allowing her to fully

mature.
Even though Joe Starks offers Janie some independence, Janie does not truly become independent until she meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake allows Janie to enjoy herself, for example, by learning how to hunt. Tea Cake represents the freedom that Janie has been yearning for years (Bruccoli 1). While Logan and Joe control and limit Janie, Tea Cake takes Janie where she wants to go and gives Janie the life she wanted. Finally, she is allowed to make her own choices and is treated as a man’s equal. When Tea Cake gives Janie the freedom she wanted, Janie grows into a completely independent and mature woman.