The Effects of Attitudes in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

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Their Eyes Were Watching God

Each and every individual faces obstacles and limitations unique to their own circumstances, and the way that those obstacles are met and overcome ultimately determine the fulfillment and happiness that person is able to acquire. Perhaps one of the most influential but commonly looked over influences on one’s development is the attitude of others, in addition to one’s own attitude. While a kind, strong, responsible, driven attitude can empower one to lead a fulfilling life, the positivity of others is equally as effective. Whether it be despite perseverance and optimism of the individual or in junction with the two, the attitudes of others’ have the ability to influence one’s life in significant ways. The attitudes of others can potentially bolster a positive attitude, but inversely, can severely impede it as well. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, there are countless examples of the effects that the attitudes of others have on the main character Janie Crawford and her journey to find herelf. While some characters, like Janie’s best friend Pheoby and her third husband Tea Cake, assist Janie in navigating her way to self fulfillment, many characters, like her Nanny and her fellow townspeople, serve as obstacles on her headway to happiness. The impositions they place on Janie restrict her progression towards self fulfillment and happiness unlike any other limitation placed on her.

From the beginning of Janie’s life story, it is evident that her grandmother and caretaker, Nanny, is extremely influential in Janie’s development and growth as a child becoming a young woman. At the age of sixteen, Nanny chooses to have Janie married to an older man named Logan Killicks in order to ...

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...haracter flaws that oppose Janie’s progress as an individual, but for many of them, their poor attitudes towards Janie root from racist ideals, sexist beliefs, and undertones of jealousy and division pertaining to class issues. Through the implementation of judgments as a product of these ideals, Janie is denied the simple right to happiness. The exclusion of such a rudimentary aspect to an individual is far more harmful than is any other issue could be. Seeing as how this exclusion of happiness comes from the attitudes of others, it is understandable that the effect is detrimental, considering the negative attitudes of others is inclusive of so many other limitations. In conclusion, the primary impediment to Janie pursuit of happiness is the attitudes of others, therefore making them the most severe limitation imposed on Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

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