Coins Shadow, a released convict from the Midwest, and the protagonist in American Gods by Neil Gaiman, seems to stumble into the middle of a mysterious war between the gods of America. After being released from prison, Shadow is hired by Mr. Wednesday, as his bodyguard, and begins a journey into the realm of the gods, leading him to eventually uncover his true identity. Shadow soon began to meet many of the gods living throughout America. He learns of an impending battle from Mr. Wednesday, one where the old and new gods will fight for power. Shadow and Wednesday meet many gods from all corners of the United States who try to recruit them to help them fight the battle against other gods. Shadow is accompanied at times by his now-dead wife …show more content…
Unknowingly, Shadow has been given protection from these dangers and guidance for his journey by simple, small, and seemingly irrelevant pieces of metal. Shadow receives these metal tokens which are gold and silver pieces and as Shadow and Laura will have possession of them throughout the novel, the coins provide protection and guidance to the person holding them. While in prison, Shadow practiced many coins tricks and became quite skilled at them. Just after joining forces with Mr. Wednesday, Shadow obtains the gold coin from Mad Sweeney, not realizing that the coin possessed magical powers. Mad Sweeney was able to do what Shadow believed was just a magic trick; “he reached out and took a large coin, golden and shining, from the air.”(40) When Shadow was given the coin, he still did not understand the power it contained. …show more content…
The gold coin was meant to protect Shadow, but when he gave it away he nullified his own protection. While visiting the Zorya sisters in Chicago, Zorya Polunochnaya learned that Shadow did not possess the gold coin any longer, as he had given it to Laura. She realized that he was lacking protection and “raised her left hand and held it in front of the moon… She plucked at it. For a moment it looked like she had taken the moon from the sky… [She] opened her hand to display a silver Liberty-head dollar…”(91) Just before taking the silver coin from the sky, she warned Shadow that it will not provide as much protection as the gold coin would have. The silver coin would not provide as much protection because it came from “the daughter, not the father”; it came from the moon, not the sun.(90) Silver represents perception and prosperity. Shadow performed tricks with the coin during his journey and kept it with him throughout the novel. The coin protected him from any danger that he came across and guided him to safety. The silver coin featured an illustration of Lady Liberty on it, and “bought [Shadow’s] liberty twice”(470) along his journey. Just before Laura had saved Shadow from Mr. Stone and Mr. Wood, Shadow thought about Lady Liberty and imagined riding “the silver beam upward up and away from the pain and...back into dreams.”(149) Little did he know that soon after it, the coin would buy his
Dr. Seuss, also known as Theodore Seuss, has written many poems as well as short stories, and is considered one of the greatest children’s author in history. His silly stories are able to excite children in ways that make them want read. His Wife says,” Ted doesn’t sit down to write for children. He writes to amuse himself;” Little do children know that often, in his stories, there is a lot of political undertone, a few examples include The Lorax, Yertle the Turtle, The Sneethces, and The Butter Battle Book. If you were to really critique some of his books or poems, you might see that some of his themes wouldn’t seem to pertain to children. But what he’s doing, is hoping that they will understand the main idea of the story enough that it challenges them to stand against the crowd of judgment and evil. Take notice of the issues around them, and make a change. He feels that they deserve to know about the issues, just as much as adults do. He is showing them early on, telling them that they do not need adults to make a difference.
It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of love and protection in return. When they threaten to annihilate and hush her with these definitions, however, she uses her voice and fights to save her dream and her life. Hurston shows how Janie’s parental figures transform into metaphorical hurricanes, how a literal hurricane transforms into a metaphorical representation of Janie’s parental figures, and how Janie survives all five hurricanes.
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 sets out on a quest to make sense of inner questions. She does not sit back and
The late first lady Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "Hate and force cannot be in just a part of the world without having an effect on the rest of it." Mrs. Roosevelt means that although one person may feel alone through the hardships one faces, one has millions beside oneself who can relate to and understand what one may feel. Zora Neale Hurston shows that even though Janie's family and spouses continue to be abusive and harsh toward Janie, their hate and control left her stronger than before, preparing her for the next challenges thrown at her. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the deaths' of close relatives and family positively affect Janie because she tends to become more educated and wiser with each death she overcomes in the obstacles she calls her life.
From the beginning of society, men and women have always been looked at as having different positions in life. Even in the modern advanced world we live in today, there are still many people who believe men and women should be looked at differently. In the work field, on average women are paid amounts lower than men who may be doing the exact same thing. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston brings about controversy on a mans roles. Janie Crawford relationships with Logan, Joe and Tea Cake each bring out the mens feelings on masculine roles in marital life.
Gender inequality has been a major issue for many centuries now. Societies insist in assigning males and females to different roles in life. The traditional stereotypes and norms for how a male and female should present themselves to the world have not changed much over time. But individuals are more than just their gender and should have the right to act and be treated the way they want. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
These ‘gods’ came in two forms: the bible salesmen and the police sheriff. While on a picnic with the bible salesmen he attacks and robs Everett. “And it is that which I propose to give you a lesson in right now...His club is ready. He swings at Delmar who staggers back with a grunt” (OH BROTHER...THOU). This man of god betrayed, stole, stalled, and injured these men for money. This was a representation of a god creating problems for the main characters. Another example of a divine obstruction was the police sheriff that followed Evert across the land to catch and kill them for escaping prison. When Pete tries to argue that he had been pardoned by the law the sheriff replies: "The law. Well the law is a human institution” (O BROTHER... THOU). The sheriff felt like what he was about to do came from a higher power, like a god. In both of these instances the journey of Everett and his company was stalled by a god like
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.
Zora Hurston was an African American proto-feminist author who lived during a time when both African Americans and women were not treated equally. Hurston channeled her thirst for women’s dependence from men into her book Their Eyes Were Watching God. One of the many underlying themes in her book is feminism. Zora Hurston, the author of the book, uses Janie to represent aspects of feminism in her book as well as each relationship Janie had to represent her moving closer towards her independence.
In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie fell in love twice and the love she felt from the two individuals were real but were expressed in two different ways. Janie as a character never gave up on love, rather she learned the meaning of love and how to interpret it. In chapter 20 she says to Pheoby “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore, and it’s different with every shore”, as Janie is saying this to Phoeby she is analyzing her past relationships and comparing them to each other in a metaphoric way. She is saying that love is different each time you feel it and it changes depending on the individuals falling in love, no two loves are ever the same. Hurston uses metaphors to add
the novel, the pear tree symbolizes Janie's idealized vision of love and marriage. The mule, on the other hand, represents the oppression and mistreatment of African Americans during the time period in which the novel is set. The storm symbolizes chaos and upheaval, both in nature and in Janie's personal life. Finally, Janie's journey itself is a symbol of self-discovery and empowerment. As she navigates through different relationships and experiences, she learns more about herself and what she wants out of life.
Today, it has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African American literature and women's literature. TIME included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, to John Hurston, a carpenter and Baptist preacher, and Lucy Potts Hurston a former schoolteacher. Hurston was the fifth of eight children. While she was still a toddler her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, the first all-black incorporated town in the United States, where John Hurston served several terms as mayor. In 1917, Hurston enrolled in Morgan Academy in Baltimore where she completed her high school education. Three years later, she enrolled at Howard University and began her writing career. She took classes there intermittently for several years and eventually earned an associate degree. The university’s literary magazine published her first story in 1921.
Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston focuses on the evolution of an African-American woman as she goes through adulthood and three marriages in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston expresses the framed narrative through Janie Crawford’s point of view as she recounts her story to her friend Phoeby, and uses two dialects throughout the novel. The clear dichotomy of the narrator’s diction and the characters’ African-American dialect gives importance to Janie’s struggles and progress in finding her strength and independence. Hurston magnifies the theme of voice and language, not only with the characters’ personalities, but also with the form of the novel as she employs a third person omniscient point of view, provoking imagery and shifts in tone. After two failed marriages, Janie finally gets a sense of freedom.
Horizon is the line that separates the surface and the sky in appearance; the horizon is also known as a person’s experience, how they perceive the world around them. In Zora Neale Hurston's “Their eyes were watching god,” Hurston uses the word horizon several times in the book in third person, and in first person by the main character Janie. In “Their eyes were watching god,” Janie a girl grows into adulthood through three marriages and experiences its ups and downs. The symbol of the horizon in “Their eyes were watching god,” represents the dreams of men and realities of women, it symbolizes Janie’s growth in her life.