Comparing Symbolical Language in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Great Gatsby

1464 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Concept of sexuality in literature

Symbolical Language in Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Great Gatsby

In some novels, strong impressions are exploited to conceal other meanings. Unraveling these symbolic word puzzles may reveal insights into the author's perspective and one's own secrets. A careful analysis of selected passages of two books: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Francis Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, will show that symbolical language can reveal even more insight. In this comparison, symbolism in the passages containing variations of the words "blossom" or "blooming" will be examined to reveal human development beyond sexuality and anatomy.

The protagonist, Janie, in Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, was sixteen years old when a series of natural events led to her to unlocking the secrets of her own sexuality. "Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back yard" introduces a location suitable for observing a miracle of reproduction in nature. The word "blossoming" indicates the narrator's comments are in the active present tense. The next few sentences, changing to past tense, reveal that this particular day--the third day--was much different than the first two. "That was to say, ever since the first tiny bloom had opened." The author poetically reveals progressive stages of pear tree flowers "blooming" along with their pollination by bees. This process so intensely intrigues Janie that her enhanced awareness triggers previously hidden sensual emotions and desires. Janie's continuous observation of the interplay among the plant and insect kingdom--mixed with her own intuitive feelings while lying on her back beneath the pear tree--leads her to a burst of in...

... middle of paper ...

...prevent Gatsby from relating to other "nice" girls like Daisy (148). In other words, both Janie and Gatsby had stumbled into a new awareness because of major turning points in their lives, but these were just beginnings! They had graduated from being "grown up children," but now they were like "children at being adults" still having much to learn.

The remaining story developments of both books detail further growth in the character development of the protagonists and the principle characters. And so it is with us and how we unravel the mysteries of symbolism in literary word puzzles, that we as readers can also grow like "blossoms blooming" through the eyes of Hurston and Fitzgerald.

Works Cited

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Scribner, 1953.

Hurston, Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row, 1937.

Show More
Related

  • Jay Gatsby vs. Janie Crawford: A Race to Make Dreams Come True

    1211 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zora Neal Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God packs the narrator and the authors view on the then unusual role in gender and how they are undertaken in the novel. The opening line sets the tone for the novel and the character Janie Crawford, can insinuate parallel worlds between her and the character of Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. If the parallels are being drawn respectively to the characters in the two novels, then the lines “Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men”, would relate to Jay Gatsby, in more ways than one, both literally and figuratively. The second part of the opening paragraphs in Their Eyes Were Watching God, would be closely tied to Janie Crawford, when the narrator says “Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” The quote could translate to, it is that when a man's dream is unattainable or far away, men are more realistic then woman. A man can differentiate between what his dreams are and what reality really is in their lives. The quote can also be broken down as saying that men never actually reach their dreams, or try to attain them, opting instead for accepting their fate and moving on with their lives, coming terms with the reality and living their lives. Jay Gatsby, although can be said to have reached some portion of his dream, never actually grabs ahold of them. For example, his goal for full acceptance i...

    Read More

  • Marcus Brutus: An Honorable Man

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    The second henious act Brutus commits is murder on his dear friend Caeser. After commiting the crime he said "If there be any in this assembly, any dear friend of Caeser’s, to him I say that Brutus’ love to Caeser was no less than his". Brutus killed his dear friend because of ambition. If only today’s leaders had some ambition! He said that he love Rome more than Caeser and that is why he commited one of the most dishonorable acts a humn being can commit. After the act, Antony appropriately and sarcastically called Brutus an honorable man. Unlike Brutus, Antony knew what honor was. Even though Brutus knew that Caeser had turned down the crown three times, he still felt he was to ambitious to rule over Rome. If only Brutus would have had a level head on his shoulders like Antony. If anyone can call a murderer honorable, let them be known.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Speeches of Mark Antony and Robert F. Kennedy

    1252 Words  | 3 Pages

    Mark Antony’s speech, whose aim is to counter Brutus’ speech, enlightens the crowd on the unjust murder of Caesar. Though he never directly communicates to the crowd of his feeling towards the conspirators, Antony was able to effectively convey to the crowd, through the use of verbal irony and other stylistic devices/techniques in his speech, his true views of the assassination. Moreover, Antony was able to shrewdly emphasize his belief of the undeserved assassination of Caesar through the wide use of epiphoral and anaphoral structure in his speech. Antony emphasizes the wrongdoings of Brutus and Cassius through the ingenious use of the epistrophe along with verbal irony as he notes that “I should do Brutus wrong, and Cassius wrong” (III, ii, 125). Moreover, he stresses the importance of punishi...

    Read More

  • Civil Liberties of the Early Twentieth Century

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    The scare of not being united under a time of war was the cause of the Espionage and Sedition acts. These acts immediately caused the unfair conviction of Schenek and put him in prison. Although he was utilizing his freedom of speech, the unfair laws passed through the government by Woodrow Wilson, Congress, and the Supreme Court forbade him his civil liberties.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

    642 Words  | 2 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that presents a happy ending through the moral development of Janie, the protagonist. The novel divulges Janie’s reflection on her life’s adventures, by narrating the novel in flashback form. Her story is disclosed to Janie’s best friend Phoebe who comes to learn the motive for Janie’s return to Eatonville. By writing the novel in this style they witness Janie’s childhood, marriages, and present life, to observe Janie’s growth into a dynamic character and achievement of her quest to discover identity and spirit.

    Read More

  • The Traits of Jay Gatsby

    1167 Words  | 3 Pages

    For five years, Gatsby was denied the one thing that he desired more than anything in the world: Daisy. While she was willing to wait for him until after the war, he did not want to return to her a poor man who would, in his eyes, be unworthy of her love. Gatsby did not want to force Daisy to choose between the comfortable lifestyle she was used to and his love. Before he would return to her, he was determined to make something of himself so that Daisy would not lose the affluence that she was accustomed to possessing. His desire for Daisy made Gatsby willing to do whatever was necessary to earn the money that would in turn lead to Daisy’s love, even if it meant participating in actions...

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

    900 Words  | 2 Pages

    “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight,” (11). The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching, God by Zora Neale Hurston, tells a story of a woman, Janie Crawford’s quest to find her true identity that takes her on a journey and back in which she finally comes to learn who she is. These lessons of love and life that Janie comes to attain about herself are endowed from the relationships she has with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake.

    Read More

  • Free Julius Caesar Essays: The Tragic Hero

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    After the murderous confrontation, it was not too late to prevent the anger of Caesar’s allies and the citizens or, even, to avoid future civil war. But it was here that Brutus made his second and third mistakes. Marcus Brutus rose before the Roman populace and attempted to offer a justification of Caesar’s murder. His flawed judgment came when he deemed Antony trustworthy and allowed him to speak at Caesar’s funeral. Brutus naively let Antony draw the mob in his favor. No one could dare refute Antony’s impassioned pleas in behalf of Caesar.

    Read More

  • Overview of The Cold War

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    President Truman wanted to have a cooperative relationship with the Soviet Union as long as they did what the United States wanted them to do. He wanted to restrain their expansionist impulses and allow the United States to rebuild Germany and their Allies. Truman knew that he could get away with this because American had a nuclear monopoly which attributed to the United State’s power. Josef Stalin the leader of the Soviet Union wanted to force communism on surrounding nations.

    Read More

  • Analysis of Anthony in William Sheakespeare´s Julius Caesar

    523 Words  | 2 Pages

    This Caesar wept, when the poor cried, “Did this Caesar seem ambitious?” (Act III, Scene 2, line 93). Antony had told the citizens of Caesar’s will and said he could not read it, but manipulated them into wanting him to read it. When Antony read the will, this further riled the citizens at their already state of mutiny for Caesar an “ambitious’ man had left them land and parks for recreation. As Antony said, “Did this Caesar seem ambitious?” (Act III, Scene 2, line 93). The dignity of the conspirators represented in the word honorable had gone with each use and these men were now hated for back stabbing such a truly honorable man. The “honorable” Brutus was “Caesar’s angel” and “For when the noble Caesar saw him stab, Ingratitude, more strong than traitors’ arms, Quite vanquished him” (Act III, Scene 2, line 183-188). These men were now painted as crooked by the noble Mark Antony.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Devices In William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

    324 Words  | 1 Pages

    William Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” is an interpretation of what the last days of Caesar were like, as well as his murder and the effects his death had on Rome. Mark Antony delivers a riveting funerary speech, using rhetorical devices to get his point across. It predominantly contains emotional appeals, although ethos and logos devices are presented throughout the speech as well.

    Read More

  • Recurring Themes in The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1201 Words  | 3 Pages

    The recurring themes of society, class, and self identity can be seen throughout many different writings of the 20th century. Two of these writings include, “The Great Gatsby” by F. Scott Fitzgerald and, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Both novels focus on the protagonist's goal of achieving equal rights in their own environment while at the same time trying to figure out who they are in the world. In the early 1900s, when “Their Eyes Were Watching God” takes place, slavery had very recently been abolished (relatively speaking) and the lasting effects of segregation take a toll on Janie, the protagonist. In the Great Gatsby, although Jay Gatsby is white, and thus does not have to deal with the factor of race, he struggles with many different aspects of American Society, mainly the class system and the American Dream. The American dream depicted by F.Scott Fitzgerald is a desire to gain wealth and prosperity. However, at the same time the book does not suggest that wealth equates to success. Even though Gatsby does have material wealth, he is not successful in gaining what he wants to be happy. Despite his material wealth, Gatsby is never united with the love of his life, Daisy. This shows that even though Gatsby has achieved the dream of wealth and prosperity, he has not achieved his final goal. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie too believes in the American Dream, and similarly to Gatsby, it is not a dream of wealth and prosperity. For her, it’s a dream of Freedom in all aspects of life. Both characters however, spend much of their time trying to conform to the rest of the world and essentially be like “everyone” else instead of trying to be distinct individuals. Societal norms of the early 1900s tak...

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - Setting in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    558 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s romantic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, two settings are contrasted to reinforce the author’s theme of a search for true love. The setting of Eatonville, Florida, where main character Janie experiences life as the mayor’s wife, is contrasted with the Florida Everglades, where Janie lives with Tea Cake in a much more relaxed atmosphere.

    Read More

  • Pink Floyd Biography

    1009 Words  | 3 Pages

    Pink Floyd may have been a revolutionary band from the late sixties to today, but you truly can not appreciate the band until you know of its members.

    Read More

  • Pear Tree Symbolism

    1142 Words  | 3 Pages

    The use of symbolism is essential to writing a story as it explains complex ideas and themes in an enjoyable yet succinct way. In the critically acclaimed novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, a biracial woman named Janie lives her life in search of true love and happiness but finds herself failing multiple times. In the end, she finds herself single yet in the state of happiness and enlightenment that she had longed for her entire life. Through the use of a pear tree, Hurston symbolizes the idealistic view of intimate relationships that most women desire. She uses the horizon as a symbol of the happiness that Janie, and many other women, want in their lives. By using these two symbols, Hurston conveys the message that women can be independent and lead a happy life without being in a relationship with a man.

    Read More

More about Comparing Symbolical Language in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Great Gatsby

Open Document