Their Eyes Were Watching God: Silence is Something to Be Valued
Silence: the absence of any sound or noise. The act of being silent or quiet is something that happens everyday, and as a result, often possesses no significance. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston addresses that silence can have a purpose through the main character Janie. Janie, a woman struggling to find and express herself, is often silenced along her journey towards self-revelation. Silence is often an obstacle of hers, yet at the same time it allows time to take in the situation and analyze. Noise can be a distraction or a wall covering a bigger problem. Being quiet allows the true issue to show in its rawest form. Silence, although physically insignificant, can take deeper meaning. Zora Neale Hurston silences Janie to varying degrees to expose male dominance, emphasize conscious thought, and express the lack of a listener.
On Janie's journey towards self discovery and expression, progress is suddenly halted when she encounters controlling men. In respect for Nanny, Janie attempts to live her life through her nanny's expectations and desires. Nanny has taken the hard road in life, and tries her best to help Janie avoid life's unnecessary turmoils: “Yo' Nanny wouldn't harm a hair uh yo' head. She don't want nobody else to do it neither if she kin help it” (Hurston 14). Nanny has all the best intentions by setting Janie up with Logan Killicks, an older man who owns sixty acres of land. The man of Nanny's dreams does not match up with Janie's expectations, for Janie wants to be in a blossoming relationship that she is comfortable being a part of. Logan turns out to be a man of labor and “refuses to hear the real meaning behind [Janie'...
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...distractions. Taking time to observe and analyze the silence can bring something to the surface that could never be confronted in any other way. We need to embrace silence presented throughout life, for we will come out with more definitive, powerful voices.
Works Cited
Haurykiewicz, Julie A. "From mules to muliebrity: speech and silence in Their Eyes Were Watching." The Southern Literary Journal 29.2 (1997): 45+. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc,1998. Print. 26 Feb. 2012.
Quashie, Kevin Everod. "The Trouble with Publicness: Toward a Theory of Black Quiet." African American Review 43.2-3 (2009): 329+. Academic OneFile. Web. 26 Feb. 2012.
Washington, Mary Helen. Foreword. Their Eyes Were Watching God. By Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Harper & Row, 1937. xiv. Print
As Janie is growing up she has to learn to accept her Nanny’s belief of how a woman is supposed to live in society. Nanny grew up in slavery so she believes that the role of men is to support his wife financially. Nanny thinks Janie should marry a man according to how successful he is and Janie should keep up the household responsibilities. Janie’s grandmother said, “Ah been waitin’ a long time, Janie, but nothin’ Ah I
Of least significance to Janie is her first husband, Logan Killicks. Hurston uses pathos to show that Janie and her first husband are not meant to be even though society thinks otherwise. Nanny thinks that Logan is really made for Janie, but Janie doesn’t love Logan. Janie tells Nanny, “Cause you told me Ah
The first two people Janie depended on were her Grandmother, whom she called Nanny, and Logan Killicks. Janie’s marriage to Logan Killicks was partially arranged by Nanny. Nanny had felt the need to find someone for Janie to depend on before she died and Janie could no longer depend on her. At first, Janie was very opposed to the marriage. Nanny responded with, “’Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection. ...He (God) done spared me...a few days longer till Ah see you safe in life.”(p.14) Nanny instilled the sense of needing a man for safety on Janie that Janie keeps with her throughout her life. After Nanny’s death, Janie continued to stay with Logan despite her dislike for him. She would have left immediately, however, if she did not need to depend on him.
Janie Crawford, the main character of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, strives to find her own voice throughout the novel and, in my opinion, she succeeds even though it takes her over thirty years to do it. Each one of her husband’s has a different effect on her ability to find that voice.
Nanny let Janie believe that she would find love after she is married by saying, “‘ Yes, she would love Logan after they were married’”(21). Which in the long run distorted her view on finding love. Also, Nanny doesn’t let Janie go for someone who doesn’t have it together. She say, “‘Whut Ah seen just now is plenty for me, honey, Ah don’t want no trashy nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foots on’”(27). Ever since then, Janie had the mindset of Nanny. Nanny doesn’t want Janie to settle for less than what she is worth. Nanny isn’t all to blame for giving Janie this false perception. Nanny knows what it’s like to try to make a good living in this time while being black and a woman. So she wants Janie to live in a protective
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.
When Janie was a young girl, she allowed her grandmother’s opinions and beliefs on happiness dictate how she lived her life, which ultimately led to her misery. When Janie was caught kissing Johnny Taylor under the pear tree at the age of sixteen, Nanny told Janie how she wanted her to live her life: “Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry. But dat ain’t yo’ idea, Ah see” (Hurston 13). Since she was young, Janie had been mesmerized with the pear tree, the emblem of natural harmony and contentment. She had come to the realization that her dream was to wrestle with life, and just as she was experiencing this freedom, Nanny, the only family she was in contact with, challenged her plans. Nanny took her own experiences as a malnourished slave and condemned Janie to the life in which she was never able to have; Nanny wanted her granddaughter to marry a man with money so that he could support her; she believed that whatever Janie’s assertion of happiness was, was wrong and pointless. When Nanny told Janie that she wanted her to marry a rich man, she spoke with a superior tone that revealed her belittlement towards Janie. She claimed that Janie didn’t know what was best for herself,...
Janie’s nanny always gave Janie advice on life and men. Nanny is the one who convinced and persuaded Janie to marry Logan Killicks. Nanny believed that Logan was a hard working man who would respect Janie and take care of her. Janie was very skeptical of marrying Logan but eventually she did. Janie is a beautiful and youthful women who is married to an old and ugly man. The dearth of material on Logan in the novel is appropriate given the despair and emptiness that he symbolizes to Janie. Logan does not show much affection towards Janie. He has a hard time channeling his anger and he automatically assumes the the ideal of a marriage is for men to have the superiourness and the urge to dominate the woman, in other words, Janie. Logan feels Janie i...
In the silent era of Brockmeier’s city, individuals grew into a lethargic existence, “The drunks in the bars turned amiable and mild. The jails were unusually tranquil...The great roar of the city had stopped, [the birds in cockfights] becoming as useless as pigeons, virtually impossible to provoke to violence” (Brockmeier 53). Indeed, “The silence was beneficial for us” as suggested by modern science, but people began to remember what they lost: “the fire, the vigor, that came with a lack of ease” (Brockmeier 61). To be more concise, this fire and vigor came with the difficulty and the thrill of the chase, “Our lives seemed no less purposeful than they had during the silence, but it was as if that purpose were waiting several corners away from us now, rather than hovering in front of our eyes” (Brockmeier 62). Of course, while Brockmeier is merely describing these traits as a benefit or asset of silence or noise respectively, it could be applied with relevancy to the state of the individual. Meditation is only gaining popularity while “low-noise” becomes a commodity sought after; however, perhaps in the hunt of silence, individuals often neglect to learn the ability to thrive in dissonance. While Brockmeier reminds us of the
So many people in modern society have lost their voices. Laryngitis is not the cause of this sad situation-- they silence themselves, and have been doing so for decades. For many, not having a voice is acceptable socially and internally, because it frees them from the responsibility of having to maintain opinions. For Janie Crawford, it was not: she finds her voice among those lost within the pages of Zora Neale Hurston’s famed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. This dynamic character’s natural intelligence, talent for speaking, and uncommon insights made her the perfect candidate to develop into the outspoken, individual woman she has wanted to be all along.
...gh he gave her wealth and respectibility. So it seems that Nanny's worst fears and her highest hopes were realized in Janie's second marriage.
Nanny was determined that Janie would break the cycle of oppression of black women, who were "mules for the world". (Both of Janie's first two husbands owned mules and the way they treated their mules paralleled to the way they treated Janie. Logan Killicks worked his mule demandingly and Joe Starks bought Matt Bonner's mule and put it out to pasture as a status symbol.) After joyfully discovering an archetype for sensuality, love, and marriage under a pear tree at sixteen, Janie quickly comes to understand the reality of marriage in her first two marriages. Both Logan Killicks and Joe Starks attempt to coerce her into submission by treating her like a possession (Killicks worked her like a mule and Starks used her like a medal around his neck). Also Janie learned that passion and love are tied to violence, as Killicks threaten to kill her and Starks beat her to assert his dominance. She continually struggled to keep her inner self-intact and strong in spite ...
Nanny is Janie’s grandmother who took care of her since her mother abandoned her as a baby. Nanny uses her power as an authority over Janie to make her marry Logan Killicks. Logan Killicks is Janie’s first husband and he is a man she does not want to marry. But Nanny forces her and tells Janie that a marriage for a black woman is about being stable (money and land) and marriage is not about falling in love. She says that love will come later in the marriage and so Janie listens and does as she is told. Instead Logan uses his power (him having money and land) over Janie by telling her she should be working in the field but she is too spoiled. Although he says this he still forces her to do labor around the house when he leaves to buy a new
The flashback commences by recounting the years leading to Janie’s childhood through alluding to Nanny and Janie’s mother Leafy’s, life difficulties. Nanny is raised in slavery and was raped by her slave master, which led to Leafy’s birth. She had to flee in the night and hide in swamps during the war to protect her daughter. They go to live with a white family; the Washburn’s who are very accommodating. Once Leafy is older, she is raped by her white schoolteacher, leading to Janie’s birth. Leafy is absent through Janie’s life, so Nanny becomes her caregiver. Due to the abandonment of her parents, Janie is uncertain about her character and is lacking parental influence. Nanny raises Janie vicariously, so she will not encounter the same obstacles. Under a pear tree one day, Janie observes a bee pollinating a flower. She determines that this is how love is supposed to look. Love is passionate and never selfish or demanding. One day she kisses a boy named Johnny Taylor, whom Nanny does not approve. Nanny’s beliefs and authority on Janie’s life cause Janie’s abrupt marriage, before she can discover her true identity and spirit.
Nanny Janie’s grandmother disapprove the kiss between Janie and Johnny Taylor under the pear tree (11). Janie was only sixteen years old and naïve to think that was love. Nanny knew Johnny Taylor did not mean to cause no harm, but she felt Johnny was trying to mislead Janie to hurt and humiliate her by being sexual that can be dangerous (Hurston 12-15). Likewise, Janie was forced into marrying Logan an older man, Nanny approved of because Janie will have a husband that will love her. Same as, Hurston describe Janie emotions of unhappiness within the marriage not having affection and desire for Logan, Hurston implies, “Ah ain’t got nothin’ tuh live for.” (118) Hurston also describes Janie as confident that caught men attention as well as her physique, the women were jealous of Janie implying “Janie will never fit in the upper class of white men because of her appearance.” (Hurston 41) The women try to make Janie feel worthless and unattractive of not having enough sexually appeal. . Hurston writing engage the character from love to lust in a unhappy marriage that lead to a prolonged period of difficulty