In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, discussed the existence of freedom in life and overcoming the challenges that comes with it. Firstly, she used the differentiation between the two races. Secondly gender sexuality between the males and females. Thirdly, slavery of African- American suffered while and after the civil war from the whites. After is the history of Eatonville, Florida and the changes it had on the world. Next, is the culture and tradition the African-American had and practiced and its effect on the world. Lastly, the positives and negatives power impacts on people. Hurston wanted to portray in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the existence of freedom comes with restrictions and limitations, but believing in freedom allows one to overcome these challenges.
Racism is a disease that limits the freedom of a group that shares one exact common thing, for example the African-American people in the 1800’s. First example that proves racism limiting the freedom of particular group was presented in the novel, where the majority of the white people thought of black people as slaves and that the black people do not deserve anything in life. In the novel, this was addressed in the beginning of the novel, where Janie who was the “protagonist” in the story that mostly represented the author out of all the characters in the novel, was made fun off and teased when she wore the old clothes that were given to her from her neighbour Mrs. Washburn because her grandchildren did not need them anymore. This shows how the whites view the black people, and how it affected the children as well. This example can be analysed using the social constructivism, where this theory can be used to identify that rac...
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Leahy, Kristin. "Women during the Civil War." Historical Society of Pennsylvania. N.p., 2012 Web. 24 Nov. 2013. http://hsp.org/collections/catalogs-research-tools/subject-guides/women-during-the-civil-war Johnston, Theresa. "Eatonville Florida Home of Zora Neale Hurston." About.com Orlando. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013. www.orlando.about.com/od/citiestowns/p/Eatonville-FL-Zora-Neale-Hurston.htm "54i. Black Power." Black Power [ushistory.org]. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Nov. 2013.
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Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga Alabama on, January 7, 1891. When she was a little girl her family moved to the now iconic town of Eatonville Florida. She was fifth child of eight of John Hurston and Lucy Ann Hurston. Eatonville was one of the first all-black towns to be established in the United States. Zora’s interest in literature was piqued when a couple of northern teachers, came to Eatonville and gave her books of folklore and fantasy. After her mother died, her father and new stepmother sent her to a boarding school. In 1918 Hurston began her undergraduate studies at Howard...
Zora Neale was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist. In her best known novel Their eyes were watching God, Hurston integrated her own first-hand knowledge of African American oral culture into her characters dialogue and the novels descriptive passages. By combing folklore, folk language and traditional literary techniques; Hurston created a truly unique literary voice and viewpoint. Zora Neale Hurston's underlying theme of self-expression and search for one’s independence was truly revolutionary for its time. She explored marginal issues ahead of her time using the oral tradition to explore contentious debates. In this essay I will explore Hurston narrative in her depiction of biblical imagery, oppression of African women and her use of colloquial dialect.
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.
"LibGuides: The Civil War: Women and the Homefront: Primary Sources Online." Primary Sources Online - The Civil War: Women and the Homefront - LibGuides at Duke University. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Apr. 2017.
---. "Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God." Zora Neale Hurston - Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993
In the book Women in the Civil War, by Mary Massey, the author tells about how American women had an impact on the Civil War. She mentioned quite a few famous and well-known women such as, Dorothea Dix and Clara Barton, who were nurses, and Pauline Cushman and Belle Boyd, who were spies. She also mentioned black abolitionists, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, feminist Susan B. Anthony, and many more women. Massey talks about how the concept of women changed as a result of the war. She informed the readers about the many accomplishments made by those women.
Equality is meant for all humans at the moment of their birth as it is said that all are created equal by god. Yet, to this day not all are equal. The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston explores negative aspects of humanity and the values, morals and ethics it promotes through thematic topics. The book uses the thematic topics of sexism, domestic relationships, racism, independence, ambition, and love to prove that equality must be earned and is not given due to the values, ethics and morals that society promotes. This truth is supported and proven by narrative conventions and other writing techniques by Zora Neale Hurston in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.
When the American Civil War began on April 12th, 1861, over 3 million Union and Confederate soldiers prepared for battle. Men from all over America were called upon to support their side in the confrontation. While their battles are well documented and historically analyzed for over a hundred years, there is one aspect, one dark spot missing from the picture: the role of women in the American Civil War. From staying at home to take care of the children to disguising themselves as men to fight on the battlefield, women contributed in many ways to the war effort on both sides. Though very few women are recognized for their vital contributions, even fewer are.
The differences of the human race are unfathomable; Therefore, it goes without saying that arguments will arise, how we handle these situations reveals our character. The physical abuse implored on Janie in Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, reveals true aspects of gender roles and marital relationships in the twentieth century. Hurston shows no hesitation when broaching such topics; I presume this is because of the conventional view upon male and female relationships shown in the past. The novel opens with a gender slander right off the bat, "Ships at a distance... act and do things acordingly.", (pg. 1) clearly hinting at the pugnacious nature regarding the differences between men and women. Hurston continues to reveal the incredulous thoughts of men superiority by exploring the admiration that the co-workers of Tea Cake share upon the fact that he has such dominance over her. Yet both examples fall to the way-side once the indiscriminate literal abuse, that two out of three of her lovers inflict upon her, begins. All of these factors serve as evidence supporting generalizations of relationships in the 1900s.
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.
the racial hatred of the people. Black people were thought to be inferior to white people and in the 1960s when the novel was written, black communities were rioting and causing disturbances to get across the point that they were not inferior to white people. After Abolition Black people were terrorised by the Ku Klux Klan, who would burn them, rape the women, and torture the children and the reader is shown an example of. this in Chapter 15 where a group of white people, go to the county. jail to terrorise Tom Robinson.
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.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God describes the life of Janie, a black woman at the turn of the century. Janie is raised by her Grandmother and spends her life traveling with different men until she finally returnes home. Robert E. Hemenway has said about the book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God is ... one of the most revealing treatments in modern literature of a woman’s quest for a satisfying life” I partially disagree with Hemenway because, although Janie is on a quest, it is not for a satisfying life. I believe that she is on a quest for someone on whom to lean. Although she achieves a somewhat satisfying life, Janie’s quest is for dependence rather than satisfaction.
Appiah, K.A. and Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. eds. Zora Neale Hurston: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1993.
In conclusion, Hurston was a modernist writer who dealt with societal themes of racism, and social and racial identity. She steps away from the folk-oriented style of writing other African American authors, such as Langston Hughes, and she addresses modern topics and issues that relate to her people. She embraces pride in her color and who she is. She does not hate the label of “colored” that has been placed upon her. She embraces who she is and by example, she teaches others to love themselves and the color of their skin. She is very modern. She is everybody’s Zora.