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Their Eyes Were Watching God is a Zora Neale Hurston's’ most famous literary work, and was published in 1937. The novel is narrated by Janie Crawford, who is the main character and is telling her life story to her best friend, Pheoby. Janie Crawford relates her life story entirely from memory. Through Janie’s retelling of her life’s story, we are able to see how she, her dreams, her life, and those around her changed as time goes on. Janie’s entire life seemed to be focused on thing, finding true love and freedom, so that she could be happy. Her dream is never really achieved, because of the people in her life she seems doomed to have to go without her original dream and find happiness within herself. Janie's entire life could be reduced …show more content…
Dawn and doom were in the branches” (Hurston 8). Janie Crawford’s experience under the pear tree awakens something inside her, and she begins to realize what she wants from her life, happiness, love, fulfillment, “Oh to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world!... She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her?” (Hurston 11). The blossoming pear tree is a recurring symbol of Janie’s desire for love and happiness, and it is mentioned many times throughout the novel, and is contrasted to the current experience she is remembering and telling …show more content…
She was sadly mistaken, however. Once Janie and Logan had settled in together, she began to see that the answer to the questions posed by her earlier was in fact no, she would not be made happy by marrying just anyone. Logan Killicks was unable to offer the passionate, sweet, caring love that Janie desired, instead giving her the opposite. While lamenting her unhappy marriage, Janie says, “Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think." (Hurston 24). The pear tree comes up again, and this time, to show that Janie was very unhappy with her marriage, so when Joe Starks, or Jody comes along, she runs of with
In the beginning, the pear tree symbolizes Janie’s yearning to find within herself the sort of harmony and simplicity that nature embodies. However, that idealized view changes when Janie is forced to marry Logan Killicks, a wealthy and well-respected man whom Janie’s Nanny set her up with. Because Janie does not know anything about love, she believes that even if she does not love Logan yet, she will find it when they marry. Upon marrying Logan, she had to learn to love him for what he did, not for that infallible love every woman deserves. After a year of pampering, Logan becomes demanding and rude, he went as far to try to force Janie to do farm work. It was when this happened that Janie decided to take a stand and run away with Joe. At this time, Janie appears to have found a part of her voice and strong will. In a way, she gains a sense of independence and realizes she has the power to walk away from an unhealthy situation and does not have to be a slave to her own husband.
What is one’s idea of the perfect marriage? In Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie has a total of three marriages and her best marriage was to Tea Cake. Janie’s worst and longest marriage was to Joe Starks where she lost her dream and was never happy. The key to a strong marriage is equality between each other because in Janie’s marriage to Joe she was not treated equally, lost apart of herself and was emotionally abused, but her and Tea Cake's marriage was based on equality and she was able to fully be herself.
Janie sees Logan Killicks' perception of marriage. In the beginning, it seems like that Logan is a very nice man, who is always treating her well. “Janie felt glad of the thought, fo...
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neale Hurston in the year of 1937. In the novel, the main character is Janie Crawford. Janie has been treated differently by others during her life because of how she was raised and the choices she has made throughout her life. The community is quick to judge her actions and listen to any gossip about Janie in the town. Janie is known to be “classed off” from other members in her community in various ways. “Classed off” means to be separate or isolated from other people.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a good place to start examining the roles of African-American women. It is written by a woman, Zora Neale Hurston, and from a woman's perspective. This book examines the relationship between Janie and...
“There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” From the moment one is born, one begins to form their identity through moments and experiences that occur throughout the years. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie’s identity of independence arises through her past marriages through the words and actions of her husbands.
When thinking about the novels that are read in high school, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby come to mind for most people. The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston usually is not thought of. Throughout the years, critics believed Hurston’s novel to be just fiction and that it pose no meaning. In spite of the novel not having much politics, it does contain many social issues from the past that are still somewhat relevant today. Above all, Their Eyes Were Watching God deals with the way people are unequally treated in society based on their gender, race, or anything that makes them diverse from others. It is probable that Hurston brings up the controversial issues of her time era in the hope to cause a transformation in the world.
Zora Neale Hurston once said, “Happiness is nothing but everyday living seen through a veil.” In post-slavery African American society, this statement was unusual, as society was focused on materialistic values. The “veil” Hurston mentions is a lens used to sift through one’s beliefs; to help one understand that what they have is more important than what they don’t. Hurston alludes the veil in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in the form of a fish-net, saying “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it in from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulders" (193). Just like the veil, the “fish-net” allows one to sift through one’s beliefs, deciding what is important and what is not. Essentially, Hurston
The Harlem Renaissance was all about freedom of expression and the search for one's identity. Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows these goals through the main character Janie and her neighbors. Janie freely expressed what she wanted and searched for her identity with her different husbands. Even though Janie was criticized by everyone except her friends, she continued to pursue. She lost everything, but ultimately found her identity. Hurston's writing is both a reflection and a departure from the idea of the Harlem Renaissance.
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston was written in 1937 during a time when both African Americans and women were underappreciated in the United States. Both being victims of unequal treatment by the supreme white men of the time, these two groups suffered when trying to advance through society and life in general. They struggled daily to find adequate and equal-paying jobs, have the same ownership rights as white men, and have an equal opportunity to voice their opinion in the government, especially through voting, along with other things. The common restrictions put on these minorities were highlighted in Hurston’s novel through the symbolism of Janie’s weakness as a female, teenager, and a dreamer.
Love, is what people always find for when they look for in a relationship with any particular individual. They seem to sacrifice for what they feel for a special someone, and it’s just a bond that makes you want to die for. In the fiction novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie the protagonist seems to pursue a quest for true love. With the lessons she experiences throughout her life, she uses the knowledge she has to move forward and finally feels free for once.
Janie struggles with her marriages with Logan Killicks and Joe Starks throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, but finds a good man and husband in Tea Cake. Logan goes to marry Janie because Janie’s grandmother forces her to marry him because Nanny wants her to have a good marriage and thinks Logan can give it to her. While Joe comes in and shows Janie he has authority and is loving, but later tries to control her and what she does. Tea Cake on the other hand show Janie love and is willing to let Janie be herself and do the things she likes to do. Janie doesn’t love Logan or Joe because they try to change and control her, while Tea Cake loves her for who she really is.
Janie’s first attempt at love does not turn out quite like she hopes. Her grandmother forces her into marrying Logan Killicks. As the year passes, Janie grows unhappy and miserable. By pure fate, Janie meets Joe Starks and immediately lusts after him. With the knowledge of being wrong and expecting to be ridiculed, she leaves Logan and runs off with Joe to start a new marriage. This is the first time that Janie does what she wants in her search of happiness: “Even if Joe was not waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good…From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything” (32). Janie’s new outlook on life, although somewhat shadowed by blind love, will keep her satisfied momentarily, but soon she will return to the loneliness she is running from.
Under a pear tree in Nanny's backyard, however, Janie, as a nave sixteen-year-old, finds the possibilities of love, sexuality, and identity that are available to her. This image, forever reverberating in her mind through two unsuccessful marriages to Logan Killicks and Joe Starks, is what keeps Janie's spirit alive and encourages her quest for love and life. " It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep" (10). Under the pear tree on that spring afternoon, Janie sees sensuality wherever she looks. The first tiny bloom had opened.