American Literature 58.2 (May 1986): 181-202. Williams, Shirley Anne. Forward. Their Eyes Were Watching God. By Zora Neale Hurston.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, we have a frame narrative of a women’s perspective of life in the rural south. The reader is introduced to a middle-aged partly African American female named Janie, who then confides in her best friend with her life’s tale. The common factor between the author and the main character as Robert Hemenway writes is that, “Janie's poetic self-realization is inseparable from Zora's concomitant awareness of her cultural situation,” which exemplifies this novel as a symbol of women’s role in society and the liberation of women during this particular time period (Hemenway 37). Hurston creates a character who struggles to look for love in a marriage and to find her identity. This paper will discuss the author’s portrayal of a woman’s role in society during the time period of the novel within Janie’s character, and how it is difficult for Janie to live by this role.
American Literature 58.2 (May 1986): 181-202. Williams, Shirley Anne. Forward. Their Eyes Were Watching God. By Zora Neale Hurston.
Their Eyes Were Watching God. By Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Bantam-Dell, 1937. xv
Defying their traditional roles, Kate Chopin and Zora Neale Hurston wrote The Awakening and Their Eyes Were Watching God, respectively; in each work a woman reaches independence and freedom by overcoming male dominance in her relationships. Chopin’s protagonist, Edna, and Hurston’s feminist, Janie, discover that through their “radical attempt to be free…the struggle for freedom is not linear but dialectic; the price of change is doubleness, and out of contradiction emerges a new self”—a ... ... middle of paper ... ...ew York: Twayne, 1993. Fleischmann, Fritz, ed. American novelists Revisited: Essays in feminist Criticism. Boston: Hall, 1982.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is an important fiction piece that explores relations throughout black communities and families. It also examines different issues such as, gender and class and these issues bring forth the theme of voice. In Janie’s attempt to find herself, she grows into a stronger woman through three marriages. Janie’s first discovery about herself comes when she is a child. She is around the age of six when she realizes that she is colored.
1. Bader, Philip. "Baraka, Amiri." African-American Writers , A to Z of African Americans. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2004.
Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Kubitschek, Missy Dehn. " 'Tuh de Horizon and Back': The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God.
The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston explores the life of an African American woman from the south who is trying to find herself. The protagonist of this novel is Janie Crawford. She is trying to defy what people expect of her, and she lives her life searching to have a better life. Zora Neale Hurston’s life experiences influence the book in many ways, including language, personality, and life experiences. Through her use of southern black language in the book Zora Neale Hurston illustrates the vernacular she grew up speaking.
“Will you marry me?” these four words are the catalyst for much planning for your wedding. The traditions and customs are as unique as the couple. Some of the things you need to figure out are your dress, your wedding cake, and the traditions you will do. Michele Arrowsmith- Rowe says in her article “ever since you were a little girl, you have always imagined yourself walking down the aisle in a beautiful white wedding gown” (Arrowsmith-Rowe). Before 1840 the women used to wear blue because blue was a sign of purity.