In order to clearly understand a book, story, event, or action, it is necessary to recognize the people involved. Often times, the idea behind something is greater than what has essentially happened, and therefore makes the comprehension of Janie Starks, the main character of Zora N. Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, that much more important. Hurston's artful style, just as any good author’s should, does not directly describe the character using adjectives, but instead exhibits unique attributes through action, background through significant events, and most importantly: the thoughts of the character. A reaction is more than an effect to a cause, it’s a gateway of foreshadowing and personality.
Although not the beginning of her life story, the book starts with a prominent description of Janie: “The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets! The great rop of black hair swinging to her waist an unraveling in the wind like a plum” (Hurston 2). Janie is the center of attention when it comes to looks, but as things progress, she finds herself caught up in a tangle of sexualization.
…show more content…
Hurston then refers to “the matter of the yellow mule” (Hurston 55), the animal bought by Jody Starks for escape from abuse rather than work. This mule represents more than rest at the end of a long day, it represents Janie’s life. She is stuck in a circle of abuse from Joe and sexualization from the community. She feels trapped, but this is not obvious from the outside. Janie was meant to be Joe’s ‘yellow mule’, “she must look on herself as the bell-cow, the other women were the gang” (Hurston
I first read the novel during my Junior year of high school, during which time our main focus was merely to include African American authors in the canon, not to search their writings for their social and political implications. For this reason, I left my first reading of Hurston's novel with glazed-over eyes and a lifelong quest, if not an obsession, for a man like Tea Cake.
The yellow mule and Janie share many similarities. Both the mule and Janie were lighter in color than the others of other kind to show their difference. Yellow mules are not rare, but they are not common either like biracial people. Both the mule and Janie were deprived of a source needed in life. The mule is said to be “skinny” in the book and people tease the owner for not feeding him. Likewise, Janie was deprived of love in her relationship with Janie making her almost lifeless like a starving mule. With a starving heart and belly, they both work to the days end, not seeing much fun. Hurston write in the book, “see the devil plowing Matt Bonner all day long in a hell-hot sun and laying the rawhide to his back.” According to this quote, the reader could infer that the mule was work in a similar way and that this way caused the mule pain and suffering. Janie was also not allowed to leave the shop. Jody never let her go to outside the town, give speeches, join conversations on the porch, or let down her hair. Even when the mule, died and the whole town went to have a funeral. Jody told Janie to stay at the store. They shared a similar oppression by a man that was given power over them by the world. Out of all the resemblances between Janie and the yellow mule, the way the mule died was the most significant. The mules end was just like Janie’s beginning. The mule died under a tree, lying on its back as it to look up at the tree or the sky. Janie laid on her back under a tree in the beginning of the book as well. Hurston describes Janie’s feeling under the tree as “a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again”. Janie comes to a realization when under the tree in the beginning, just how the mule realizes his death under the tree. The mule turned on his back because he knew death was coming, otherwise he would have been on his side as one of the characters described it. In the same way,
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.
There are a lot of good husbands out there, but there are also a lot of bad ones too. A good husband needs to be honest, loyal, and kind. Janie has to marry her first husband, Logan, because her grandma made her because he has money. Then she ran off with Joe who becomes the mayor of the first black town. After Joe dies she marries Tea Cake, who is younger than her. Which one of the husbands is the best for Janie.
In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character Janie struggles to find herself and her identity. Throughout the course of the novel she has many different people tell her who she should be and how she should behave, but none of these ideas quite fit Janie. The main people telling Janie who she should be is her grandmother and Janie’s 3 husbands. The people in Janie's life influence her search for identity by teaching her about marriage, hard work, class, society, love and happiness.
In this book, Hurston writes in the dielect of the black community of the time. Many of the words are slang. Hurston begins the story with Janie telling it, but then it becomes a third person narrative throughout most of the story.
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
How does Hurston experience and transcribe the of everyday resistance if she herself as an outsider? Hurston encounters resistance from the workers on the job when she first arrives.(15) In these early scenes at the lumber camp, her narrative style is present as a clumsy "I" who can't quite fit in. She drives a fancy car, she wears expensive clothing, and the workers suspect that she is a detective. She explains what she had to do to become part of the "inner circle": "I had first to convince the 'job' that I was not an enemy in the person of the law; and, second, I had to prove that I was their kind" (65). As she gains their trust, her narrative persona shifts more easily between first- and third-person. Finally, when she follows the men on the job, her narrative practically disappears. Instead, she situates her tales in relation to conditions in the camp. Hurston learns to overcome resistance by fitting in, and her studied invisibility enables her to display folklore's power as a discourse of nonconformity.
By drawing an examination, Janie is portrayed as a delightful dark lady who is wanted by other men notwithstanding when she is hitched. The Storyteller reveals that when the men see her in the field where she works, they progress toward becoming pulled in to her charms, dark hair and sexuality (Hurston 2). Accordingly, the other ladies would express their envy and desire. Métraux's depictions of Erzulie Freda match Janie's appearance and state of mind when he says Freda is "full glory of her seductiveness, with hair unbound to make her look like a long haired half-caste" (qtd.in Lamothe 165). Hurston writes about Janie in Tell My Horse a beautiful woman of lush appearance firm, full breasts and other perfect female attributes"
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.
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.
Hurston describes Eatonville not in a negative way, but more as a place that is not beneficial to an independent woman like Janie. Janie Starks, the wife of the mayor, is sentenced to spend her days as a worker in the town store, hair tied up, and silent. She must deal with money and figures without being able to enjoy the “lying sessions” on the porch, or attending such impressive town events like the “muleogy.” To the reader, Eatonville represents all that is repressive in life. Janie’s nature is restricted not by the town itself, but by her status in the town.
Hurston uses the power of language and different narrative techniques to show Janie's transition throughout the novel. It is important to notice that in Janie's journey from object to subject, the narration of the novel shifts from third person to a mixture of first and third person; thus, the shift shows the awareness of self within Janie. Language becomes an instrument of injury and salvation and of selfhood and empowerment. The use of powerful language is exemplified well in the text when Janie is asked to say a few words as the new Mrs. Mayor. Joe, her second husband, quickly cuts in and says, "Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for not...
When Janie is growing up, she is eager to become a woman and is ready to dive into the strain, maturity, and exhilaration of adulthood. In the beginning of Janie’s life story, Hurston introduces the metaphor of the pear tree, a symbol of Janie’s blossoming, and describes how “she had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her,” which successfully captures her excitement and perplexity of entering the adult world (11). Janie’s anxiety of growing up is also articulated with the image of her “looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made” (Hurston 11). In her teenage years, it seems as if her life revolves around the anticipation of womanhood. Even as Janie grows older, she continues to hold on to her aspiration of living an adventurous, invigorating, and passionate life. In criti...
... Janie is free-spirited and unconcerned about what others think of her. When she returns to Eatonville after Tea Cake’s death, she shows no shame for what she has done or where she has been, because she is finally able to live the life she always wanted to lead. Hurston’s own struggles in life for individuality and an outlet for her suppressed spirit clearly contribute to the development of Janie’s character. Just as Hurston struggled for recognition, equality, and purpose in the literary world during the Harlem Renaissance, Janie’s struggle for the recognition, equality, and purpose in her relationships.