Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis

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In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie had very beautiful hair that attracted many young men leading her to find the love of her life, Tea Cakes. Janie’s hair was one of more favorable feature of herself. Janie’s second husband made her cover her hair, because he was jealous of what the other guys would think of her. Janie felt unappreciated. After the death of her second husband Janie burned all the hair rags that covered her hair. After his death she eventually met a young man by the name of Tea Cakes. Tea Cakes strongly admired her hair and one day asked her to brush it, he says,“‘ Ah been wishin’ so bad tuh git mah hands in yo’ hair. It’s so pretty. It feels jus lak unerneath uh dove’s

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton
729 Words | 2 Pages
The author also referred to the hair of Zeena and Mattie quite often. Zeena had only “thin strands of hair”, and she wore a “hard perpendicular bonnet” above her head. The sight imprinted in the reader’s mind is not a pleasant one. Zeena appears to be stern and rigid. On the contrary when Mattie’s hair was described, it is more appealing. Ethan remembers her “smoothed hair and a ribbon at her neck”. A ribbon is more appealing to the reader than a “hard, perpendicular bonnet.” Mattie’s hair was also described as looking like a “drift of mist on the moon”. Unlike Zeena’s uninviting hairstyle, Mattie’s hair had a soft and silky quality to it. Mattie seemed to walk about the house with a halo of light surrounding her, almost like an angel. The conflicting hairstyles of the two women represented an overall difference in personalities. Mattie was a feminine young girl, while Zeena was an old hag who made no attempt to better her appearance.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God: Character Analysis
1034 Words | 3 Pages
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.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Book Analysis
1804 Words | 4 Pages
Oprah Winfrey mutilated the classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston by turning the movie into a story with no resemblance to the book. Throughout Janie Crawford’s life, love is a dream she wished to achieve. Oprah makes changes to Janie’s character, her marriages, and the differences of symbolism, the change of themes, and the significance of Janie’s childhood which will alter the entire moral of the story. Another difference is the way the townspeople gossip. Oprah changes the point of Janie’s life journey to find herself to a love story.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Power Analysis
1183 Words | 3 Pages
Power dynamics control the way that our lives work. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experiences marital relationships with power hungry men. As Janie moves from relationship she slowly gains more power and discovers the importance of the power she is receiving. Janie longs to be freed from her controlling partners as she learns of the benefits of freedom, like decision making. When Janie first grows up she begins to fantasize of what lies beyond her grandmother’s gate, specifically marriage. Janie’s lack of knowledge of marriages, cause her to struggle through her relationships with Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake, allowing Janie to have a self-revelation, [and discover marriage is not easy and the perfect fairytale she thinks it is].
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis
1094 Words | 3 Pages
In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Sweat,” Hurston uses the characters Janie Crawford and Delia Jones to symbolize African-American women as the mules of the world and their only alternative were through their words, in order to illustrate the conditions women suffered and the actions they had to take to maintain or establish their self-esteem.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay
642 Words | 2 Pages
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that presents a happy ending through the moral development of Janie, the protagonist. The novel divulges Janie’s reflection on her life’s adventures, by narrating the novel in flashback form. Her story is disclosed to Janie’s best friend Phoebe who comes to learn the motive for Janie’s return to Eatonville. By writing the novel in this style they witness Janie’s childhood, marriages, and present life, to observe Janie’s growth into a dynamic character and achievement of her quest to discover identity and spirit.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
1490 Words | 3 Pages
Throughout the movie of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Oprah Winfrey alternates Zora Neale Hurston’s story of a woman’s journey to the point where nobody even recognizes it. The change in the theme, the characters, and their relationships form a series of major differences between the book and the movie. Instead of teaching people the important lessons one needs to know to succeed in this precious thing called life, Oprah tells a meaningless love story for the gratification of her viewers. Her inaccurate interpretation of the story caused a dramatic affect in the atmosphere and a whole new attitude for the audience.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
1463 Words | 3 Pages
The movie and the book of Their Eyes Were Watching God both tell the story of a young woman’s journey to finding love; however, the movie lacks the depth and meaning behind the importance of Janie’s desire for self-fulfillment. Oprah Winfrey’s version alters the idea from the book Zora Neale Hurston wrote, into a despairing love story for the movie. Winfrey changes Hurston’s story in various ways by omitting significant events and characters, which leads to a different theme than what the novel portrays. The symbolisms and metaphors emphasized throughout the book are almost non-existent in the movie, changing the overall essence of the story. While Zora Neale Hurston’s portrayal gives a more in depth view of Janie’s journey of self-discovery and need for fulfilling love, Oprah Winfrey’s version focuses mainly on a passionate love story between Janie and Tea Cake.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
6207 Words | 13 Pages
Lee Coker - Lee Coker lives in Eatonville. He was one of the first people to meet Jody and Janie.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
916 Words | 2 Pages
Janie finds her way out when Joe Starks appears. The first thing Joe does after asking for a drink of water is to name himself: "Joe Starks was the name, yeah Joe Starks from in and through Georgy" (47). Hurston's naming of Starks is ironic for several reasons. The word stark is often used as a synonym for barren, and Joe Starks and Janie never have any children. Hurston hints at sexual problems that develop between the pair because of their separate beds and Janie's eventual verbal "castration" of Joe in the store. Starks's name is also ironic because of his focus on capitalistic pursuits. Starks's wealth gives him a false sense of power because the townspeople resent him and the things he does to gain his wealth. Starks's name could also be seen as a comment on his desire to be a "big voice." As Janie eventually finds out, there is not much behind the big voice; it is a facade for the starkness inside Joe.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay
900 Words | 2 Pages
“She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight,” (11). The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching, God by Zora Neale Hurston, tells a story of a woman, Janie Crawford’s quest to find her true identity that takes her on a journey and back in which she finally comes to learn who she is. These lessons of love and life that Janie comes to attain about herself are endowed from the relationships she has with Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis
984 Words | 2 Pages
In every book, symbols provide ideas that form the overall themes. Janie is represented by multiple object; this helps the reader understand her. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, there are many objects like Janie’s hair, the mule, the pear tree, the horizon, and the hurricane that form Janie and help the readers understand who she is.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God
927 Words | 2 Pages
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.
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis
1238 Words | 3 Pages
In this world, there is no such thing as a perfect husband, they can have a lot of good traits but also some bad ones. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, their were a lot of examples of how a husband should and shouldn’t act. The character Janie gets married two different times before she married the guy she really felt infatuated for. Although he wasn’t the perfect husband, his traits outweighed the other two guys. In her first marriage with a gentleman named Logan Killicks, she was not allowed to have any input in the marriage, therefore did not have the feelings which a relationship really needs. Her second marriage was a lot better than the one with Logan Killicks, but with Joe Starks, he was completely
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Analysis Of Janie In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston
815 Words | 2 Pages
She would let her hair roam about on her back with no cares. Then something predictably amazing happened to her. She found a man who loved her and her hair very much. His name was Tea Cakes. He’s the guy she was searching for to let her be the woman she wants. He let her have her independence but still let her know that he loves her and wants to be let into her life. The first task of him showing her independence was when he taught her to play checkers. Women in that time were not known to play games played by men, but nevertheless Tea Cake was a wondrous and unique man who didn;t suppress her. When Tea Cake said, “ Ah ain’t been sleepin’ so good for more’n uh week cause Ah been wishin’ so bad tuh git mah hands in yo’ hair. It’s so pretty. It feels ju’ lak underneath uh dove’s wing next to mah face” (Hurston 102), it showed that he was sure of himself as a man to love her long hair and that nobody would touch it but him. After this quote, Janie seemed to fall in love with him in a whole new way. She realized that this man is what she didn;t give up for. The happiness she felt at that time is what her heart told her to not give up
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis

Ethan Frome by Edith Wharton