Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their eyes were watching God the main character Janie is on a quest for self-fulfillment. Of Janie’s three marriages, Logan and Joe provide her with a sense of security and status. However, only her union with Teacake flourishes into true love. Janie’s first marriage to Logan Killicks was an arranged marriage by her Grandmother Nanny. One day Nanny caught Janie kissing the neighborhood riff raff Johnny Taylor, and Nanny becomes convinced that Janie has entered her womanhood, and needs to marry.

But because of living in slavery, her worldview has been morphed, and marrying off Janie is seen as crucial for her to gain security and status and her only option for success. Janie grows miserable and runs off with another man named Jody, she falls for and marries him. When he becomes mayor, shortly after he forces Janie to submit to his idea of the way he thinks she should behave. Finally, developing the courage to stand up to him, after he belittles her in public, Janie experiences something she never had before, a sense of independence and begins a relationship with God. Realizing how life changing it is, after Jody 's death, Janie stays unmarried for nine months, enjoying her freedom.

Amanda, originally from a genteel Southern family, regales her children frequently with tales of her idyllic youth and the scores of suitors she once received. She is disappointed that Laura, who wears a brace on her leg and is painfully shy, does not attract any gentleman callers. She enrolls Laura in a business college, hoping that she will make her own and the family's fortune through a business career. Weeks later, however, Amanda discovers that Laura's crippling shyness has led her to drop out of the class secretly and spend her days wandering the city alone. Amanda then decides that Laura's last hope must lie in marriage and begins selling newspaper subscriptions to earn the extra money she believes will help to attract suitors for her daughter.

She was then forced by her grandma to marry an older man who would provide her with security and a nice home. Her marriage lacked love, which was replaced with the control of her husband. She was then swept away by a young black man, Joe Starks, who at first promised her a life of the love that she deserved. Joe became the beloved mayor of Eatonville and was knee deep in wealth. For twenty-years this love was the same as the marriage before.

They supplied Nanny with a job after she became free and they aided in raising Janie. Johnny Taylor – During her adolescent years, Janie kissed Johnny. This is what caused Nanny’s decision for Janie to marry Logan Hicks. Logan Killicks- Janie’s first husband. He is financially stable, yet unloving to Janie.

Like all women, Janie is expected to withdraw from her views to please her grandmother, which she does. Janie’s principle of independence is overridden by her grandmother. During the slavery era, the elders were dominant over the younger individuals. Not only does the theme of “elders know best” exist in African American culture but in society as a whole, such as the Native Americans and the Africans. Janie wanted to give her grandmother assurance that she would be taken care of before her death, a month after Janie’s marriage, Nan... ... middle of paper ... ...in size and production, the marriage between Jody and Janie deteriorates.

Later in her marriage, her husband’s lack of attention led her to suffer from bulimia and to make several suicide attempts (85-86). Once, when she was attempting to gain Prince Charles’ attention, she took a penknife and cut her chest and thighs (77). Seeing the bloody sight he said, “You are crying wolf.” This comment added to her negative self-esteem (188). The constant press coverage put her under lots of pressure. “It warped her sense of who she was through its unrealistic expectations, distortions, exaggerations and outright inventions” (Smith).

In Night Woman, there is a Lady who earns her living as a prostitute. She hates her job, but she has a son who she loves more than anything so she endures it in order to provide for him. On page 71 the mother states, “The night is the time I dread the most in my life.” The woman loves her son enough that she is willing to work all night doing something she despises in order to make sure he is taken care of. She even makes up lies to ensure her son doesn’t know what she does at night and so that he doesn’t have to see the darkness that is all around him. Caroline’s mother in the story Caroline’s Wedding shows a similar love for her child.

The Bennet girls struggle to capture his attention, and Jane, who judges no one, is the daughter who manages to win his heart, until Mr. Bingley abruptly leaves town. Mr. Bingley is often accompanied by Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is a very proud man. Elizabeth Bennet, who is proud of herself, and Mr. Darcy are not fond of one another from the start, these two characters pose the central conflict in the novel. As the novel progresses, Elizabeth receives a marriage proposal from her cousin, Mr. Collins, and turns him down. Mr. Collins then proposes to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s best friend, who accepts.

The Bennet girls struggle to capture his attention, and Jane, who judges no one, is the daughter who manages to win his heart, until Mr. Bingley abruptly leaves town. Mr. Bingley is often accompanied by Fitzwilliam Darcy, who is a very proud man. Elizabeth Bennet, who is proud of herself, and Mr. Darcy are not fond of one another from the start, these two characters pose the central conflict in the novel. As the novel progresses, Elizabeth receives a marriage proposal from her cousin, Mr. Collins, and turns him down. Mr. Collins then proposes to Charlotte Lucas, Elizabeth’s bestfriend, who accepts.