Theme of Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God

1862 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Gender role imagery in their eyes were watching god

Breaking Through

In the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" written by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie the protagonist is seen by critics as having no voice. For all women silence knows no boundaries of race or culture, and Janie is no exception. Hurston characterizes Janie with the same silence that women at that time & period were forced into, (complete submission.) "Women were to be seen and not heard." Janie spends forty years of her life, learning to achieve/find, her voice against the over-ruling and dominate men in her life. But in the end Janie comes out the victor, breaking the silence. In her essay "What do Feminist Critics Want?" Gilbert states, "Like Wagner's master singers....men had the power of speech,[but]....women like Emily Dickinson, knew that they had, or were supposed to have, the graceful obligation of silence."(34) To question the male voice in "Their Eyes" is an important aspect of the genre which contributes to the story as a whole. Furthermore it is to discover the ways in which the male voice affected Janie's. Weather it be physical or mental, the reader [if reading close] can surpass Janie's verbal silence and allow just her presence to speak for her. Janie's actions are what makes her someone to pay attention to. By first understanding that Janie was silent (verbally)through most of the novel, does not mean she was not heard. Her presence demands respect and by doing so, the reader will find and appreciate Janie as a whole, and not just a "Black Woman" whose voice had been hindered by societies bias. Mary Helen Washington states in her critical essay on Their Eyes, "Ourattentiveness to the possibility that women are excluded categorically from the language of the dominant discourse should h...

... middle of paper ...

...-defense, and from the voice she expresses in defending her life from Tea Cake. Hurston shows that her characters' voices have been influenced by people's subjection to a dominant authority. Hurston indicates that voice may be personal and yet move into the universal. At the end of the novel, Janie's voice is heard and recognized by Pheoby, who will share it with the community later. Finally there is a unity within Janie that allows her to share her self with others. Janie has found her voice, and she can choose when and how to express it when defining who she is.

Works Cited

Gilbert, Sandra M. "What Do Feminist Critics Want? A Postcard from the volcano." ADE Bulletin 66 (1980).Rpt.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper, 1998.

Wall, Cheryl A. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Casebook. New York: Oxford, 2000.

Show More
Related

  • Analysis Of Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1296 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God tells about the life of Janie Crawford. Janie’s mother, who suffers a tragic moment in her life, resulting in a mental breakdown, is left for her grandmother to take care of her. Throughout Janie’s life, she comes across several different men, all of which end in a horrible way. All the men that Janie married had a different perception of marriage. After the third husband, Janie finally returns to her home. It is at a belief that Janie is seeking someone who she can truly love, and not someone her grandmother chooses for her. Although Janie eventually lives a humble life, Janie’s quest is questionable.

    Read More

  • The Ambiguity Of Janie's Voice In Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1197 Words  | 3 Pages

    In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author takes you on the journey of a woman, Janie, and her search for love, independence, and the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit seems to constantly be disregarded, yet Janie continues to hold on to the potential of grasping all that she desires. In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Hurston illustrates the ambiguity of Janie’s voice; the submissiveness of her silence and the independence she reclaims when regaining her voice. The reclaiming of Janie's independence, in the novel, correlates with the development and maturation Janie undergoes during her self discovery.

    Read More

  • Janie Speaks Her Ideas in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    718 Words  | 2 Pages

    Janie Speaks Her Ideas in Their Eyes Were Watching God In life to discover our self-identity a person must show others what one thinks or feels and speak his or her mind. Sometimes their opinions may be silenced or even ignored.   In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character Janie would sometimes speak her ideas and they would often make a difference.   The author, Zora Neale Hurston, gives Janie many chances to speak and she shows the reader outcomes.

    Read More

  • Search for Identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    977 Words  | 2 Pages

    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. Janie's outlook on life stems from the system of beliefs that her grandmother, Nanny, instils in her during her life.

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Are Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston

    1082 Words  | 3 Pages

    People are constantly searching for their voices. A voice gives someone independence and the ability to make her own decision. The First Amendment ensures that all United States citizens possess the freedom of speech; however, not all people are given the ability or opportunity to exercise that right. When a person has no voice they rely on others to make their decisions. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Are Watching God, Janie constantly struggles to find her voice. Her marriage to Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake help her discover and utilize her voice in different ways. During Janie’s first marriage to Logan she has no voice, Joe silences Janie’s tiniest whisper and controls her similar to a slave; in contrast to Logan and Joe, Tea Cake encourages Janie to use her voice and make her own decisions. Janie cannot express her voice until she discovers happiness and independence through her final marriage.

    Read More

  • Zora Neale Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God

    3388 Words  | 7 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a thriving woman.  Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards life has to offer.

    Read More

  • 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.

    Read More

  • 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.

    Read More

  • Janie's Coping Mechanism In Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis

    974 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the journey of Janie Crawford as an African American woman who grows and matures through the hardships and struggles of three different marriages. Although Janie is an African American, the main themes of the novel discusses the oppression of women by men, disregarding race. Janie gets married to three different men, aging from a young and naive girl to a mature and hardened women near the age of 40. Throughout the novel, Janie suffers through these relationships and learns to cope with life by blaming others and escaping her past by running away from it. These relationships are a result of Janie chasing her dreams of finding and experiencing true love, which she ultimately does in the end. Even through the suffering and happiness, Janie’s journey is a mixture of ups and downs, and at the end, she is ultimately content. Zora Neale Hurston utilizes Janie’s metaphorical thoughts and responses of blame and escape, as well as her actions towards success and fulfillment with her relationship with Tea Cake, to suggest that her journey

    Read More

  • Three Features of "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

    447 Words  | 1 Pages

    Every novel has a protagonist and an antagonist of the story. There has to be a "good guy" and "bad guy" in order for there to be some sort of an interesting plot. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, my most and least favorite characters happen to be the protagonist, Janie, and the antagonist, Jody Starks. There are many things that symbolize these characters that are both comparable and contradictory of my personality. Symbols, objects or characters that are used to represent abstract ideas or concepts, play a major role in this novel. Janie is represented by her hair and Jody by his power, wealth and status of the town. Janie Jody and the symbolic representations are the three most appealing fundamentals of the story.

    Read More

  • Finding Her Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    2081 Words  | 5 Pages

    Janie Crawford, the main character of Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, strives to find her own voice throughout the novel and, in my opinion, she succeeds even though it takes her over thirty years to do it. Each one of her husband’s has a different effect on her ability to find that voice.

    Read More

  • Facing Inner Conflict in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford, the protagonist, constantly faces the inner conflicts she has against herself. Throughout a lot of her life, Janie is controlled, whether it be by her Nanny or by her husbands, Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Her outspoken attitude is quickly silenced and soon she becomes nothing more than a trophy, only meant to help her second husband, Joe Starks, achieve power. With time, she no longer attempts to stand up to Joe and make her own decisions. Janie changes a lot from the young girl laying underneath a cotton tree at the beginning of her story. Not only is she not herself, she finds herself aging and unhappy with her life. Joe’s death become the turning point it takes to lead to the resolution of her story which illustrates that others cannot determine who you are, it takes finding your own voice and gaining independence to become yourself and find those who accept you.

    Read More

  • Symbolism in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1106 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she utilizes an array of symbolism such as color, the store, and her husbands to solidify the overall theme of independence and individuality. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered by many a classic American Feminist piece that emphasizes how life was for African Americans post slave era in the early 1900s. One source summarizes the story as, 1 ”a woman's quest for fulfillment and liberation in a society where women are objects to be used for physical work and pleasure.” Which is why the overall theme is concurrent to independence and self.

    Read More

  • Janie’s Courageous Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1409 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

    639 Words  | 2 Pages

    color of her eyes.  Janie was worked hard by Logan.  He made her do all

    Read More

More about Theme of Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Open Document