Everything isn't what it seems. You see things all the time but are they really what they seem or are they just symbols for something else? Symbols are used in everything whether it's clearly seen or not. They are also categorized into groups to be able to see what the true meaning is. Nature and God are both the main symbols in Jane Eyre and in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Nature and God are what both novels mainly focus on they also have other symbols throughout them as well. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God” most of the symbols are just about nature and are quick to see. The horizon, the pear tree, the mule, and the hurricane. The horizon to Janie was that she knew it was possible to get there one day. When the book begins she's married …show more content…
One of the ones that is most obvious is when Jane says "Till morning dawned I was tossed on a buoyant but unquiet sea . . . I thought sometimes I saw beyond its wild waters a shore . . . now and then a freshening gale, wakened by hope, bore my spirit triumphantly towards the bourne: but . . . a counteracting breeze blew off land, and continually drove me back." Jane had just saved Mr. Rochester's life before she said that. She's using the stormy sea to represent the relationship she has with Rochester. Not only does Jane use the ocean as a symbol but so does Rochester. "Your habitual expression in those days, Jane, was . . . not buoyant." The buoyant sea image Rochester used is to symbolize that their relationship if what keeps Jane floating when it comes to her health. We see that the nook begins with Jane's childhood. We read that since she was young she would read books and in one book in particular she was able to relate because she identified with it and it was while reading Bewick's History of British Birds. For young Jane being able to fly above everything everyday of life was a way of escaping the life he had. Bronte not only used birds to symbolize how Jane wanted to escape reality but also how at Lowood nutrition wasn't a major …show more content…
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, God is mentioned in the title but it is not mentioned as much as nature is. But it is mentioned twice in the novel. Both times when God is mentioned it was right before the hurricane had hit them. “The time was past for asking the white folks what to look for through that door. Six eyes were questioning God” They did not know who to question because they knew that the white people didn't know the answer so they turned to God for some last minute answers. Also, they knew that by not leaving like the others did but instead staying like the white people did they did not make the best choice. They were now in danger, suffering, terrified, and had no clue on what to do. The second time that God is mentioned is not far apart from when God is mentioned for the first time. “They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” This was when the hurricane was in front of them and they knew there was nothing left to do. They could have avoided this but they chose not to and ended up suffering. They tried to run but they were no match against it. They turned to God after because they didn't know what else to do. People turn to God as their last option, when they don’t know what to do anymore or when they think their life is about to end. They know that it's not longer what's going to be but what's coming and what's there at the moment. They turn
Throughout the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora Neale Hurston uses colors and other symbols to describe the state of relationships, feelings, and even show a certain point of view. As Janie goes through relationships, she encounters different colors. Hurston also shows us Janie’s feelings within those relationships as well as the common view of the world on Janie. Next to the colors, Hurston uses other symbols to show the reader even more specific meanings.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story about identity and reality to say the least. Each stage in Janie's life was a shaping moment. Her exact metamorphosis, while ambiguous was quite significant. Janie's psychological identification was molded by many people, foremost, Nanny, her grandmother and her established companions. Reality, identity, and experience go hand in hand in philosophy, identity is shaped by experience and with experience you accept reality. Life is irrefutably the search for identity and the shaping of it through the acceptance of reality and the experiences in life.
Their Eyes Were Watching God. Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. The Web.
Symbolism prevails in everyday life: a dove peace, the color black death, a red rose romance, and a smile friendship. But symbols fail to remain broad; they also appear unique to each individual. Janie, the main character, reveals various symbols along her growing journey to find a voice for herself. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, symbolism emanates through Janie’s life reflecting her development.
Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God follows protagonist Janie Mae Crawford’s journey into womanhood and her ultimate quest for self-discovery. Having to abruptly transition from childhood to adulthood at the age of sixteen, the story demonstrates Janie’s eternal struggle to find her own voice and realize her dreams through three marriages and a lifetime of hardships that come about from being a black woman in America in the early 20th century. Throughout the novel, Hurston uses powerful metaphors helping to “unify” (as Henry Louis Gates Jr. puts it) the novel’s themes and narrative; thus providing a greater understanding of Janie’s quest for selfhood. There are three significant metaphors in the novel that achieve this unity: the pear tree metaphor, metaphors representing the inside and outside world, and finally the figure of the mule.
Zora Neale Hurston uses many symbols throughout her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, to represent many different things. Symbols are important in a novel because they reveal ideas and qualities beyond the literal sense of the symbol. Symbolism also helps the reader better understand the deeper meanings of the book. Zora Neale Hurston uses various symbols such as a horizon, Janie’s hair, and a pear tree in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, nature is used to tell and help visualize Janie’s story. Each of the objects symbolizes certain aspects of Janie’s life and connects to her experiences. These ideas are portrayed through nature: the pear tree, the bee and flower, and the sun and horizon are all examples in the story. While all of these show the beauty in nature, the destruction it can cause is shown through the hurricane. Nature is shown as both a beautiful and destructive force to convey the connection it has with life.
Bronte uses symbolism through the use of colour to portray emotions and describe the setting. ' Burning with the light of a red jewel', this reflects the passion Jane and Rochester are constantly feeling. This is very effective because people have already associated different colours with different thoughts and meanings. Another example of this is, 'spread a solemn purple', this is used to describe the sunset
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie searches for her voice. After being forced and convinced to marrying domineering husbands, she finds the one. With enduring the hardship of finding love, and happiness, she realizes who she is, and once she found her voice, she was never silent again. In this novel,
Ever since Janie was young, she had always longed for love. Their Eyes Were Watching God, is clearly a love story. Whether it is the lack of love that was given to her by her nanny, or from any other source of love given to her during her three relationships. Each of her marriages brought her a new found sense of what love really is and strengthen her thoughts that you do not have to love someone to marry them. At the beginning, Janie was forced to marry at sixteen and believed that love and marriage came hand in hand. However, as the story goes on, she finds out how wrong she is.
While huddling with their colleagues during the storm, they hear, "the wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time… They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God" (160). In the eyes of the characters, this mighty force of nature is compared to God, a powerful and divine being who can create beautiful things but can also destroy them. The hurricane represents the hindrances Janie faced throughout her journey. Despite these difficulties, she manages to keep faith and overcome her hardships.
The book revolves around one particular idea that God is nature and we should live close to nature, for it is our greatest teacher, and it is once again God. There is this idea in the book that God can manifest through nature, like when Janie was under the fruit tree, in nature, and was finally able to get her thoughts together, figuratively through God (11). Also in the text, Teacake, Janie and Motorboat were watching the hurricane up in the sky. The text directly restated the title, “Their eyes were watching God,” directly implying that the hurricane, a representation of nature, is God himself. This same hurricane puts the three through havoc and nearly kills them; also implying that it is God, himself, only this time, indirectly.
Jane’s journey includes her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. By using a variety of literary techniques such as imagery, word choice, symbolism, mood, and tone Bronte reveals deeper meaning in her words regarding Jane’s journey. Jane’s journey would be nothing without the extensive backstory Bronte gives Jane regarding her ideas about
The novel, Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte, has a plot that is filled with an extraordinary amount of problems. Or so it seems as you are reading it. However, it comes to your attention after you have finished it, that there is a common thread running throughout the book. There are many little difficulties that the main character, the indomitable Jane Eyre, must deal with, but once you reach the end of the book you begin to realize that all of Jane's problems are based around one thing. Jane searches throughout the book for love and acceptance, and is forced to endure many hardships before finding them. First, she must cope with the betrayal of the people who are supposed to be her family - her aunt, Mrs. Reed, and her children, Eliza, Georgiana, and John. Then there is the issue of Jane's time at Lowood School, and how Jane goes out on her own after her best friend leaves. She takes a position at Thornfield Hall as a tutor, and makes some new friendships and even a romance. Yet her newfound happiness is taken away from her and she once again must start over. Then finally, after enduring so much, during the course of the book, Jane finally finds a true family and love, in rather unexpected places.
In Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, there are many major points in the novel that reflect the meaning of the title. Hurston seems to relate God to love and life, and this could be one reason why a book about love and self-realization would have a title relating to a higher power. The title also reflects a sense of lack of control over the outcome and direction of life. Through Janie's experience with Teacake and one of the major turning points in the novel, the hurricane, the reader can see the relevance of the title to the novel as well as the novelist. Janie's relationship with Teacake is the area in the novel where references to God begin to emerge.