It is human nature to seek out answers and solutions to the unknown. Humans constantly create definitions for complex ideas in order to establish a sense of truth and understanding. However, not everything has one definite answer. Zora Neale Hurston proves this notion in her most popular narrative, Their Eyes Were Watching God. In her novel, Hurston uses Janie’s three husbands to reveal that happiness cannot be defined by a society nor a single individual; true happiness is different for everyone and must be sought out. When Janie was a young girl, she allowed her grandmother’s opinions and beliefs on happiness dictate how she lived her life, which ultimately led to her misery. When Janie was caught kissing Johnny Taylor under the pear tree at the age of sixteen, Nanny told Janie how she wanted her to live her life: “Ah wanted yuh to school out and pick from a higher bush and a sweeter berry. But dat ain’t yo’ idea, Ah see” (Hurston 13). Since she was young, Janie had been mesmerized with the pear tree, the emblem of natural harmony and contentment. She had come to the realization that her dream was to wrestle with life, and just as she was experiencing this freedom, Nanny, the only family she was in contact with, challenged her plans. Nanny took her own experiences as a malnourished slave and condemned Janie to the life in which she was never able to have; Nanny wanted her granddaughter to marry a man with money so that he could support her; she believed that whatever Janie’s assertion of happiness was, was wrong and pointless. When Nanny told Janie that she wanted her to marry a rich man, she spoke with a superior tone that revealed her belittlement towards Janie. She claimed that Janie didn’t know what was best for herself,... ... middle of paper ... ...ea Cake, and that it would only end in misery, but Janie proved them wrong. Janie found the freedom she had been looking for since she was sixteen in a place no one would have expected. Janie stumbled through life trying to decide which path would lead to contentment. She allowed her grandmother and society influence her choices and decisions, which ultimately led to her dejection. It was not until the end of the novel that Janie had finally made the decision to chase her own happiness despite the opinions of others. Life is not a “one size fits all” ordeal; life is complicated and is different for everyone. Happiness, bliss, and contentment cannot be defined by one party or individual, but can be interpreted thousands of ways. Works Cited Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York, New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1937. Print.
As Janie is growing up she has to learn to accept her Nanny’s belief of how a woman is supposed to live in society. Nanny grew up in slavery so she believes that the role of men is to support his wife financially. Nanny thinks Janie should marry a man according to how successful he is and Janie should keep up the household responsibilities. Janie’s grandmother said, “Ah been waitin’ a long time, Janie, but nothin’ Ah I
It’s no wonder that “[t]he hurricane scene in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a famous one and [that] other writers have used it in an effort to signify on Hurston” (Mills, “Hurston”). The final, climactic portion of this scene acts as the central metaphor of the novel and illustrates the pivotal interactions that Janie, the protagonist, has with her Nanny and each of her three husbands. In each relationship, Janie tries to “’go tuh God, and…find out about livin’ fuh [herself]’” (192). She does this by approaching each surrogate parental figure as one would go to God, the Father; she offers her faith and obedience to them and receives their definitions of love and protection in return. When they threaten to annihilate and hush her with these definitions, however, she uses her voice and fights to save her dream and her life. Hurston shows how Janie’s parental figures transform into metaphorical hurricanes, how a literal hurricane transforms into a metaphorical representation of Janie’s parental figures, and how Janie survives all five hurricanes.
As much as Tea Cake had the qualities Janie was looking for she found a greater understanding of herself as a women besides her love. Janie was inexperienced at the start of her adventure, learned that love will not always come from promises, and had major reflection when she finished her first marriage with Joe that she went into with assurance. Janie was able to get a glimpse of independency after Joe died which is conveyed through the quote “Besides she liked being lonesome for a change. This freedom feeling was fine” (Hurston 90). Before meeting, Tea Cake Janie was able to understand that she was comfortable with not searching for love. However, Tea Cake was a reminder to her that her ideals of love were still out in the world. He was able to make Janie happy from doing things fun and childish and these activities like fishing during the knight, or playing chess were the things that society would not accept for a women like Janie. The first major instance when Tea Cake helped Janie go against society was when he played chess with her. While a small act to some readers, Janie found the act enormous in her eyes as it showed her that Tea Cake was a man able
Janie sets out on a quest to make sense of inner questions. She does not sit back and
From the beginning of society, men and women have always been looked at as having different positions in life. Even in the modern advanced world we live in today, there are still many people who believe men and women should be looked at differently. In the work field, on average women are paid amounts lower than men who may be doing the exact same thing. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston brings about controversy on a mans roles. Janie Crawford relationships with Logan, Joe and Tea Cake each bring out the mens feelings on masculine roles in marital life.
“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide...Then they act and do things accordingly” (Hurston 1). Men have different views on dreams than women do. Women typically live their dreams while men realize the difference between reality and the illusion of their dreams. This pertains to Janie because her entire life was her dream. As each one faded away, she discovered new ones. Her dreams were what helped her realize what she wanted in life and who she was as a person.
Hurston’s Nanny has seen a lot of trouble in her life. Once a slave, Nanny tells of being raped by her master, an act from which Janie’s mother was brought into the world. With a crushing sense of personal sacrifice, Nanny tells sixteen-year-old Janie of hiding the light skinned baby from an angry, betrayed slave master’s wife. Young Janie listens to Nanny’s troubles thoughtfully, but Hurston subtly lets the reader know that Nanny’s stern, embittered world view does not have much to do with Ja...
...ver have been condoned had Joe still been around. Janie can say what she wants and doesn’t have to hide her true feelings. Finally, she can be herself around someone who accepts and encourages who she is. Tea Cake adds excitement and passion to Janie’s life, something that hadn’t ever existed in her previous relationships. Despite how the town feels about the new romance, Janie and Tea Cake leave the town and are bonded by the true love Janie had yearned for since she was a child. Janie finds the future she had always wanted. All because of Joe’s death, Janie became free to live out her own dreams instead of his. She was finally accepted by someone she truly loves and the conflict she faced for so long is over. She has the independence to be who she wants, love who she wants and live how she wants. Joe’s death led her to Tea Cake where she finally found who she was.
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.
Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God describes the life of Janie, a black woman at the turn of the century. Janie is raised by her Grandmother and spends her life traveling with different men until she finally returnes home. Robert E. Hemenway has said about the book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God is ... one of the most revealing treatments in modern literature of a woman’s quest for a satisfying life” I partially disagree with Hemenway because, although Janie is on a quest, it is not for a satisfying life. I believe that she is on a quest for someone on whom to lean. Although she achieves a somewhat satisfying life, Janie’s quest is for dependence rather than satisfaction.
The love Janie expects in a marriage is like a fairytale that turns out not to be the perfect life she presumed because of not being loved in a faithful way and being abused. Janie was unsatisfied with her first marriage with Logan because, “His belly is too big too, now, and his toe-nails look lak mule foots. And ‘tain’t nothin’ in de way of him washin’ his feet every evenin’ before he comes tuh bed” (Hurston 24). Hurston uses figurative language such as, “..his toe-nails look lak mule foots” to indicate a negative criticism of suppression. This s...
Today, it has come to be regarded as a seminal work in both African American literature and women's literature. TIME included the novel in its 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels published since 1923. One of the most important works of twentieth-century American literature, Zora Neale Hurston's beloved classic, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is an enduring Southern love story sparkling with wit, beauty, and heartfelt wisdom. Zora Neale Hurston was born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, to John Hurston, a carpenter and Baptist preacher, and Lucy Potts Hurston a former schoolteacher. Hurston was the fifth of eight children. While she was still a toddler her family moved to Eatonville, Florida, the first all-black incorporated town in the United States, where John Hurston served several terms as mayor. In 1917, Hurston enrolled in Morgan Academy in Baltimore where she completed her high school education. Three years later, she enrolled at Howard University and began her writing career. She took classes there intermittently for several years and eventually earned an associate degree. The university’s literary magazine published her first story in 1921.
Through her three marriages, the death of her one true love, and proving her innocence in Tea Cake’s death, Janie learns to look within herself to find her hidden voice. Growing as a person from the many obstacles she has overcome during her forty years of life, Janie finally speaks her thoughts, feelings and opinions. From this, she finds what she has been searching for her whole life, happiness.
Once Janie was of age to have serious relationships, Janie’s grandmother tried to guide Janie in the direction of the upper class and money. The point was so that Janie would never have to work a day in her life and only have to fulfill her normal housewife duties. But once word got
Zora Neale Hurston opens Their Eyes Were Watching God with an eloquent metaphor regarding dreams: “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others, they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time (Hurston 1).” Hurston describes here how some dreams are achieved with time while others lurk out of reach until the dreamer gives up. Janie Crawford, protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God, encounters numerous ambitions throughout her life, mainly concerning a desire to somehow achieve something in life, and to not just go through the motions. While Janie’s dreams and my own do not exactly correspond, we both aspire to discover a greater passion in life and find a voice that will enable us to make a difference.