Oprah Winfrey butchers a classic in her production of Their Eyes Were Watching God to the point that major characters and relationships become unrecognizable from the book. Throughout the entire movie, Oprah changes key aspects in character by weakening, strengthening, or removing all moral fiber in characters. She also alters every major relationship in the movie to further show these changes in character. By doing this, Oprah transforms Their Eyes Were Watching God into something completely distorted from its original. Oprah significantly changes Joe’s character in her production of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Throughout the movie, Joe’s character becomes continually weakened by his actions and the things he allows Janie to do. Joe controls every aspect of both Janie and the people of Eatonville’s lives in the book. “Jody depends on the exertion of power for his sense of himself; he is only happy and secure when he feels that he holds power over those around him...He needs to feel like a ‘big voice,’ a force of ‘irresistible maleness’ before whom the whole world bows” (Analysis). This puts him on a level above the rest of the townspeople and grants him his leadership. In the movie however, Joe does not control or assert himself over the people of Eatonville nearly as much. This lack of power over the people in his life consequently weakens his character. Through the weakening of his character Joe loses a key aspect of his personality in the movie. Oprah changes Tea Cake in the movie through weakening of his character, the loss of his "bad boy" persona, and his increased dedication to Janie. During the hurricane in the movie, Tea Cake continually becomes significantly weakened after he cannot pull himself out of the water and... ... middle of paper ... ...Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 75th Anniversary ed. New York, NY: Harper Perennial, 2006. Print. Kikaya, Feza. ""Their Eyes Were Watching God" receives mixed reviews." SilverChips. 9 Mar. 2005. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. . "LitCharts: Their Eyes Were Watching God: Themes." LitCharts. LitCharts, 2008. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. . "SparkNotes: Their Eyes Were Watching God: Analysis of Major Characters." SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. . "SparkNotes: Their Eyes Were Watching God: Themes, Motifs & Symbols." SparkNotes. SparkNotes LLC, 2014. Web. 24 Apr. 2014. . Their Eyes Were Watching God. Dir. Darnell Martin. Perf. Halle Berry. Harpo Films, 2005. DVD.
In the Mother's arms is the Divine Child, with those strange, far-away-looking eyes that casual visitors so little understand—eyes that even in babyhood seem reading the future, and beginning to see the greatness of the world's sorrow. Kneeling on one side, below them, is St. Sixtus, the nearest perfect of all pictures of strong and venerable age that was ever painted; on the other side Santa Barbara, only less beautif...
If Ah ever gits tuh messin’ round another woman it won’t be on account of her age. It’ll be because she got me in de same way you got me—so Ah can’t help mahself." Tea Cake professes his love to Janie by saying that she is the only woman he thought of marrying. Tea Cake knows that he will be loyal to Janie, but can not control other women's urges to flirt with him. When Tea Cake tells Janie that he is the man in her life he says:"You don’t have tuh say, if it wuzn’t fuh me, baby, cause Ah’m heah, and then Ah want yuh tuh know it’s uh man heah." (Ch.18). Tea Cake wants Janie to know that he is nothing like her other husbands, but is perfect for her. Tea Cake is essentially perfect for Janie because he helped her accomplish her her ultimate dream of love. Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage is the key to a good marriage because they treat each other with equality and
Oprah Winfrey has twisted the whole book Their Eyes Were Watching God and made a movie which consists of some major changes. Janie’s character changed completely in the book than in the movie, also her relationship with friends and her companions. Oprah reiterates some major parts which also concluded how the hurricane happened which did not last long as it did in the book, symbolism also differed in the movie and some major symbols remained as noticeable as it was in the book. Winfrey changed the whole meaning of the title even though she did not change the title Winfrey made the meaning different when everybody watched God instead of just Janie. Zora Neale Hurston would have been disappointed if she still lived due to the fact that Oprah has remade her book and made it her own version which differed from Zora’s novel.
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.
When Janie is with Tea Cake she feels complete in all aspects of life, and feels no need to depend on anyone else but him. When Tea Cake passes away we see Janie almost dependent soley upon herself, but she still confides in her best friend Pheoby when she returns
In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston uses a variety of rhetorical devices to show the effect it has on the readers. Which without the particulary words, it would infact would not have the same meaning as the author achieved.
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford confronts social and emotional hardships that shape who she is from the beginning to the end of the novel. Living in Florida during the 1900s, it was very common for an African American woman to face discrimination on a daily basis. Janie faces gender inequality, racial discrimination, and social class prejudice that she is able to overcome and use to help her develop as a person.
In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, by Zora Neale Hurston there were many contrasting places that were used to represent opposed forces or ideas that are central to the meaning of this work.
An underlying theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God was the treatment of characters due to their race. The book, which was written in 1937, portrays elements of racism that were present during that historical time period. It is important to understand that history, for although the book didn’t directly address racism, its presence is obvious throughout the story due to character interaction and the setting.
As a husband, He treated her with respect and love, unlike Joe Sparks. Also, he did not see her as one of his possessions to be seen and never heard, instead he saw her a person capable to learning and understanding. He taught her how to play checkers, handle guns and listened to her opinions. Tea Cakes also had a much different personality from Joe Starks. He was just as hardworking as Joe Starks, but his ambition is not channeled to acquiring more possessions and power. He was content with what he has and strove to provide for him and his wife. While married to Tea Cakes, Janie was able to express herself be free and independent. She was treated with respect and not inferiority hence she is able to make her own decisions for herself and grow as an
Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, revolves around the small town world of Janie, a vibrant yet oppressed woman. The reader is taken through Janie’s experiences, which elicit tremendous emotional growth in the heroine. Their Eyes Were Watching God is teeming with symbols; however, one of the most prevalent symbols is Janie’s hair. Her hair conveys far deeper themes that the novel is imbued with. Described as long and flowing, Janie’s hair symbolizes her vivacity and free will; however, it also conveys the theme of being ostracized from a community you belong in. Janie’s hair, although lauded, gives her an appearance that is of stark contrast to the rest of her community.
Cofer, Jordan. "The "All-Demanding Eyes": Following The Old Testament And New Testament Allusions In Flannery O'connor's "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6.(2008): 30-39. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
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.
Bond, Cynthia. "Language, Sign, and Difference in Their Eyes Were Watching God." Appiah and Gates 204-17.
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.