their eyes were watching god independence essay

• Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston

• Literature Notes
• Major Themes of Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Book Summary
• About Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Character List
• Summary and Analysis
• Character Analysis
• Janie Crawford Killicks Starks Woods
• Logan Killicks
• Vergible Tea Cake" Woods"
• Pheoby Watson
• The Porch Sitters
• The Migrants
• Character Map
• Zora Neale Hurston Biography
• Critical Essays
• Structure of Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Figurative Language in Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Use of Dialect in Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Full Glossary for Their Eyes Were Watching God
• Essay Questions
• Practice Projects
• Cite this Literature Note

Critical Essays Major Themes of Their Eyes Were Watching God

The most prevalent themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God involve Janie's search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love. She experiences different kinds of love throughout her life. As a result of her quest for this love, Janie gains her own independence and personal freedom, which makes her a true heroine in the novel. Because Janie strives for her own independence, others tend to judge her simply because she is daring enough to achieve her own autonomy.

Throughout the novel, Janie searches for the love that she has always desired, the kind of love that is represented by the marriage between a bee and a blossom on the pear tree that stood in Nanny's backyard. Only after feeling other kinds of love does Janie finally gain the love like that between the bee and the blossom.

Janie experiences many types of love throughout her life. With Nanny, her caring grandmother, Janie experiences a love that is protective. Nanny yearns for Janie to have a better life than she did, and she will do anything in her power to make sure that Janie is safe and cared for. This protective love that Nanny bestows on Janie serves as the driving force behind Nanny's plot to arrange Janie's marriage to Logan Killicks.

With Logan, Janie has attained a similarly protective love, much like that provided by Nanny. Logan represents security for Janie, as he owns a 60-acre potato farm. For Janie, however, this protective love does not satisfy her need for the love that she has always desired.

Joe Starks provides Janie with an escape from the protective and unsatisfying love of Logan. Joe is a man with lofty goals and charisma. Janie feels for the first time in her life that she may be able to find true love with this man who wants her to be treated like a lady, rather than as a subservient farmer's wife. After being married just a short time, however, Janie realizes that she is once again lacking the love that she has longed for. The love that Janie experiences with Joe is a possessive love. Joe views Janie as his possession, his trophy wife. He expects Janie to follow his orders, just as the townspeople abide by the laws he creates as mayor. Joe forbids Janie to interact with the porch sitters or to play checkers on the porch of the crossroads store. Janie feels trapped by Joe's love, but she remains with him until his death.

Following Joe's death, Janie meets the man who represents the true love of her life, Tea Cake Woods. He arrives in Eatonville as a fun-loving man who quickly falls for Janie's beauty and charm. Although Janie fears that she is too old for Tea Cake, she cannot help but fall in love with this man. Janie leaves behind everything that she has ever known to embark on a new life with Tea Cake. She adores him, as he adores her. After moving to the Everglades with Tea Cake, she embraces this new life as well as her new friends. Finally, Janie has found the love like that between the bee and its blossom. She declares that Tea Cake could be a "bee to a blossom — a pear tree blossom in the spring."

In her search for love and in the losses that she suffers, Janie gains independence. Janie's independence begins slowly in the novel. She holds a spark of independence when she gains the courage to leave her loveless marriage with Logan in order to run away with Joe Starks. Her independence grows, however, throughout her marriage to Joe. As Joe treats Janie as his possession instead of his wife, Janie gains an inner strength. Her strength builds, and one day she stands up for herself to Joe in the presence of the porch sitters. This act is Janie's first outward sign of her inner strength. Her strength and independence grow as Joe becomes weaker. Although he banishes Janie from his room, she visits him anyway. As Joe lies dying, Janie reveals to him that he is not the man that she ran off with years ago. She tells Joe that he has never been able to accept her for the person that she really is. Ironically, Janie finds strength in Joe's death. Finally, she is free of the man who confined her in a loveless marriage. Janie exhibits her freedom after Joe's death by removing the kerchief from her head to let her long braids drape freely down her back.

Throughout Janie's quest for love and the independence that she gains in her journey, Janie endures the harsh judgment of others. The porch sitters in the novel serve to judge Janie. As the novel opens, they sit and comment about Janie's return and her present lifeless appearance. The theme of judgment continues in Janie's life with Joe. He judges Janie, rather than accepting her for what and who she is. He stifles her independence because he fears that another man may take her away from him. Even Mrs. Turner, the bigoted restaurant owner, judges Janie. She questions Janie's choice of Tea Cake as a husband, because he is "too black." Because Janie endures the harsh judgments of others, she is able to gain independence and strength.

Janie's quest for love leads her along different paths. She gains strength from the protective love of Nanny and Logan as well as the possessive love of Joe. Janie finds her desired love with Tea Cake. Throughout her life, she also gains an independence and strength from these relationships as well as by enduring the judgments made by others. As a result of her lifelong encounters, Janie gains autonomy and learns the value of true love. As a character, Janie proves herself as a heroine.

Hurston created the character of Janie during a time in which African-American female heroines were uncommon in literature. In 1937 when the novel was originally published, females experienced fewer opportunities than they do today. Hurston chose to portray Janie as a strong, independent woman, unlike most African-American females of the early nineteenth century. Perhaps Hurston characterized Janie as capable and courageous to empower her readers and to show them that opportunities do exist for all women; they just have to embrace them.

Previous Zora Neale Hurston Biography

Next Structure of Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Introduction of their eyes were watching god.

Termed as the classic book from the Harlem Renaissance, Their Eyes were Watching God created a niche in the American African literature within the category of American literature. Zora Neal Hurston published it in 1937 when the Harlem Renaissance was at its peak. The novel presents the story of Janie Crawford, an African American girl, her growth as from a naïve young girl into a woman, along with the sufferings she goes through during her life. Despite its poor early reviews, the novel gained immense popularity with the rising awareness about the rights of the African American people in the United States.

Summary of Their Eyes Were Watching God

Janie Crawford recollects her life and the times when she was growing up. She is now in her forties and her reflection takes her back to her blossoming puberty when she receives first the attention of a local boy, Johnny Taylor, who kisses her, showing his love for her. Though, her grandmother happens to be observing them guides her about her first reactions.

Then Nanny narrates her ordeal that she was molested by her owner during her slavery. Leafy, the birth of that incident, then, becomes the center of her eyes. Therefore, she makes a successful escape during the Civil War to break the yoke of slavery. When Leafy is young and attends a school, she too is molested by her teacher. She gives birth to Janie, who is now narrating the story of her life. That terrible ordeal leaves Leafy as an alcoholic and frustrated, leaving her daughter, Janie, with Nanny.

When Nanny sees this responsibility on her shoulder, she hopes that marrying Janie to Logan Killicks, an old farmer would let her have a stable life. On the contrary to her expectations, Killicks needs a domestic assistant and not a wife, while he thinks Janie of not any help to him. Janie seeks advice from Nanny who taunts her for not being grateful to Killicks for providing her a good life having no financial worries. However, Nanny soon breathes her last, leaving Janie alone in this world. When Janie sees that there is nobody to ask her about her actions, she finds Joe Starks, a talkative person with whom she elopes to Florida to live in an African American town of Eatonville. Joe Starks becomes the mayor of the town on account of his glib tongue and hard work. However, Janie rather feels that she has become a trophy instead of his wife. He not only abuses her but also begins to insult her and joke about her in front of people. Although Janie does not leave her, she hates him. During an accident, instead of helping him, she watches him die before her eyes. Later, she gives him a proper and respectable burial.

When men of the town come across the rich widow of Joe Starks, they offer their hands but Vergible Woods who is famously called Tea Cake captures her heart. Although his initial treatment is very loving and kind, Janie becomes enamored with his musical quality and loving attitude and soon leaves Eatonville to Belle Glade to marry him. When life takes its routine, the sourness creeps in their relationship as Tea Cake does not have regular work to afford her household expenses. However, she is satisfied with the relationship but soon a hurricane hits the area hard, making all others tun for their lives. During this survival struggle, a rabid dog bites Tea Cake when he tries to save Janie. In his fit of madness, he tries to kill Janie but she shoots him.

Soon the trail becomes the talk of the town, where white women come to support Janie. She wins her acquittal but arranges a good funeral for her dead husband. Although friends of her dead husband permit her to stay in Everglades, she returns to Eatonville and raises rumors in the town with her open and liberal outlook. The story ends with the note of her conversation with her former friend, Phoeby.

Major Themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God

• Financial Security: The novel shows the financial deprivations of the African American community through Nanny’s character . When she finds that farmer Killicks is willing to take Janie in marriage, she feels her granddaughter will be financially secured. She also rebukes and taunts her saying that she should not be ungrateful. Janie, however, does not find it soul-satisfying and leaves Killicks and elopes with Joe. Joe is a hardworking but rude person, who takes her to Eatonville, making her a rich lady of the town. Therefore, financial security is of paramount importance for Nanny, though, not for Janie.
• Power : Power works in different ways in the novel, as Nanny has power over Janie to get her married. While her new husband, Killicks, too, exercises his power of money. When she becomes too dependent on him, she leaves him for Joe Starks, who uses the power of persuasion but when it comes to physical power by the end, she kills Tea Cake to stop his suffering after he is bitten by a rabid dog. Therefore, the thematic strand of power echoes throughout the novel.
• Love: The theme of love echoes at different places in the novel. Although Nanny finds love, yet she does not find it sincere, for she has to look for financial security. Therefore, she prefers financial security for her granddaughter to love, but Janie does not accept it and leaves Logan Killicks for Joe Starks, and finally for Tea Cake after his death. She even shoots Tea Cake dead, out of pity and love, when he poses a threat to her life. Therefore, power is a minor thematic strand in the big scheme of things of this novel.
• Sexuality: The theme of sexuality is tied to the character of Janie when she meets Johnny the first time. Zora Neal Hurston has demonstrated this theme in the novel through vegetative blossoming. Nanny knows the power of this feature and uses it to the advantage of Janie to win the favor of Logan Killicks. Janie also uses the same sexuality to get closer to Joe and later Tea Cake.
• Gender: The gender role, its significance, and the role of the female is another theme of the novel. In fact, the novel revolves around the feminine gender in that Nanny knows that she has suffered due to her being a female, she makes Janie aware of her significance and its use in exploiting the patriarchal structure comprising Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake. Although she successfully hooks Joe after leaving Logan, she fails to save Tea Cake who becomes a victim of a rabid dog’s bite. She returns to her original role of weaving tales with Phoeby.
• Independence: The novel shows the desire of Nanny to make Janie independent by arranging her marriage to Logan Killicks. Though, her concept of independence is quite different, for she, as a human being, also needs emotional support and independence. That is why she elopes with Joe but ends up meeting Tea Cake after his death. Despite this far journey in her life, the feminine desire to shed off the shackles of the patriarchy does not make her a meek creature and she kills Tea Cake in the end when she sees him as a threat to her life.
• Racial Identity: The novel shows racial identity in that Nanny knows that the life of her granddaughter, Janie, as an African American girl, is not secure on social and as well as financial grounds. This identity goes with Nanny, with Leafy, and then with their third generation, Janie Therefore, she prepares her granddaughter about the importance of financial status and its impacts on the racial identity of a person. This also becomes clear through the obsession of Mrs. Turner.
• Judgment: The novel shows the theme of the people being judgemental in different ways. Janie feels that people talk about her status, appearance, and acts. When she returns and narrates her long tale to Pheoby, the people of the area gossip and spread rumors about her past.
• Money: The novel shows the theme of labor and the importance of money in life through Nanny’s life, her daughter Leafy and then Janie. Nanny, specifically, knows the value of money when she marries Jane to Logan. Her main concern is Janie’s financial strength and not her desire for happiness.

Major Characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God

• Janie Crawford: Partly white and partly African American, Janie Crawford is the daughter of Leafy and Nanny’s granddaughter. Janie marries Logan Killicks on the insistence of her grandmother, Nanny, but she leaves him for Joe Starks for his gift of conversation and persuasive power. However, feeling suppressed to her femininity, she becomes fed up of his limitations when they succeed in Eatonville where after Joe’s demise, she finds a bubbling young man, Tea Cake, who afterward tries to kill her when a rabid dog bites him. But she kills him with a pistol in self-defense. Later, the white women gather around to testify in her favor to assist her to win freedom after which she returns to her old town.
• Nanny Crawford: She is the grandmother of the protagonist , Janie, and also her guide and guardian. She reproaches her for being thankless to Logan Killicks when she complains of discomfort and dissatisfaction. She sets the course of life of Janie, thinking financial support and strength count much in life, oblivious to the fact that love plays an important role.
• Joe Starks: Joe Starks plays an important role in the novel. At first, Janie loves him and elopes with him, leaving Logan Killicks, the landowner and her first husband. However, he is not only ambitious but also hard-working and establishes a good business in Eatonville where he reaches the post of the mayor of the town and wins popularity and honor among the locals. Yet, in terms of femininity, he is a traditional patriarch and does not let Janie go freely in the public. His role, however, ends, when he breathes his last after an illness.
• Vergible Woods or Tea Cake: Woods or Tea Cake is an interesting character who sees Janie as a rich widow and himself a pauper worth of her to make his life good. An artist, engaged in gambling, he knows how to exploit a woman and situation. However, bad luck occurs when a rabid dog bites him by the end of the novel after which he tries to harm Janie under the influence of rabies, but she shoots him dead.
• Logan Killicks: The problem of Logan Killicks is that he is complaining about Janie that she does not thank him for providing comfort and financial security to her. However, he is oblivious that as a sensuous young girl, she also needs love, tenderness, and kindness , the reason that she becomes fed up and abandons him in favor of Joe Starks, who is very sweet in his talking but very hard in dealing.
• Leafy: Leafy is Nanny’s daughter and Janie’s mother and appears in the novel for a short time, leaving very strong impressions. As the progeny of Nanny, she becomes the victim of abuse by her teacher and after giving birth to Janie, she disappears.
• Pheoby Watson: She appears in the beginning and by the end and seems a very helping hand to others. She advises the protagonist, Janie, to abandon her reckless life but supports her through thick and thin. She is the main interlocutor of her narrative .
• Annie Tyler: Annie, the rich window, runs with the man younger than her. Janie is often found of making a comparison of her life with that widow when she also runs with Woods or Tea Cake.
• Johnny Taylor and Mrs. Turner: These are two minor characters; the first one leads to sexual awakening in Janie and the second one prefers caucasian features and being white. Both play an important role in the events in the life of Janie.

Writing Style of Their Eyes Were Watching God

True to her style , Zora Neal Hurston has used colloquial or conversational style in the novel. It shows the true accent of that the African Americans of the South existing during the early period of the 20 th century. Although the narrator becomes quite poetic at times, the conversation intervenes at places to make it a representative of the African American community. Shortened forms, broken syntax , simple diction , ironic, and sometimes somberly tragic tone and highly figurative language have made its style unique. It also shows the rhythm and specific musical quality of the African American accent.

Analysis of Literary Devices in Their Eyes Were Watching God

• Action: The main action of the novel comprises Janie Crawford’s search for true love in racially divided America . The rising action occurs when Janie runs away from Logan with Joe Starks to Eatonville. The falling action occurs when she kills Tea Cake when he suffers from rabies, by the end of her defense, and is finally released by the jury on the intervention of the white women on her behalf.
• Anaphora : Their Eyes were Watching God shows the use of anaphora . For example, i. It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk. (Chapter-1) ii. Big Lake Okechobee, big beans, big cane, big weeds, big everything. (Chapter-14) The sentence shows the repetitious use of “it was the time” and “big.”
• Antagonist : Their Eyes were Watching God shows the search for self or the circumstances as the main antagonist in Janie’s life. As she meets and flees with different men and sadly kills Tea Cake, her last husband. However, she does seem to fit with any one of them; although they all seem, antagonists, the real antagonist of the novel is her search for happiness and satisfaction.
• Allusion : There are various examples of allusions given in the novel. i. “Dat mornin’ on de big plantation close to Savannah, a rider come in a gallop tellin’ ’bout Sherman takin’ Atlanta. (Chapter-2) ii. Freein’ dat mule makes uh mighty big man outa you. Something like George Washington and Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln, he had de whole United States tuh rule so he freed de Negroes. (Chapter-6) iii. They had him up for conversation every day the Lord sent. (Chapter-6) iv. Chink up your cracks, shiver in your wet beds and wait on the mercy of the Lord. (Chapter-18) v. When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Then after that some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. (Chapter-9) The first two allusions are related to the American Civil War characters, while the latter is related to Christianity.
• Conflict : The are two types of conflicts in the novel. The first one is the external conflict that is going on between Janie and different men such as Logan Killicks, then Joe Starks, and finally with Tea Cake. Then there is an internal conflict that is going on between Janie and the prevalent value of the culture.
• Characters: Their Eyes were Watching God presents both static as well as dynamic characters. Janie Crawford is a dynamic character as she goes through a transformation during her marriage spree. However, the rest of the characters do not see any change in their behavior, as they are static characters such as Tea Cake, Nanny, Leafy, or Logan Killicks.
• Chiasmus : The novel shows the use of chiasmus in the following example, i. Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember , and remember everything they don’t want to forget. (Chapter-1) The sentence shows the use of chiasmus as the first clause has been reversed for impacts.
• Climax : The climax takes when Janie and Tea Cake come face to face and Janie feels that if she does not shot at Tea Cake she is going to die at his hands.
• Foreshadowing : The novel shows the following examples of foreshadowing : i. 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. (Chapter-1) ii. The town had a basketful of feelings good and bad about Joe’s positions and possessions, but none had the temerity to challenge him. They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the town bowed down.  (Chapter-8) These quotes from Their Eyes were Watching God foreshadow the coming events; the first one about the difficult times for Janie and the second for her husband, Jody or Joe Starks.
• Hyperbole : Hyperbole or exaggeration occurs in the novel at various places such as: i. Every tear you drop squeezes a cup uh blood outa mah heart. Ah got tuh try and do for you befo’ mah head is cold. (Chapter-2) ii. If you can stand not to chop and tote wood Ah reckon you can stand not to git no dinner. ’Scuse mah freezolity, Mist’ Killicks, but Ah don’t mean to chop de first chip. (Chapter-4) The above sentences are hyperboles, and also they show how Janie is using this device when she is in different situations in her first marriage.
• Imagery : Imagery means to use images such as given in the novel: i. It was a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world. (Chapter-4) ii. The great clap of laughter that they have been holding in, bursts out. Sam never cracks a smile. “Yeah, Matt, dat mule so skinny till de women is usin’ his rib bones fuh uh rub-board, and hangin’ things out on his hockbones tuh dry. (Chapter-6) iii. Morning came without motion. The winds, to the tiniest, lisping baby breath had left the earth. Even before the sun gave light, dead day was creeping from bush to bush watching man. (Chapter-18). These examples show different images taken from the novel such as the images of sound, color, and nature.
• Metaphor : Their Eyes were Watching God shows good use of various metaphors . For example, i. So Janie waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again gilded the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things. (Chapter-3) ii. She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether. (Chapter-3) iii. Nature got so high in uh black hen she got tuh lay uh white egg. Now you tell me, how come, whut got intuh man dat he got tuh have hair round his mouth? Nature!”(Chapter-6) iv. Rumor, that wingless bird, had shadowed over the town. (Chapter-8)
• Motif : Most important motifs of the novel are community, racism, religion, and family.
• Narrator : The novel is narrated by a third person narrator, who is Zora Neal herself.
• Personification : The novel shows the use of personification at several places. For example, i. Business was dull all day, because numbers of people had gone to the game. (Chapter-10) ii. The sounds lulled Janie to soft slumber and she woke up with Tea Cake combing her hair. (Chapter-11) These examples show business and sounds as having human attributes.
• Protagonist : Janie is the protagonist of the novel. The novel starts with his entry into the world when she is narrating her tale and ends it at the same place.
• Rhetorical Questions : The novel shows good use of rhetorical questions at several places. For example, i. Look like he took pleasure in doing it. Why couldn’t he go himself sometimes? (Chapter-6) ii. Now and again she thought of a country road at sun-up and considered flight. To where? To what? Then too she considered thirty-five is twice seventeen and nothing was the same at all. (Chapter-7) This example shows the use of rhetorical questions posed but different characters not to elicit answers but to stress upon the underlined idea.
• Setting : The setting of the novel is the rural area of Florida, specifically, Eatonville.
• Simile : The novel shows good use of various similes. For example, i. But mostly she lived between her hat and her heels, with her emotional disturbances like shade patterns in the woods—come and gone with the sun. (Chapter-7) ii. His prosperous-looking belly that used to thrust out so pugnaciously and intimidate folks, sagged like a load suspended from his loins. (Chapter-7) iii. But even these things were running down like candle grease as time moved on. (Chapter-8) These are similes as the use of the word “like” shows the comparison between different things.
• Situational Irony : The situational irony exists in the novel at the point where Janie marries Tea Cake and comes to the point about love. Both pay attention to each other and understand each other but then she shoots him dead, as he forces her or better to say his disease, rabies, forces her to kill him.

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• The Imagery of Creation Myths in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston
• Using Vernacular to Reflect Self Image in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”
• In What Ways Does Janie Violate Typical Gender Boundaries in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Does Janie Develop Her Ideas of Love in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Why Do People Today Love “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Does Love Influence Our Lives in the Story of “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• What Are Traditional Stereotypes of Men and Women in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• In What Ways Does Janie Fit the Typical Feminine Stereotype in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Is “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Primarily an Anti-Racism Novel?
• How Does Janie’s Identity Vacillate Between White and Black Factions in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• To What Extent Is Janie’s Life Already Determined at Birth in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Did Slaves’ Positions as a Sub-Class, Those Not Considered Human at All, Affect Nanny’s Outlook on Life?
• Does Joe Succeed in Achieving His Goals in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Why Does Janie Feel So Trapped in Her First Two Marriages in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Is Race Generally Linked to Class in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Why Is Janie Happy Living With the Lowest of the Low Social Classes – The Migrant Workers in the Everglades?
• What Is the Significance of the Title “Their Eyes Were Watching God” to the Novel?
• Does Tea Cake Free Janie or Is It Just the Escape From Her First Two Husbands in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Why Did Hurston Include Mrs. Turner in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Is Death Associated With Freedom, Especially in Janie’s Last Two Marriages in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• What Does the Idea of the Horizon Symbolize for Janie in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Does Janie’s Experience Under the Pear Tree Set Up Her Dreams in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• What Role Does Mrs. Turner Play in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Do Janie’s Visions and Hopes for Her Future Differ From the Hopes of Her Peers in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• What Is the Role of the Porch Sitters in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Does the Mule’s Treatment in Eatonville Reflect the Condition of the Black Female in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Is There a Moral in the Novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• How Does the Porch Work as a Personified Symbol in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Is Nanny a Sympathetic Character in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• At What Point Does the Division Between Men’s Activities and Women’s Activities Break Down in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Who Does the Pronoun in the Title Refer to in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
• Is Hurston’s Vision of God Religious or Secular in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”?
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Their Eyes were Watching God Literary Analysis

This essay will provide a literary analysis of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” It will explore the novel’s themes of love, independence, and self-discovery, as experienced by the protagonist Janie Crawford. The piece will analyze Hurston’s narrative style, use of dialect, and the symbolism throughout the novel. It will also discuss the novel’s portrayal of gender roles and racial identity in the early 20th-century American South. On PapersOwl, there’s also a selection of free essay templates associated with Analysis.

How it works

In Zora Neale Hurston’s contemporary novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she displays the fight between freedom and societal pressures. The author illustrates the struggles black women face growing up in the mid-thirties when discrimination and unequal rights existed. Throughout the novel, Hurston displays to women the importance of gaining self -realization and independence. Hurston shows women’s struggle to gain what they deem important in a controlling marriage. In the novel, Janie notices a stranger, Joe Starks, because he “spoke for far horizon.

” The horizon represents hope for ideas Janie sees as unattainable, such as true love. Janie blames her Nanny for pinching the horizon so small it could “choke her.” Janie believes her chances at living happily in an equal partnership have been stripped away from her, leaving her to spend the rest of her years in submission.

Hurston uses the horizon to show her audience that in order for self- actualization to occur, one must have the freedom to figure out what they need from life. Self- realization allows people to reflect on what they value most and gain the independence to achieve it. While gazing at a pear tree’s beauty, Janie concludes “this is marriage.” She connects sexual desire with a successful marriage. Janie felt no passion for her first husband, and thus she considered it a failure. Throughout the novel, she uses sexual attraction as an indicator of whether she has reached the horizon. Hurston uses the pear tree as an image of love and desire to show women forced into marriage become restrained from realizing their rights, such as having sexual desires.

Without freedom, females do not gain the independence needed to realize what they value in relationships and life. Janie’s second husband, Joe forces her to hide her hair because it exists “for him to look at.” He uses Janie’s hair as a way to keep her under his control. After Joe’s death, she decides to take down her hair, symbolizing her new found control. The author uses the image of her hair to emphasize the suppression of females in relationships that do not allow for self-reliance. Hurston emphasizes that without securing independence, women will live a life of obedience and will not gain equality. Through the use of emotional manipulation and confinement, Hurston emphasizes women’s struggle for independence.

During Janie’s marriage to Logan, he described her place as “wherever Ah need yuh.” Logan restrains Janie’s freedoms and opportunities: he confines her capabilities to only what he sees of her. Hurston demonstrates that confinement of one’s abilities will keep them in permanent submission. She uses this to emphasize the physical and emotional power men yield over women, depriving females the independence to progress. Towards the end of Janie’s second marriage, Joe started to comment on her aging appearance. Janie “saw he was hurting inside”, so she decided to endure his rude remarks. Hurston uses Janie’s passiveness to show her audience how emotional manipulation can restrict a person from sharing their thoughts of turmoil.

Only when a person freely expresses themselves can they change their situation. Hurston emphasizes that women must realize their self worth in order to see their full potential. After a fight, Janie reveals she’d “rather be dead” than have Joe think she would hurt him. Hurston shows the loss of Janie’s principles and heavy influence on women to put their husband’s feelings first. Hurston stresses the struggle for women to capture power in a manipulative and controlling relationship. The author highlights that independence and self-realization compose the keys to satisfaction with one’s life choices.

Throughout the novel, Hurston uses manipulation and restriction to show the struggle of women to gain self-actualization and utter acceptance. Hurston compares the character’s relationships in order to show the continuous effects of oppression in women. In Janie’s first marriage, Logan complains about her work ethic saying, “You think youse white folks.” Logan forces Janie to do labor work and does not allow her to speak back to him. Hurston uses the character Logan to show discrimination of black women: Logan stereotypes black females as more labor tolerant individuals. Hurston emphasizes that black women are less respected and considered disrespectful if they disagree.

The author shows a lack of independence allows for discrimination and suppression for a group of people. In Janie’s second marriage, the longest one, her husband believes “somebody got to think for women.” Janie’s husband does not allow for her to speak and keeps her working in the store. Hurston uses the second marriage to show the repetition of oppression among women. She uses the marriage to show that men consider women inferior and ignorant. Hurston highlights the need for self-actualization and independence to reach equality. In contrast, Janie’s marriage to Tea Cake allowed her to gain independence and arrive at the horizon. Tea Cake remains thankful for Janie because she came “along and made something’ outta” him. Tea Cake allows Janie to voice her opinions, make decisions, and experience real affection. She found her true love in a marriage that allowed her to exist as her own person and reflect on the past. Hurston compares this marriage to the previous two to show the effects of gaining independence and control. Hurston emphasizes that women must have self-actualization in order to end oppression and establish equality among men and women.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston displays the struggle for independence for women. Hurston displays the life of light-skinned Janie Crawford, who struggles in her life through three marriages and oppression. However, Janie remains appreciative for her life and takes a lesson from each marriage as she evolves to better herself. The author uses the marriages and the characters to show how suppression prevents women from growing and gaining equality. Hurston wrote the novel in order to show women the importance of gaining self-realization and independence.   

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Home — Essay Samples — Sociology — Gender — Argumentative On Their Eyes Were Watching God

Argumentative on Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Published: Mar 19, 2024

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Table of contents

Introduction, love as a catalyst for personal growth, marriages of conformity, true love and self-expression, navigating racial boundaries, challenging social hierarchy, janie's journey: a symbol of resistance.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora neale hurston, ask litcharts ai: the answer to your questions.

Different characters in the novel struggle to find a way to cope and thrive as individuals within communities and within the natural world. Janie searches for individual fulfillment by attempting to find her own voice and independence; Jody seeks total control (through acting as Eatonville's mayor or by forcing Janie to wear her hair in a headscarf out of irrational jealousy); Tea Cake desires a fun-loving approach to life, bordering on the pathological (stealing Janie's money without thinking anything of it, for example, or facing down the hurricane , ultimately paving the way toward his death).

Of course, the novel most extensively explores Janie and her life-long attempt to tune out judgment from the world around her and find power in her own voice. Janie's search for independence reveals her desire to detach from the pressures of judgment and jealousy from her husbands and townspeople and to think for herself. The lessened pressure of a power struggle having to do with judgment and jealousy in Janie's marriage with Tea Cake is what ultimately permits Janie to find fulfillment at the end of the novel. In this way, the end of the novel tells us that Janie's search for independence emerged, at least in part, of her ability to tune out the evils of judgment and jealousy that ultimately arose in response to her drive for freedom.

Power, Judgment, and Jealousy ThemeTracker

Power, Judgment, and Jealousy Quotes in Their Eyes Were Watching God

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. That is the life of men.

She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her. She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!

"Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. Maybe it's some place way off in de ocean where de black man is in power, but we don't know nothin' but what we see…De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see."

She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman.

Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon.

"Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home."

"Nature is de first of everything. Ever since self was self, nature been keepin' folks off of red-hot stoves. Dat caution you talkin' 'bout ain't nothin' but uh humbug."

"Sometimes God gits familiar wid us womenfolks too and talks His inside business. He told me how surprised He was 'bout y'all turning out so smart after Him makin' yuh different; and how surprised y'all is goin' tuh be if you ever find out you don't know half as much bout us as you think you do."

The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there.

Here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon – for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you – and pinched it in to such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her.

Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points.

The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long. Anyhow, she wasn't going back to Eatonville to be laughed at and pitied. She had ten dollars in her pocket and twelve hundred in the bank.

He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.

Janie seethed. But Tea Cake never let go. They wrestled on until they were doped with their own fumes and emanations; till their clothes had been torn away; till he hurled her to the floor and held her there melting her resistance with the heat of his body, doing things with their bodies to express the inexpressible.

"Tain't de poorness, it's de color and de features. Who want any lil ole black baby layin' up in de baby buggy lookin' lak uh fly in buttermilk? Who wants to be mixed up wid uh rusty black man, and uh black woman goin' down de street in all dem loud colors, and whoopin' and hollerin' and laughin' over nothin'?"

It was inevitable that she should accept any inconsistency and cruelty from her deity as all good worshippers do from theirs. All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.

"Janie is wherever Ah wants tuh be. Dat's de kind uh wife she is and Ah love her for it."

The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.

Tea Cake was lying with his eyes closed and Janie hoped he was asleep. He wasn't. A great fear had took hold of him. What was this thing that set his brains fire and grabbed at his throat with iron fingers? Where did it come from and why did it hang around him?

She talked. . . . She just sat there and told and when she was through she hushed.

"Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons. Dis house ain't so absent of things lak it used tuh be befo' Tea Cake come along. It's full uh thoughts, 'specially dat bedroom."

Of course he wasn't dead. He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking. The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net…She called in her soul to come and see.