Figurative Language In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Hurston

As the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God comes to a close Zora Hurston uses a lot of figurative language. On page 192 Hurston uses personification to emphasize her point. She says, "There was a finished silence" which makes the reader pause even before they reach the end of the sentence. The reader could either interpret the silence as being over, or they could see it as being a complete and undisturbed silence that was coming about. Directly after that the readers questions are answered. By saying "The first time" Hurston suggest that its Janie and Pheoby only time experiencing complete silence which has a dramatic effect on the reader. Then on top of that, Hurston goes into detail about the silence using another personification saying,
After everything Janie has been through the last thing the reader needs is another twist that would shock them. One way she makes sure everything is sound is by using words that promote security. For example, "shut," and "fastened" are both words that give the reader closure. They know that no one is going to disturb the peaceful feelings that Janie is currently experiencing. To reinforce this idea of security even more, Hurston shows that Janie is in control of the situation by saying, "Janie mounted the stairs" as if a knight was mounting its horse. Of course a knight has a sword or weapon to protect itself. Janie's weapon was "The light in her hand" which gave the reader even more comfort. Another rhetorical device used by Hurston is repetition. After reaching her room it tells us Janie starts to think about the day of Tea Cake's death. "Came and commenced to sing a sobbing sigh out of every corner in the room." It goes on to repeat this over and over. This puts the reader in Janie's shoes by showing us that everywhere we turn our memories will always be there no matter what. Even after all the repetition showing us how haunting these memories are. It only allows us to see how strong Janie truly