Their Eyes Were Watching God - Thematic Analysis
Silas Hanegraaf
Why do discoveries in life require struggles? In Their Eyes Were Watching God by “Zora Neale Hurston”, Janie finds value in herself through obstacles with those close to her, herself as an individual, and trials beyond her control. She discovers who she is and what her life means through extraordinary trials, but not without purpose.
If someone wants to find out who he or she is, then they will have to endure struggles with those close to them, such as relatives and good friends. While Janie was a young teenager, she had made out with a boy she likes and her nanny saw this take place. Nanny wants Janie to marry another man so that Janie may have wealth and protection with her husband, although Janie does not want to be with this other man “Ah ain’t gointuh do it no mo’, Nanny. Please don’t make me marry Logan Killicks” (Hurston, Pg. 15). Janie is pleading to not marry the man that her Nanny wants her to marry when her Nanny knows what is best for her. Janie has gotten into an argument with her husband that he did not try to solve “so he struck Janie with all his might and drove her from the store” (Hurston, Pg. 80). Instead of Joe Starks showing compassion towards his wife, he has used abusive force. Other people can influence someone’s reasoning in ways that are unhelpful, but it is what the person takes from that conflict to better him or herself that will matter for their future.
Not only will someone go through consequences with others to find themselves, but someone bearing hardship with one’s own self will be beneficial as well. Janie is attending the funeral for her husband Joe Starks that she has live an unhappy marriage with “Janie starched and ironed in her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil” (Hurston, Pg. 89). Although Janie should have feelings of guilt over not being sad for her husband’s death, she feels freedom within herself. After her husband Tea Cake has died, Janie took some of the seeds he would use to
Why do discoveries in life require struggles? In Their Eyes Were Watching God by “Zora Neale Hurston”, Janie finds value in herself through obstacles with those close to her, herself as an individual, and trials beyond her control. She discovers who she is and what her life means through extraordinary trials, but not without purpose.
If someone wants to find out who he or she is, then they will have to endure struggles with those close to them, such as relatives and good friends. While Janie was a young teenager, she had made out with a boy she likes and her nanny saw this take place. Nanny wants Janie to marry another man so that Janie may have wealth and protection with her husband, although Janie does not want to be with this other man “Ah ain’t gointuh do it no mo’, Nanny. Please don’t make me marry Logan Killicks” (Hurston, Pg. 15). Janie is pleading to not marry the man that her Nanny wants her to marry when her Nanny knows what is best for her. Janie has gotten into an argument with her husband that he did not try to solve “so he struck Janie with all his might and drove her from the store” (Hurston, Pg. 80). Instead of Joe Starks showing compassion towards his wife, he has used abusive force. Other people can influence someone’s reasoning in ways that are unhelpful, but it is what the person takes from that conflict to better him or herself that will matter for their future.
Not only will someone go through consequences with others to find themselves, but someone bearing hardship with one’s own self will be beneficial as well. Janie is attending the funeral for her husband Joe Starks that she has live an unhappy marriage with “Janie starched and ironed in her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil” (Hurston, Pg. 89). Although Janie should have feelings of guilt over not being sad for her husband’s death, she feels freedom within herself. After her husband Tea Cake has died, Janie took some of the seeds he would use to