Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay
Kaila Millan-Castro
ENG260
Prof Bromley
May 20th 2014 To Each Her Own As a woman, at times it can feel as if society has deemed conflicting roles upon us that we are expected to fulfill all at once. Historically, most cultures have honored the “home keeper” role in which we are expected to take care of our husbands and families. However, as time passes and ultimately, norms and customs evolve, women are more inclined to seek careers that establish an individual sense of purpose. While there are tons of women who successfully handle both the role of nurturer while fulfilling their own, separate goals, how does a woman distinguish how to meet the needs of one role while not feeling as if they are neglecting the other? In Zora Neale Hurston 's novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, the main character, Janie Crawford, tells the story of her life through her three marriages, yet still, leading to the discovery of her own true self. Thought to be a “mirror” of Hurston 's own life, the ending of the novel is in contradiction to her reality, in which she chooses her career over the man she loves. In the novel, Janie struggles with her identity from the very opening pages. Brought up in West Florida by her grandmother after the ending of slavery, she was part of a much larger …show more content…
culture also struggling to find a sense of identity. Thrown into a marriage by her grandmother, she sought protection and financial security for her Janie in hopes that she would not suffer by any dangerous men. This sort of “arranged”marriage did little for Janie 's development as an individual as he simply expected a care taker of Janie. Limiting her everyday activities to cooking and caring for his land, he constrained Janie to an insignificant existence. Desperate and unaware of a love that existed deeper than what she experiences with her first husband, she is taken aback when she meets Joe Starks, dressed decadently in attire that seems flashy and “city” like in her eyes. Abandoning her first husband to live with Starks, they quickly build an empire together. He becomes Mayor and puts Janie to work at the town 's first established grocery. It is here that Janie experiences much of Starks “masochistic” personality. On a specific occasion after overhearing Starks and the men at the store speak negatively about a patron 's wife for begging, she interjects; “Sometimes God gits familiar wid us womenfolks too and talks his inside business. He told me how surprised He was 'bout yall turning out to smart after Him makin ' yuh different, and how surprised ya 'll is goin ' tuh be if you ever find out you don 't know half as much as you think you do. It 's so easy to make yo 'self out to be God Almighty when you ain 't got nothing tuh strain against but women and chickens.” After such an bold statement Starks simply replies to Janie with, “You gettin ' too moufy...Go fetch me the checker board and de checkers” (Hurston, 75). Basically, Starks ' feels as if Janie has no place in their conversation because her opinion as a woman is invalid. After Stark 's death, Janie is allured by a younger man, called “Tea Cake” by the community, suggestive of his sweet nature. It is through Tea Cake that Janie feels the most thoroughly fulfilled. Despite him being younger and not as financially stable as her first two husbands, she feels like she is able to love, play, and live through Tea Cake. At the completion of the novel, though he suffers from an untimely death, Janie states “Tea Cake, with the sun for a shawl. 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. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see” (Hurston, 193). Though Tea Cake was no longer physically present in her life, the effect he had was ever lasting. Janie no longer yearned for something she felt was unattainable for such a long time. Her previous husbands had offered her stability, yet limited her as a person. The peace she felt at finding herself provided a sense of ending, or accomplishment in her life. Despite the colorful journey that Janie 's marital affairs take her on, Hurston 's own life fulfillment was found in her studies and career. Earning her bachelors degree at Barnard college, becoming an iconic symbol of the Harlem Renaissance, and winning a Guggenheim fellowship to study indigenous religious practices in Jamaica and Haiti, it can be said that Hurston was quite ambitious. After two failed marriages, she became involved with a younger man, who, like Tea Cake to Janie, was deemed the “great love of her life”. Despite her feelings for this man, upon his wish to marry, abandon her career, and leave New York, Hurston declined. Though they stood together after such a big issue had arose in their relationship, she ultimately had to break away from him because she felt as if she had become unlike herself. In “A Profeminist Postcard from Haiti”, written by Valerie Boyd, Hurston states “Then I knew I was too deeply in love to be my old self”. Unlike Janie, Hurston felt as if she would be limiting her self by continuing to see this man, regardless of how much she cared for him. Though the conclusion of both Janie and Hurston 's love lives differ completely, there is something to be noted about the parallels in which both ladies seek their purpose. After Tea Cake 's death, Janie returns to her hometown to hear the petty gossip of those she had known before she had left. In their eyes, Janie 's life had succumbed to nothing because she returned with nothing- no husband. However, as a reader, we know that from her marriage she had gained much more. In Hurston 's own life, though she experienced many great triumphs in her writing- it is believed that her work never truly received the recognition it deserved. The largest royalty she ever received from one of her books was $943.75 (Boyd). While to most people this might not seem like enough compensation for the superior quality of her work, who 's to say that Hurston wasn 't perfectly content? I believe that both Janie and Hurston were victims of their time period. Janie only knew how to be a wife because during that era women had no other role, while Hurston was not initially received as the mastermind that she was. Ultimately, we cannot control how others react to our performance in our lives- but simply live them to our fullest extent in hopes that we will find satisfaction. Personally, I think that both Janie and Hurston 's experiences together are illustrative of the internal compromise women often feel pressured to make.
Am I limiting my own self worth by choosing a life devoted to loving someone else, or am I opting out of one of lives major facets by lending myself to my career? I think that Hurston 's novel is an attempt to let women know that fulfillment lies in both realms. The title “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is indicative of Hurston 's message that at the completion of life, we are succumbed to circumstances that we are cannot control anyway- so live it the way you feel is
best.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Valerie Boyd, "A Protofeminist Postcard from Haiti," The Official Zora Neale Hurston Website, http://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/their_eyes_ps.html#postcard. Web. 15 May 2014.
Boyd, Valerie. "She Was the Party." The Official Website of Zora Neale Hurston. Web. 21 May 2014.
ENG260
Prof Bromley
May 20th 2014 To Each Her Own As a woman, at times it can feel as if society has deemed conflicting roles upon us that we are expected to fulfill all at once. Historically, most cultures have honored the “home keeper” role in which we are expected to take care of our husbands and families. However, as time passes and ultimately, norms and customs evolve, women are more inclined to seek careers that establish an individual sense of purpose. While there are tons of women who successfully handle both the role of nurturer while fulfilling their own, separate goals, how does a woman distinguish how to meet the needs of one role while not feeling as if they are neglecting the other? In Zora Neale Hurston 's novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, the main character, Janie Crawford, tells the story of her life through her three marriages, yet still, leading to the discovery of her own true self. Thought to be a “mirror” of Hurston 's own life, the ending of the novel is in contradiction to her reality, in which she chooses her career over the man she loves. In the novel, Janie struggles with her identity from the very opening pages. Brought up in West Florida by her grandmother after the ending of slavery, she was part of a much larger …show more content…
culture also struggling to find a sense of identity. Thrown into a marriage by her grandmother, she sought protection and financial security for her Janie in hopes that she would not suffer by any dangerous men. This sort of “arranged”marriage did little for Janie 's development as an individual as he simply expected a care taker of Janie. Limiting her everyday activities to cooking and caring for his land, he constrained Janie to an insignificant existence. Desperate and unaware of a love that existed deeper than what she experiences with her first husband, she is taken aback when she meets Joe Starks, dressed decadently in attire that seems flashy and “city” like in her eyes. Abandoning her first husband to live with Starks, they quickly build an empire together. He becomes Mayor and puts Janie to work at the town 's first established grocery. It is here that Janie experiences much of Starks “masochistic” personality. On a specific occasion after overhearing Starks and the men at the store speak negatively about a patron 's wife for begging, she interjects; “Sometimes God gits familiar wid us womenfolks too and talks his inside business. He told me how surprised He was 'bout yall turning out to smart after Him makin ' yuh different, and how surprised ya 'll is goin ' tuh be if you ever find out you don 't know half as much as you think you do. It 's so easy to make yo 'self out to be God Almighty when you ain 't got nothing tuh strain against but women and chickens.” After such an bold statement Starks simply replies to Janie with, “You gettin ' too moufy...Go fetch me the checker board and de checkers” (Hurston, 75). Basically, Starks ' feels as if Janie has no place in their conversation because her opinion as a woman is invalid. After Stark 's death, Janie is allured by a younger man, called “Tea Cake” by the community, suggestive of his sweet nature. It is through Tea Cake that Janie feels the most thoroughly fulfilled. Despite him being younger and not as financially stable as her first two husbands, she feels like she is able to love, play, and live through Tea Cake. At the completion of the novel, though he suffers from an untimely death, Janie states “Tea Cake, with the sun for a shawl. 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. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see” (Hurston, 193). Though Tea Cake was no longer physically present in her life, the effect he had was ever lasting. Janie no longer yearned for something she felt was unattainable for such a long time. Her previous husbands had offered her stability, yet limited her as a person. The peace she felt at finding herself provided a sense of ending, or accomplishment in her life. Despite the colorful journey that Janie 's marital affairs take her on, Hurston 's own life fulfillment was found in her studies and career. Earning her bachelors degree at Barnard college, becoming an iconic symbol of the Harlem Renaissance, and winning a Guggenheim fellowship to study indigenous religious practices in Jamaica and Haiti, it can be said that Hurston was quite ambitious. After two failed marriages, she became involved with a younger man, who, like Tea Cake to Janie, was deemed the “great love of her life”. Despite her feelings for this man, upon his wish to marry, abandon her career, and leave New York, Hurston declined. Though they stood together after such a big issue had arose in their relationship, she ultimately had to break away from him because she felt as if she had become unlike herself. In “A Profeminist Postcard from Haiti”, written by Valerie Boyd, Hurston states “Then I knew I was too deeply in love to be my old self”. Unlike Janie, Hurston felt as if she would be limiting her self by continuing to see this man, regardless of how much she cared for him. Though the conclusion of both Janie and Hurston 's love lives differ completely, there is something to be noted about the parallels in which both ladies seek their purpose. After Tea Cake 's death, Janie returns to her hometown to hear the petty gossip of those she had known before she had left. In their eyes, Janie 's life had succumbed to nothing because she returned with nothing- no husband. However, as a reader, we know that from her marriage she had gained much more. In Hurston 's own life, though she experienced many great triumphs in her writing- it is believed that her work never truly received the recognition it deserved. The largest royalty she ever received from one of her books was $943.75 (Boyd). While to most people this might not seem like enough compensation for the superior quality of her work, who 's to say that Hurston wasn 't perfectly content? I believe that both Janie and Hurston were victims of their time period. Janie only knew how to be a wife because during that era women had no other role, while Hurston was not initially received as the mastermind that she was. Ultimately, we cannot control how others react to our performance in our lives- but simply live them to our fullest extent in hopes that we will find satisfaction. Personally, I think that both Janie and Hurston 's experiences together are illustrative of the internal compromise women often feel pressured to make.
Am I limiting my own self worth by choosing a life devoted to loving someone else, or am I opting out of one of lives major facets by lending myself to my career? I think that Hurston 's novel is an attempt to let women know that fulfillment lies in both realms. The title “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is indicative of Hurston 's message that at the completion of life, we are succumbed to circumstances that we are cannot control anyway- so live it the way you feel is
best.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Valerie Boyd, "A Protofeminist Postcard from Haiti," The Official Zora Neale Hurston Website, http://www.zoranealehurston.com/books/their_eyes_ps.html#postcard. Web. 15 May 2014.
Boyd, Valerie. "She Was the Party." The Official Website of Zora Neale Hurston. Web. 21 May 2014.