Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston' is an outstanding African American novelist, playwright, autobiographer and essayists. Her work is considered as an important part of the African American and Harlem Literature. Hurston shifts from the black works that stick to racial themes and sheds the light on new aspects and themes in black's' life especially on feminist themes.Their “Eyes Were Watching God” examines with a great deal of artistry the struggle of a black woman named Janie Crawford to escape the shackles of the traditional concept about love and marriage and the narrow social restrictions of her class and sex. Over the course of the book, Zora Neale Hurston ties in three major ideas that can be explained through a feminist lens, the act of speaking, seeking
With Tea Cake she is able to speak, however, with Logan Killicks and especially with Joe Starks her voice is suppressed immensely. In a play full of dialogue the narrator is the only bridge the reader has to see how Janie feels stating that, "Janie loved the conversation and sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge. He didn't want her talking after such trashy people" (53). By not letting her use her voice and be natural, he isolates her from people that she would probably choose to spend time with instead of acting like she is above them as the Mayor's wife. During her marriage to Jody, Janie comes to accept his control over her, since he is unrelenting and it seems easier to just give in. She buries her voice deep inside and forgets about it for a bit. Hurston with this novel successfully shedded light on the situation of women being vocally suppressed by their significant other. It is when Jody passes away, Janie reaches inside herself and brings her voice back out and Tea Cake helps her revive and even expand her voice, which she never truly had the chance to develop before. This is exactly when Hurston furthered the causes of feminism because she shows how Janie can defeat the mistreatment of women by finding her voice and finding her
She describes how women are resigned to their fate and do not have the chance to dream, but instead must put away those thoughts and resign themselves to simple actions and everyday life. Men, on the other hand, have the chance to achieve their dreams because society gives them greater freedom. Men are not held back by any circumstances like women are, confined to a supporting role in their own stories. Janie defies this stereotype of women, which is what makes her journey so unique and this novel a feminist text. She is able to break out of the gender barriers and achieve her dreams and desires. Janie is able to follow her dreams and look boldly for her horizon, which sets her apart from the traditional women in society at the time and makes her the star of her own journey, not second to any