Their Eyes Were Watching God Theme
Fiona Rand
2/27/17
The greatest and most important adventure of our lives is discovering who we really are. However, many walk around either not really knowing or listening to an awful inner critic that gives us all the wrong ideas about ourselves. We mistakenly think of self-understanding as self-indulgence, and we carry on without asking the most important question we’ll ever ask: Who am I really? Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, introduces themes of love, status, and mannerisms of women while focusing on a woman’s story of self realization and empowerment. In a search for both an idyllic vision of love and herself, protagonist Janie Crawford sacrifices everything she is for everything she could become.
Janie’s …show more content…
“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 sleeve holders was dazzling enough for the world. He whistled, mopped his face and walked like he knew where he was going. He was a seal-brown color but he acted like Mr. Washburn or somebody like that to Janie” (///). Blindsighted by his style and appearance, Janie most likely assumes that his good looks translate to a good life and a promising relationship compared to Logan, who is ugly, rude, and shows no tendencies to even try to achieve the type of love that Janie is looking for. In love with the idea of being in love, Janie runs off with Joe, seeing him as a symbol for freedom and a better life. However, once Janie and Joe get settled into their relationship, Joe becomes controlling and expects Janie to behave in certain ways. To keep attention from men at bay, Joe has Janie hide her hair. “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store. And one night he had caught Walter standing behind and brushing the back of his hand back …show more content…
Tea Cake is completely unlike her past two husbands; with Tea Cake, Janie feels young, alive, and like she has found her horizon. In a small game of checkers, “[Tea Cake] set [the checkers] up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. 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 one of his good points. Those full, lazy eyes with the lashes curling sharply away like drawn scimitars. Then lean, over-padded shoulders and narrow waist. Even nice!” (///). For the first time in Janie’s life, she, as a woman, is seen by a man as someone who is equal and is worthy of being treated right. Joe’s sense of gender equality continues when he asks her to work with him in the fields. While both of Janie’s previous husbands wanted her to work, Tea Cake gives Janie the choice of working and explains that he would like her to work with him so they can spend time together. Rather than seeing her as a mule like her past husbands had, Tea Cake sees Janie as a partner and a
2/27/17
The greatest and most important adventure of our lives is discovering who we really are. However, many walk around either not really knowing or listening to an awful inner critic that gives us all the wrong ideas about ourselves. We mistakenly think of self-understanding as self-indulgence, and we carry on without asking the most important question we’ll ever ask: Who am I really? Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, introduces themes of love, status, and mannerisms of women while focusing on a woman’s story of self realization and empowerment. In a search for both an idyllic vision of love and herself, protagonist Janie Crawford sacrifices everything she is for everything she could become.
Janie’s …show more content…
“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 sleeve holders was dazzling enough for the world. He whistled, mopped his face and walked like he knew where he was going. He was a seal-brown color but he acted like Mr. Washburn or somebody like that to Janie” (///). Blindsighted by his style and appearance, Janie most likely assumes that his good looks translate to a good life and a promising relationship compared to Logan, who is ugly, rude, and shows no tendencies to even try to achieve the type of love that Janie is looking for. In love with the idea of being in love, Janie runs off with Joe, seeing him as a symbol for freedom and a better life. However, once Janie and Joe get settled into their relationship, Joe becomes controlling and expects Janie to behave in certain ways. To keep attention from men at bay, Joe has Janie hide her hair. “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store. And one night he had caught Walter standing behind and brushing the back of his hand back …show more content…
Tea Cake is completely unlike her past two husbands; with Tea Cake, Janie feels young, alive, and like she has found her horizon. In a small game of checkers, “[Tea Cake] set [the checkers] up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. 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 one of his good points. Those full, lazy eyes with the lashes curling sharply away like drawn scimitars. Then lean, over-padded shoulders and narrow waist. Even nice!” (///). For the first time in Janie’s life, she, as a woman, is seen by a man as someone who is equal and is worthy of being treated right. Joe’s sense of gender equality continues when he asks her to work with him in the fields. While both of Janie’s previous husbands wanted her to work, Tea Cake gives Janie the choice of working and explains that he would like her to work with him so they can spend time together. Rather than seeing her as a mule like her past husbands had, Tea Cake sees Janie as a partner and a