Zora Neale Hurston's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'

Eduardo Nova
Their Eyes were Watching God
By: Zora Neale Hurston

Topic #3: Explore how Hurston uses elements of nature as a metaphor for Janie's life

Just like a rose, protagonist Janie blossomed into a mature woman of her time who faced many issues such as the prevailing question “what is love?”. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston develops itself through the symbolic renditions that based itself around a secular description of Janie Crawford. The limitless horizon, the blossoming pear tree and the hard working mule all solely represented an idea that built upon the existence of the characters. Starting the novel with a horizon that stood for the perspective of the sky limited love that was hoped to have by many. Janie
had grown up with Nanny (her grandmother) after her mother had left her abandoned in hopes of continuing with her own life. Nanny who had grown through slavery had been mistreated and can be said that she was raped creating her mixed offspring Leafy (Janie’s mother) and derogated the true meaning of love. Raising Janie made her try to push her beliefs of love onto her by finding a man for her that wasn't guaranteed to love her but someone that could provide for her the life that she never had for herself. Janie questioned Nannies enforcement of her first husband Logan Killicks saying “you told me Ah mus gointer love him, and, and Ah don't. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it.” (Page 40) to which Nanny simply responds by saying she's being foolish. Janie never was taught to love she just went by what she saw, but what she saw was the transcendent love that she viewed through the horizon “they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing…”(Page 17). Even though Janie was unable to experience the concept of “love” through her first two husbands (Logan Killicks and Jody Starks) she came close to creating her own definition of what it is to have limitless love with Tea cakes her final husband in the novel.
Her many husbands along with her first love interest all took part is Janie's blossoming.
Janie had began to wonder about her "blossoming" when she had watched a pear tree bloom moment before she had her first kiss with her love interest Johnny Taylor. Her curiosity took the best of her as Nanny saw "Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss" (Page 29). Janie never learned the true meaning of love so she tried to experience it at first hand. As she sat under the blossoming pear tree she compared herself to it wondering "where were the singing bees for her?" (Page 28). Each time Janie got married she became aware of how she wasn't treated fairly. Janie realized that the relationship with Jody was over before he had died seeing as though he constantly disrespected her character. Janie stated “The bed was no longer a daisy field for her and Joe to play in.”(Page 91). She unknowingly followed Nannies footsteps and looks for husbands that would take care of her, never once wondered if she would be loved. However, it wasn't until Teacakes came along and offered to pay a game of chess (something no one had ever done) that she reached the climax to her blooming (Page 116). Once her last husband (Teacake) had died she had completed her blooming phase and came to the realization that mourning for the dead was long due, it wouldn't bring the dead to life. She instead wore overalls to show a sign of respect to symbolize all that was taught her by
Teacakes.
It wasn't all love and flowers for Janie, she was compared to an animal more than once. When Janie had first been introduced to the blossoming pear tree and was caught by Nanny kissing Johnny Taylor she had called Janie along with every other woman a mule “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.”(Page 31) one can consider that she was not talking as much of the burden of every woman as opposed to the burden of a black woman. Nanny wasn't the only one to indirectly call Janie an animal, Jody Starks many times put Janie under the same category along with children. Jody had stated “somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don't none theirselves.” (Page 90). Referring to women and children as important as animals as well as referring to them as unintelligent. More directly Jody had called Janie a dog telling her “Go fetch me de checker-board and de checkers.” (Page 95) asking her to fetch as well as putting emphasis on her bringing the checkers as if she was slow minded and would only bring the checkerboard. Although Janie was always compared to an animal she was still able to keep her head high and maintain herself above of the negative thoughts that surrounded her.
Janie was never able to find out the meaning of “love” even after the many attempts seeking for it.
As she grew older she began to resent Nanny for showing her a way of life where what matters is not the emotional but only the economic stability of the person whom she would be spending her life with. A person such as Janie who viewed the world as the blossoming pear tree where she once sat under and questioned her own nature was able to learn not to mourn but to live “To my thinkin’ mourning oughtn’t tuh last no longer’n grief.”(Page 114). Years ago Janie had told herself to wait for her in the looking glass. “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place”(Page 108) the moment where she was able to separate herself from the “weak” animals and children that could not think for themselves. However it was when Nanny had died along with her dream of love that she became
woman.
Janie grew up believing what she saw and heard, growing up under the roof of a white intimate family where love meant being with people who cared about you and then transferring to Nannies belief of economy over emotion has confused her way of thinking. Many people in life believe that love is something that is taught based on what you grow up seeing while other have a mindset that love is whatever you can get out of a person whether it's through a sense of “security” through abuse or lust being mistaken for love. Has there ever been a true meaning to love or is it something that we as human beings create over time? A question that will never be answered by the different life experiences and perspectives in life.