Their eyes were watching god essays

Their eyes were watching god essays

 · In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the hardships of being a young black woman in the ’s are conveyed through the experiences of Janie Crawford and her self-growth throughout several relationships in her life. Hurston contributes to the theme “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” by exhibiting how the motifs of power, judgment and sexism morphed Janie Their Eyes Were Watching God literature essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Their Eyes Were Watching God MaterialEstimated Reading Time: 5 mins Their Eyes Were Watching God Theme Essay. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, we follow our protagonist, Janie Crawford, through a journey of self-discovery. We watch Janie from when she was a child to her adulthood, slowly seeing her ideas change while other dreams of hers unfortunately die

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How do the men and marriages differ from one another? What does Janie learn from each experience? While she is certainly an independent woman who believes in the equality of the sexes, Janie does not lead a typically feminist existence throughout the novel. Largely because of her relationships with the three key men in her life, Janie is often beaten down, silenced, ignored, marginalized, and even physically abused.

She suffers at the hands of Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake, but she emerges from each marriage stronger and more sure of her own identity. Paradoxically, the times in her life during which she cannot be a feminist are what ultimately make Janie an exemplar of feminist strength.

Janie marries Logan Killicks, her first husband, not because she wants to be with him, but because she wants to please her grandmother and hopes their eyes were watching god essays she will learn to love Logan eventually.

Rather than following her instincts and insisting on retaining her independence, Janie defers to the wishes of others. Her marriage brings more forced capitulations. Logan, a well-meaning but oppressive man, their eyes were watching god essays, wants to keep Janie under his thumb. He calls her spoiled and insists that she labor in the fields alongside him. In addition to this attempted physical oppression, Janie suffers from the emotional oppression of being trapped in a affectionless marriage.

Because she is so fed up with Logan and his domineering ways, Janie musters up the courage to leave their eyes were watching god essays the only home she has ever known—something she almost certainly would not have done had she not married Logan in the first place. It is also more damaging. Jody, who is powerful and charming, their eyes were watching god essays, imposes increasingly strict demands on his wife.

He does not allow her to speak in public to large groups; he dislikes it when she socializes with other men; he insists that she hide her beautiful hair; he berates her when he believes that she is performing badly at work; and when he is enraged, he beats her. Despite flashes of rebellion, for the most part she behaves like the subservient wife Jody wants her to be. For their eyes were watching god essays, she follows his orders, silences herself, and sticks around after he hits her.

When she finally gives voice to her thoughts and tells Jody what she thinks of him, he dies, as if brought down by the force of her rage. Years of mistreatment give Janie the power to fell men with her words. They also give her an outsized appreciation for her freedom.

Because she knows what it means to be ground down by a man, Janie appreciates her single life far more than she could have had she never experienced real unhappiness. With Tea Cake, Janie enjoys a fulfilling relationship characterized by intellectual, emotional, and physical compatibility.

Tea Cake is not just a good match for Janie. He is also proof of the self-knowledge that can result from difficult and demeaning circumstances. Only because Janie suffered through two bad their eyes were watching god essays can she know that Tea Cake is the right man for her. Despite the happiness Janie feels with Tea Cake, Hurston makes it clear that she has not found an ideal man.

Tea Cake disappears. He gambles. He hosts raucous parties with money stolen from Janie. He flirts with other women. He even beats Janie in order to prove that he controls her.

Further, Hurston makes it impossible to argue that Janie has regressed, turning back into the meek creature she was with Logan and Jody, their eyes were watching god essays. Hurston continually interrogates the conventional wisdom about what it means to be a strong, successful woman. By giving her protagonist three husbands, and by ending her novel with Janie alone and content, she suggests that happiness does not always involve one husband, children, and a settled existence.

Ace your assignments with our guide to Their Eyes Were Watching God! Want study tips sent straight to your inbox? Sign up for our weekly newsletter! Search all of SparkNotes Search Suggestions Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select, their eyes were watching god essays.

Plot Overview Key Questions and Answers What Does the Ending Mean? Character List Janie Mae Crawford Tea Cake Jody Starks Nanny Crawford Mrs. Themes Motifs Symbols Plot Analysis Protagonist Antagonist Setting Genre Allusions Style Point of View Tone Foreshadowing Key Facts Is Tea Cake a good or bad person? Important Quotes Explained Quotes by Theme Language Marriage Gender Inequality Race Quotes by Section Chapters 1—2 Chapters 3—4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapters 7—8 Chapters 9—10 Chapters 11—12 Chapters 13—14 Chapters 15—16 Chapters 17—18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Quotes by Character Janie Mae Crawford Tea Cake Jodie Starks Nanny Crawford Mrs.

Turner Quotes by Symbol Hair Pear Tree and Horizon The Hurricane Quotes by Setting Rural Florida. Previous their eyes were watching god essays Suggested Essay Topics. Their Eyes Were Watching God SparkNotes Literature Guide Series PRINT EDITION Ace your assignments with our guide to Their Eyes Were Watching God! Popular pages: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Take a Study Break.

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Their Eyes Were Watching God: A+ Student Essay | SparkNotes

Essay on Their Eyes Were Watching. God, by Zora Neale Hurston is a book detailing the life of Janie Crawford. This book takes the audience on a journey of Janie Crawford starting out as a young teenage girl and then turning into a woman Their Eyes Were Watching God Theme Essay. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, we follow our protagonist, Janie Crawford, through a journey of self-discovery. We watch Janie from when she was a child to her adulthood, slowly seeing her ideas change while other dreams of hers unfortunately die  · In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the hardships of being a young black woman in the ’s are conveyed through the experiences of Janie Crawford and her self-growth throughout several relationships in her life. Hurston contributes to the theme “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” by exhibiting how the motifs of power, judgment and sexism morphed Janie