Janies Self-Discovery Essay - 1481 Words

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman that is lost in her own world. She longs to be a part of something and to have â€Å"a great journey to the horizons in search of people† (85). Janie Crawford’s journey to the horizon is told as a story to her best friend Phoebe. She experiences three marriages and three communities that â€Å"represent increasingly wide circles of experience and opportunities for expression of personal choice† (Crabtree). Their Eyes Were Watching God is an important fiction piece that explores relations throughout black communities and families. It also examines different issues such as, gender and class and these issues bring forth the theme of voice. In Janie’s attempt to find herself, she†¦show more content†¦Nanny’s idea of a marriage is â€Å"a haven from indiscriminate sexual exploitation and as a shelter from financial instability† (Jordan). Janie’s marriage to h er first husband, Logan Killicks, is an unexpected grief and he disgusts her sexually. She tries to love him but their relationship lacks intimacy, romance, and fun. Throughout the novel, Janie is on a mission and she soon finds out â€Å"that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman† (24). Killicks think Janie is spoiled and â€Å"counts Janie among the livestock on his farm, estimating her value by her ability to produce greater surplus value† (Ha 33). It is when Janie realizes Killicks plans to put her to work on a mule because she does not bore him any heir that she runs off with Joe Starks. Joe Starks is a â€Å"quick-thinking, fast-talking, ambitious man, headed for a newly founded all black community, where he plans to make a fortune† (Rosenblatt 30). Jody offers up a new start to Janie and she leaps at the opportunity of marrying him, â€Å"committing bigamy† (Rosenblatt 30). Jody becomes the mayor of Eatonville and provides Janie with a middle-class furnished house that does not provide her â€Å"with the felicity and self-fulfillment that she needs† (Ha 33). Janie is treated no more or less than that of the mayor’s wife.Show MoreRelatedTheir Eyes Were Watching God893 Words   |  4 PagesThis quote exemplifies Janie’s desire for answers throughout her three relationships, displaying what she is longingly seeking for in life. Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, follows the life of protagonist, Janie Crawford, a confident, middle-aged black woman who goes throughout life discovering her quest for spiritual enlightenment and self-discovery. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston explains the hardships as ideas of maturity, sexism, and social class. Throughout theRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God1110 Words   |  5 Pagesan answer seeking her, but where? When? How?† (Hurston 11). This quote exemplifies Janie’s desire for answers throughout her three relationships, displaying what she is longingly seeking for in life. Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, follows the life of protagonist Janie Crawford, a confident, middle-aged black woman who goes throughout life discovering her quest for spiritual enlightenment and self-discovery. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston explains the hardships as ideasRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston1253 Words   |  6 PagesIn the late nineteenth century, the New Woman time period emerged after World War I. Women began to cast away the domestic stereotypes and they became â€Å"independent [women] who [sought] achievement and self-fulfillment beyond the realm of marriage and family† (Miller 1). Straying away from the ty pical image of women staying and maintaining the home, women started attending universities, receiving professional jobs, and becoming involved in politics (1). The transition of women from the domestic sphereRead MoreAnalysis Of Double Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston And Invisible Man1335 Words   |  6 PagesConsciousness in a Bildungsroman Self discovery is at the root of many stories. It is easily limited by external and internal factors. Tales about self discovery are often called a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman, essentially, is a coming of age novel. Both Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison are considered a bildungsroman. In the case of those two novels, there is one unique concept that contributes to their examples of self discovery. Double consciousness isRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay939 Words   |  4 PagesA Woman’s Journey to Self-discovery â€Å"She had waited all her life for something.† This quote is significant because it epitomizes the struggle of a woman to reach self-actualization. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston juxtaposes opposing places to emphasize the experience gained by the novel’s protagonist, Janie, in each respective location, and to emphasize the effect of that environment on Janie’s journey to attain her dreams. Through this comparison, the author explores the ideaRead MoreThe Symbolism of Janies Hair in Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God 697 Words   |  3 Pagesthe book, Janie’s life experiences serve as a metaphor for the historical struggle of both women and Black Americans to achieve equal rights, and various symbols throughout the book are significant in this context. Janie’s hair, in particular, is the clearest example of a symbol that represents her power and individuality. Two of the most important instances in which Hurst on uses Janie’s hair as a symbol are when Janie’s hair serves as a symbol of Jody Stark’s oppression and when Janie’s hair representsRead MoreStereotypes and Distorted Images in Their Eyes Were Watching God. by Janie Crawford840 Words   |  4 Pageswith the stereotypes and distorted images of a consumerist society. As a result, they often struggle with a loss of identity because mass media try to dictate what they should want to be and do. Zora Neale Hurston tackles this age-old search for self-discovery in her fictional frame story Their Eyes Were Watching God. Janie Crawford tells her best friend, Pheoby, about her quest for her own voice, despite setbacks in the form of relatives, two husbands, and entire towns that attempt to silence her.Read More Essay on Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God1123 Words   |  5 PagesEyes Were Watching God      Ã‚  Ã‚   In Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford is the heroine. She helps women to deal with their own problems by dealing with hers. She deals with personal relationships as well as searches for self-awareness. Janie Crawford is more than a heroine, however, she is a woman who has overcome the restrictions placed on her by the oppressive forces and people in her life.    As a young woman, Janie had no complaints about her role in societyRead MoreEssay - Their Eyes Were Watching God1510 Words   |  7 Pagesof the trials and tribulations along the road of self discovery for the story’s main character, Janie. Of the many symbols used throughout the novel, one in particular - Janie’s hair - is subtle yet striking as it gives us insight into Janie’s perceived social status, oppression, self identity, and her eventual independence through her self identity as a woman despite the social norms of the time period. From the very beginning of the book, Janie’s long, straight, flowing black hair causes a stirRead MoreEssay on Their Eyes Were Watching God: Personal Relationships680 Words   |  3 Pagessearch for self-awareness in Their Eyes Were Watching God , has created a heroine in Janie Crawford. In fact, the female perspective is introduced immediately. quot;Now, women forget all those things they dont want to remember, and remember everything they dont want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordinglyquot; (Their Eyes 1). On the very first page of Their Eyes Were Watching God, the contrast is made between men and women, thus initiating Janies search for