Lost Innocence In Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Marrying into wealth leaves Janie unhappy, and after her experience with Logan and Jody, Janie realizes that it is not about the

The “Rock Pile” by James Baldwin and “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston are two stories that examined black male resistance to emasculation. The men in these stories lived in patriarchal societies, and they reaped the benefits of a structure that favored men. In both of these stories, the male characters are dominant figures in their households, and when they felt like their manhood was being attacked, they retaliate viciously. In “Their eyes were watching god”

While he is much more appealing and romantic than Logan, Janie still realizes that he cannot offer her the “pear tree love” that she has been searching for. During this marriage, Janie begins to ask herself many new questions. It is during Joe’s inauguration as mayor that the climax of their relationship is reached; when he refuses to let her speak for herself, Janie comes to the realization that having the option to make her own decisions is something that she has never really had. This awareness gives her a new perspective of love, which leads to Janie’s inward resentment of Joe. While she wishes to join in the checker games and conversations on the porch, she conforms to his commands by avoiding them.

Because her grandmother’s past experiences including slavery and rape, all she wants for Janie is security. This security takes form through Brother Logan Killicks, the farmer with sixty acres of land . Although Janie does not love him, she wants to respect her grandmother’s wishes and pushes down her own opinions. Janie comes to later regret her decision of entering the loveless marriage that she feels her Grandmother emotionally pushed onto her. Logan is an older man, and he is used to his life on the farm expecting Janie to follow suit.

In the first two paragraphs of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston explains that women chase their dreams and never give up until they achieve them. This is exactly what Janie was executing throughout her journey. Janie accomplished her dream, finding true love. Janie’s dream to find true love blossomed as she was laying under the pear tree.

The novel begins with Janie returning home following her journey, where she is greeted with hostility through the malicious gossip of the women. Comments such as “what she doin coming back here in dem overhalls,” “what dat ole forty year ole ’ oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal,” or “she de one been doin’ wrong,” demonstrates how Janie defies the social norm (Hurston 2-3). The gossip that is shared amongst the women places Janie in a negative light. She is seen as this rebellious individual who goes against what her community accepts. For example, Janie’s rebellious nature is displayed through her decision to fall for a younger man, Tea Cake, to wear overalls, and to wear her hair long.

Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and languid.” She let herself experience an intense level of fascination towards relationships, and because her grandma was encouraging this, it seemed justified. In her eyes, it’s completely normal for somebody to chase after another person for the sake of just being in a relationship, which can be distracting and overwhelming to

Sit Still, Look Pretty Sitting on the front porch of a house isn’t exactly how women should spend every day of their lives. The modern woman has a busy life, working every day, as well as participating in outside activities such as clubs, sports, or meetings. Women in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, play a very different role by doing almost nothing except providing at the service of their loved ones. The main character, Janie Crawford does this everyday of her life for twenty years while she is married.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston expresses the superior upper hand that men has over women. Hurston uses the main character Jaine, to show how in a male dominant society women can become stronger, more empowered, and have a set main purpose in life other than the stereotypes that are brought upon them.. Despite the fact that women are brought up in a male dominant society, women can often find themselves being able to overcome the typical male dominant obstacles. Women are looked at as weak and very dependent individuals who can’t think for themselves. However, with motivation and learning experiences Hurston suggests that women can overcome anything.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Hurston develops the theme of love and power with repetition. Throughout this novel Janie varies from marriages with men who desire wealth and power. However, eventually Janie finds a true love in Tea Cake. The most pervasive theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God is the search for love. Zora Hurston develops this theme through the repetition of relationships.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s most significant relationship issues come with her second husband, Joe Starks. In Chapter 6, Janie is forced to deal with Joe’s controlling nature, in which he will not allow her to spend time with the people of Eatonville or even show her hair in public. The turning point of their relationship occurs in the next chapter, as Janie and Joe get into a public argument. After Janie had made a mistake while cutting tobacco for a customer, they argued and Joe said, “T’ain’t no use in gettin’ all mad, Janie, ‘cause Ah mention you ain’t no young gal no’. Nobody in heah ain’t lookin’ for no wife outa yuh.

Though the novel represents many feministic ideas in relation to marriage, it should not be read and discussed solely from this perspective. This statement is commented by Ramsey who claims that the story is “both a precursor to the modern feminist agenda yet also a reactionary tale embalming Hurston’s tender passions for a very traditional male” (1994: 38). In spite of the fact that the scholar agrees that Janie gains some self-belief and self-realization in the course of time, he still perceives her as a woman who cannot survive without a man by her side who would support her. It seems that she has a strong need to have someone by her side to support her when something goes wrong. This argument is confirmed by another researcher, Jennifer Jordan, who states that the protagonist “never perceives herself as an independent woman” (1988: 115).

Nanny did not believe in love, so Janie had little guidance in how one can find love. Janie does not realize until the end, that one must “go there tuh know there”(192). In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston shows how society and influences can cause someone to hide himself and conform to the expectations of others. Janie was a strong person inside but conformity hid her from the rest of the world.

It was a mercy. Offered by a human” (195). In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s grandmother Nanny makes Janie marry someone she does not love. Janie does not want to marry Logan, but she concedes to her grandmother’s demands. The grandmother merely wants Janie’s life to be secure and safe; the grandma did not want Janie to turn out like Janie’s mother.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston wrote in a way that conveyed a message through her characters, using a storytelling "frame" to express her ideas. Hurston did not stop by means to get her point across. Hurston uses Janie’s thoughts and actions to represents how during Reconstruction, African Americans were trying to find their identities and achieve their dreams of independence. At the start of the novel Hurston begins to illustrate how African Americans in Eatonville feel about their lives.