Exploring Voice and Identity in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God An Analysis So many people in modern society have lost their voices. Laryngitis is not the cause of this sad situation–– they silence themselves, and have been doing so for decades. For many, not having a voice is acceptable socially and internally, because it frees them from the responsibility of having to maintain opinions. For Janie Crawford, it was not: she finds her voice among those lost within the pages of Zora Neale Hurston 's famed novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God . This dynamic character 's natural intelligence, talent for speaking, and uncommon insights made her the perfect candidate to develop into the outspoken, individual woman she has wanted to be all along. As the novel begins, Janie ...show more content... Hurston says it best: She knew things that nobody had ever told her... She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether. She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun–up... She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman (24). Janie remains relatively demure in her relationship with Killicks until Jody Starks appears. A wealthy, well–dressed man on his way to a small black town he heard about, a little of Janie's previous naïveté emerges again because of him. She mistakes his spending and kindness for the love she had been seeking, but eventually realizes that he loves her as a reflection of his wealth. Of Janie's three husbands, he is the one with the most negative effect on her. He defines all the boundaries of her life and expects her to submit to everything he commands. When she defies him and insults him in public, he reacts by shunning her and attempting to hurt her, and because of this she was not free of his "rules" even after his death. "She lived between her hat and her heels, with her emotional disturbances like shade patterns in the woods–– come and gone with the sun. She got nothing from Jody except what money could buy, and she was giving away what she didn't value" (72). At this time, Janie begins to Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Their Eyes are Watching God is globally viewed from many different angles, such as feminist consciousness; the racial suppression; and the Black accrete of this novel. It contains love, murder, hate, gossip, politics, and death. The novel itself contains positive messages, but the overriding inappropriate language and sexism negates that. Mrs. Tasharofi explain that "Under racism, black women have been programed to believe in white standards of beauty and this later is called internalized racism". Mrs. Crawford, Janie's mother, portrayed this to Janie, a light skinned black women (Main Character ). It reflects and occupies a specific historical moments that in our current life time's still occur. The novel Their Eyes were watching God by Zora Neale Hurston shouldn't be in the curriculum because it shows a great deal of racism, ...show more content... Janie is in search for satisfaction but she is repeatedly struggling against overpowering male figures who strive to restrict her. "Thus race and gender converge on this issue of evaluating beauty and this purports to the belief of Black feminists that women are oppressed not only because they are women but also because they are black women." Janie craved to find a relationship that included the couple being equal to each other but the perspective of the time in the great depression denied her from entirely accomplishing her dream. Throughout the novel Janie's actions try to demonstrate the reader the erroneous claims that women were by nature inferior to men and thus deserved to be subservient to them. It was evident that Janie will stop at nothing to accomplish what she set her mind to. But the reality was that in the 1900s, women, specifically black women had legally no voice "the author discussed the vivid picture of the black community." If a woman was abused by her husband, the courts would not even acknowledge it even if it did Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Principles of Literature Professors on Their Eyes Were Watching God The principles in "How to Read Like a Literature Professor" by Thomas C. Foster can be applied to Zora Neale Hurtston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Most of the principles from the Thomas Fosters book can be applied to Zora Hurtson's novel. The principles in "Their Eyes are Watching God" include; its all about sex, a symbol can be anything, geography and rain doesn't just mean rain. In chapter 16 of "How to read like a Literature Professor" it claims that in a novel sex is disguised. Foster blames Freud for making everyone's mind dirty but it is true the most innocent things can be about sex. "Tall Building? Male Sexuality. Rolling Landscapes? Female Sexuality. Stairs Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Narrative Essay Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is written with a narrative frame. The story begins and ends with two people, Janie and Pheoby, sitting on the porch of Janie's house. Janie is telling her story to Pheoby during the course of an evening, that evening becoming the entire novel. The point of view changes from a first person narrative to a third person omniscient within the first chapter so the reader can experience the story through Janie's eyes while also understanding the other characters and their perspectives. Janie, the main character of Their Eyes Were Watching God, reveals the story throughout the novel with a flashback. "Pheoby's hungry listening helped Janie to tell her story. So she went on thinking back to her young years and explaining them ...show more content... These chapters show Janie's initial happiness with Joe, followed by her dissatisfaction with Joe as he starts to treat her like his property, because of her gender. Janie feels defeated by her search for love as she is trapped in a loveless relationship. Joe's control over Janie actually makes her a stronger and more independent woman . The fourth and final section of the novel focuses on Janie's marriage to Tea Cake. Finally, Janie met someone who provided the love she longed for her whole life. Janie experiences true happiness for the first time. The framework of the novel ends as Janie's story is complete and Pheoby returns home to her husband. The reader understands the story through Janie's eyes while a narrator tells the story in third person to allow the reader to know more about the other characters and their perspectives. Hurston chose to tell the story within a framework to give Janie a voice in the novel while she used an omniscient narrator to establish a voice outside of Janie, while continuing in the style of Janie's voice, to cease the need to stay in the vernacular dialogue full Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Essay on Imagery in Their Eyes Were Watching God Positive Imagery in Their Eyes Were Watching God In Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the life of Janie is presented as a journey. Janie survives a grandmother, three husbands, and innumerable friends. Throughout this journey, she moves towards her ideals about love and how to live one's life. Hurston chooses to define Janie not by what is wrong in her life, but by what is good in it. Janie undergoes many changes throughout her journey, but the imagery in her life always conjures positive ideas in the mind of the reader. Janie's life begins under the watchful eye of her grandmother. Her grandmother has given up her own happiness to raise Janie and her mother. Right away, it is obvious that Janie's life ...show more content... Janie learns a very important lesson from her grandmother. Not a lesson to emulate, but one to avoid. She does not want to be a cracked plate, she is tall and blossoming and can see what she wants in her life. She does not get what she wants with Logan Killicks, her first husband. Janie married Logan because her grandmother wanted her to. Her grandmother could not understand why she did not love him, as he had sixty acres of land. Janie did not love him, and describes him as ". . . some ole skullhead in de grave yard" [13] and his house as "a lonesome place like a stump in the middle of the woods . . . absent of flavor" [20]. Janie's eyes are still full of pollen dust, and she cannot get her perfect vision of love out of her mind. Logan makes her do menial chores around the house, and treats her like a beast of burden. She prays for the day when she will be delivered from the life of tedium that she lives. She thinks that her prayers are answered when she first sees Joe Starks. In fact, she first sees him through a veil of her hair, and it is her long, luxurious hair that he is first attracted to. She thinks that he is "a bee for her blossom" [31]. The initial description of him, ". . . a cityfied, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn't belong in [those] parts" [26] immediately sets a firm image in the reader's mind, so no one is Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Ashlyn Brown Angela Ivey AP Literature and composition 5 June 2015 Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay In Zora Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, she focuses on the life of the main character, Janie Crawford. The novel takes place in a small town down south called Eatonville in the 1930's. Janie is on a quest to find her true identity or in other words, her horizon. Along Janie's quest for true happiness, she faces numerous obstacles that continue to hinder her from finding her true identity and a man she can truly love. As the expectations of others control her life, Janie keeps pushing and is determined to find a true inner happiness. Janie has to fight the expectations of others all throughout the novel until she reaches a point ...show more content... It all starts when Nanny catches Janie kissing Johnny Taylor and tells Janie, "Ah wants to see you married right away (chapter 2)". Janie's first marriage escalates from her love of the blossoming pear tree where "She had been spending every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days (chapter 2)." As Janie lays under the pear tree listening to the buzzing of the bees, "she saw a dust–bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister–calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and frothing with delight (chapter 2)." Janie suddenly thinks what she has just watched is indeed what marriage is. After she witnesses the "marriage" between the pear tree and the bee, Janie looks for similar marriages elsewhere (Weatherspoon,2008). At the age of sixteen, Janie is curious and wants answers. Johnny Taylor is coming up the road and before she knows it, Nanny "bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss (chapter 2)." Janie was no longer a child but instead Nanny says, "Yeah, Janie, youse got yo' womanhood on yuh (chapter 2)." Nanny demands Janie to get married immediately. Janie ends up marrying a man named Logan Killicks, who Nanny says, "spoke to me 'bout you long time ago (chapter 2)." Nanny expects Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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'Their Eyes Were Watching God' as a bildungsroman covering personal growth 'Their Eyes Were Watching Good' is a 1937 published novel by the Afro–American author Zora Neale Hurston. The story is about Janie Crawford, an attractive, middle–aged black woman, that returns to her hometown after the breakdown of her third marriage . This causes a lot of gossip and Janie decides to explain herself by telling her story. She tells about her three different marriages and how she in person changed during these different stages of her life. ' Their Eyes Were Watching God ' meets the criteria of a bildungsroman because it implies an educative point and delivers a message to the reader. The whole novel is a self–reflection and deals with the changes the ...show more content... This loneliness was supposed to be filled by another man, her second husband Joe Starks. She continued her development as a woman especially in the beginning of the new relationship when Joe "spoke for change and chance" (28). The problems Janie had to face in this marriage were that her husband did not treat her equal but rather treated her as an ornament. She found out that the love he provided to her in the beginning was rather part of the ulterior moves Joe had about becoming an important landlord and major. Joe gave only material goods to Janie who felt again as if something misses in her life. The final stage in Janie's development as a woman is her marriage with the twelve years younger Tea Cake. Both are totally in love with each other and Janie lives a live she has never lived before. She experienced a big change when she moves from her formal live as "Mrs. Major" (43) in Eatonville to the Everglades where Tea Cakes teaches her how to farm, fish and hunt and introduces a totally new rural life to her. Janie described her lifestyle in these days with "...we ain't got nothin' tuh do but do our work and come home and love" (127). This last relationship finishes her development as a woman. Even if Janie went through a lot of changes in her life she still did not change herself in some aspects. It sometimes seems as if she did not really learn from the mistakes she made in Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Essay On Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston's life consists of a devotion to novelizing, recording, preserving, and analyzing patterns of speech and thought of rural black south and related cultures. Hurston's research on rural black folklore heavily influenced her writing and lead to the creation of one of her most famous work Their Eyes Were Watching God. In the novel, Hurston displays the Black culture in the South as "a representation of distinct cultural tradition and a place for spiritual revitalization" (O'Banner 35). Such depiction of the South in the novel is particularly seen in the journey of the character Janie Mae Crawford and the influences of the community on her choices, thoughts, and individuality. Hurston demonstrates in Their Eyes Were Watching God ...show more content... Tea Cake proves to Janie's true love . He is not the ideal man for Janie in the view of Janie's society as he is twelve years younger than Janie, lacks the land and respectability that Logan provides for Janie, and the entitlement stability that Jody provides for Janie. In fact, her relationship with Tea Cake brought upon malicious gossip and a negative view upon Janie. However, Tea Cake replicates the love that Janie expresses for him, which brings forth a two–sided relationship, rather than a one– sided relationship that Janie experiences in the past. Janie's ability to fall and stay in love is rare in the novel because in Black fiction it is common that love is one sided in order for one of the partners to achieve success (O'Banner 46). Moreover, "Tea Cake neglects the form of the material relationship of marriage ordained by Nanny and realized by Logan Killicks and Joe Starks" (Gates 83). In addition, he adds on this youthfulness and adventurous side of Janie that she is incapable of seeing due to the restraints placed on Black woman (Gates 88). Unlike her previous marriages, Janie is not confined and is able to find herself. Tea Cake makes a vital contribution in finding her own values and search for Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Literary Analysis For "Their Eyes Were Watching God" In the novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford had a host of marriages that didn't go how she planned. She was married a total of three times, two of her husband's happen to pass away. Which makes me think to myself that Janie was probably getting fed up with the pain and suffering made her feel that love was not the things for her due to all the problems that occurred in the past relationships. Real love doesn't come easy nor it comes and go. Real love is solid and stays with you forever. According to the novel, Janie seemed to be a very sexual young girl from the ways she looked at nature from her kissing Johnny Taylor (Hurston 11–12). So her ...show more content... And Logan would have put his foot down when Janie parked her mouth to ask him that question instead of letting her do what she want to do. So therefore, Janie met Joe the next morning and they headed off to "Green Cove Springs" (Hurston 33). Where they soon got married. Once Janie and Joe arrived they noticed that Eatonville a poor looking colored folks town with no mayor (Hurston 34–35). Joe felt that he had the power to actually make Eatonville a town so he gathered people together to build a store and also provided the product for them to be the first colored town to have a streetlight.That led the town to want him as mayor (Hurston 34). I feel that this was a good idea for the town because he bringing great things the town can use on daily basis. As the town began to grow Jody started to become more uptight about everything. So he made a few adjustments to Janie appearance such as making her wrap her hair while working in the store because he was jealous of other men looking at his woman . I feel that Jody should have spoken up when the man rubbed his hand through Janie hair instead of punishing her for something she can't help. And after a while, Janie started to get overwhelmed with the store as well "so Janie another day. And every day had a store in it, except Sunday's" (Hurston 51). I understand where she's Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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"Their Eyes Were Watching God" had Janie face several conflicts throughout the book, conflicts that relate to the real world and real world human rights issues. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" covers human rights issues such as gender inequality, the right to marry the person you love, the right to be an equal within a marriage , and racism. The novel's ending, where Janie returns back to Eatonville after having to kill Tea Cake, is surprising, to say the least, and creates a sense of shock and slight confusion within the reader. The resolution of the novel shows that the author intended to show each of the aforementioned human rights issues, and how none of the issues are guaranteed to have a happy ending. Zora Neale Hurston also seems to imply, ...show more content... The author uses negative diction when describing circumstances relating to gender inequality, racism, or the right to marry the person you love , indicating that the author believes these are important issues that need to be fixed. This negative diction is evident in lines such as, "But Joe kept saying that she could do it if she wanted to and he wanted her to use her privileges. That was the rock she was battered against. The business of the headrag irked her endlessly. [...] but he didn't want Janie to notice it because he saw that she was sullen and resented that. She had no right to be, the way he thought thing out. [...] He ought to box her jaws!" and "You better sense her intuh things then 'cause Tea Cake can't do nothin' but help her spend whut she got. Ah reckon dat's whut he's after. Throwin' away whut Joe Starks worked hard tuh git tuhgether." However, when Janie talks about Tea Cake and their love, Zora Hurston switches to positive diction, showing that she supports a happy, equal, and loving marriage. This switch in the diction is clearly shown in the lines, "He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self–crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place." and "Anyway Tea Cake wouldn't hurt Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story about a black woman in the 1930s, Janie's, quest for real and fulfilling love and freedom. The story begins when her grandmother, Nanny, catches her kissing a boy she doesn't approve of. Nanny is a former slave who is raising Janie because her own daughter, Janie's mother, was raped at seventeen, began drinking, and ran away. She faced many hardships and was denied things marriage in order to care for Janie. Therefore she pressures Janie to marry Logan Killicks before she dies of old age. Janie does this, despite not wanting to take part in it, and learns that marriage doesn't create love as she had thought. Logan says her place is wherever he needs her and even threatens to kill her when she tries to tell her how she feels. Janie's devastation is described in the line, "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman." ...show more content... He treats her like she is special and talks to her about wanting to be a 'big voice' and helping to start a town for only colored people. Janie is excited by his ideas and how he seems to value her. She agrees to go with him and get married. He was an escape from her first unsatisfying marriage until, as years pass, she realizes she didn't find the love she was hoping for. Joe's love is possessive. He sees her as a special thing and not a special person. He is often too interested in his own 'big voice' to listen to Janie and expects her to follow his commands instead of her wishes. Yet, she stays with him in Eatonville until he dies twenty years later and only stands up to Joe and forces him to listen to her feelings moments before he dies. This scene had the biggest impact on me because I loved seeing Janie finally speak her mind. Although it was late, she finally showed courage and a sense of self Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Love and Marriage Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a novel about a Southern black woman and her experiences through life. Janie, the main character, is forced at a young age by her grandmother, into an arranged marriage with a man named Logan. Janie is told to learn to love Logan, but the love never comes for Logan in Janie's heart so she leaves him. She meets a man named Joe. Soon after they are married. Joe was sweet at first, then his true feelings about women come out and Janie looses her love she thought she had for him. He soon dies after their separation. Janie then falls in love with a man named Tea Cake. He is the man with whom she has a wonderful, loving, happy marriage . ...show more content... Nanny lets Janie believe that you need a man to take care of you and provide for you. According to Nanny, you have to marry a man who has money because too much trouble comes with marrying a poor man. Joe marries Janie strictly for social appearance. Joe wants to have empowerment and he thinks a woman, like Janie, would help his image. He wants to run a town and the only way he feels he can look good is to have a pretty woman by his side. In the beginning of their marriage Joe treats he like a queen. He tells her that his woman needs to relax in the shade sipping on molasses water and fanning herself from the hot sun. Janie fell in love with the idea. Joe's words, however, were deceiving. He actually means that woman need to stay home to cook and clean while the man goes out to make the money. Joe often puts Janie down in public saying things like, 'Thank yuh fuh yo compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin bout no speech makin. Ah married her for nothin lak that. She's a woman and her place is in de home.';(pg. 40–41). Joe publicly humiliates Janie constantly saying she is as low as mules. Joe feels that his marriage is a part of his image, a part of his job. He does not marry her for love. Joe marries Janie to look good in front of the people who look up to him. Her marriage to Tea Cake is opposite Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Essay about Their Eyes Were Watching God In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the relationship between Janie and Nanny is one of great dispute over if it is healthy or not. The idea that the most influential person in Janie's life is also the one who triggered her struggles when she was becoming a woman is sadly ironic. Nanny's true influence on Janie is brought to light through symbolic, and decaying diction, Biblical, and Greek Mythological allusions, and natural metaphors, by describing Janie's journey to womanhood, through finding her own opinion, acquiring a stable life from Nanny, her maturation, and what she gained when becoming a woman . Through the use of symbolic diction, decaying diction, and metaphors, Hurston illustrates Janie's inner struggle ...show more content... A new side of Nanny is implied through decaying diction when Nanny enters Janie's mind on her knees because moving on the knees both brings pain for the person being walked on, and is a submissive way to be walked towards. This shows that Nanny both wants to force Janie to take on her opinions and ask for forgiveness. What surfaces in this passage through positive unlikely characterization, and biblical allusions, is the plight of Nanny in that she knows she is going to die soon, and wants to make sure that Janie's life is stable before it happens. Through positive unlikely characterization Nanny attempts to explain the crossroads that she was at whilst raising Janie, "Lawd, you know mah heart. Ah done de best Ah could do" (24). Even though Janie and Nanny had just had a fight, Janie does not understand Nanny's viewpoints. However, all that matters to Nanny is that the "Lawd" (24) knows her position. The fact that Nanny is not Janie's biological mother creates tension between the two of them because the values and way Nanny would raise a child are out of date to Janie. When Nanny says, "De rest is left to you" (24) she is referring to the Christian God . This biblical allusion implies that Nanny believes that she has completed her mission of raising Janie, and the rest of Janie's life lies in God's hands. She realizes that if she were to continue raising Janie it would deteriorate their relationship further. Therefore, Nanny is explaining and justifying Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Aditya Ramkumar Ms. Gould Honors American Literature 7 April 2017 The Analysis of Race Relations instead of Feminism Throughout the history of the United States, race relations have proven to be a major issue. From slavery in the early years of the nation to Jim Crow laws, African Americans have been continually oppressed in US history. The Harlem Renaissance, provoked by national prosperity in the Roaring 20s, propelled the progress of creative writing within the black community, helping form a new black national identity. This movement gave birth to many ardent civil rights activists, such as Richard Wright, who strongly believed that novels should address the issue of racism in America. Wright's assertion that Hurston's novel Their ...show more content... While Wright focuses his argument on the fact that Hurston doesn't analyse the issue of race relations, he fails to recognize the novel's focus on feminism. The fact that Wright is focused on civil rights and the fact that he is looking primarily for evidence supporting race relations can be seen, as he states that Hurston depicts blacks in a "safe and narrow orbit in which America likes to see the Negro live" (Wright). While he may be correct that this is the case, he fails to notice that that was not what Hurston was focusing on, and that was not what she intended to convey. Hurston was rather focusing on the Women's Rights movement, as shown by Janie making her own choices and given increasing rights throughout the book. Janie moved from a marriage that was set up for her (with Killicks), to a marriage that she chose to take part in but was suppressed (with Joe Starks), to a marriage where she was treated as an equal (with Tea Cake). After strained relationships with Killicks and Joe Starks, Janie exclaims about her relationship with Tea Cake that "Somebody wanted her to play [checkers]. Somebody thought it was natural for her to play" (Hurston 92). This indicates a drastic change from her previous relationships, such as her one with Joe Starks, where Janie was frequently beaten and suppressed. That Janie was given more of a say in her marriages can be used to indicate how women were also given more of a say in the twentieth century –– after the passage of Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary Name: Shreya Kaul Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God Author: Zora Neale Hurston Summary of the Plot: Their Eyes Were Watching God is about Janie Crawford, a middle–aged African–American women. She returns to Eatonville, Florida after many years and Janie explains her life story to a friend named Phoeby. Janie describes how she was raised by her grandmother, Nanny after her real mother left. Nanny forces Janie into marriage against her will to Logan. Logan is a farmer who is much older than Janie. She is absolutely miserable living with him because he is rude and not romantic. One day Janie meets Joe Starks. He is a charming and ambitious young man who constantly flirts with Janie. Janie falls in love with Joe and runs away with him to Eatonville. Joe Starks ...show more content... 1st person does not relate to Their Eyes Were Watching God 3rd person limited relates to Their Eyes Were Watching God because the narrator only reveals Janie's thoughts and feelings, but is not Janie herself or an active character in the book. 3rd person omniscient does not relate to Their Eyes Were Watching God Mood– the reader's emotion and reaction while reading the book. The mood of Their Eyes Were Watching God changes throughout each relationship. Her marriage with Logan was dark and the feeling of frustration was the mood. Janie's marriage with Joe was light and happy and first. Then it became repetitive and monotonous because her life became dull. With Tea Cake, the mood was suspicion because she was afraid of dating a younger man or the mood was calm and serene because she felt at peace. Conflict– a problem such as a disagreement Internal– a conflict in the character's mind. Man vs. Self– the character has to overcome a problem the he/she is faced with in his/her mind. External– a character is faced with a problem with an outside force Man vs. Man– a conflict between two

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Persuasive Essay Tea Cake: Better Than The Rest Love is a life–changing event. It is an event that causes you to embrace another person in your life. It can be a positive or a negative experience for a man or woman. It is a cycle of connection then death, however; some people will not last to death due to death of divorce. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie explores the themes of love , beauty, and evolves into the woman that she is at the end of the novel through three different marriages. When Janie gets married to all three men, she loves them progressively as she goes from one marriage to the next;however, in the end she ends up loving Tea Cake more than any of her past husbands. To begin with, Janie's first marriage is to Logan Killicks. She meets him through her grandmother and is basically forced to marry him. In the novel, Janie complains to her grandmother "Cause you [Grandmother] told me Ah mus gointer love him,and, and Ah don't" (Their Eyes were Watching God 23). This quote demonstrates how Janie feels throughout her marriage to Logan. He treats her like a labor mule and complains that she is too lazy to do anything. From her first marriage, she learns that she has to be with a man she ...show more content... She marries him because he starts seeing her secretly at her current home with Logan Killicks. He convinces her to run away with him to Eatonville where they establish a town. Their relationship starts very loving and close, but as time passes their love fades away slowly. Jody is a man who needs power and rule to satisfy him; therefore, he seems to be a bit bossy. He was in charge of the town, the store and more and "They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the own bowed to him." (Their Eyes Were Watching God 50). At the end of their marriage Jody gets sick and dies. Janie is left a widow for six months until she meets Tea Cake, a store Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Research Paper Power: A Force Of Nature Throughout American history, groups of people have been subject to intolerance. Society has a hierarchy of socio–economic power set in place to keep certain types of people lower on the totem pole. Nature, however, does not discriminate. Zora Neale Hurston uses this idea to further the plot of Their Eyes Were Watching God. When a hurricane destroys the 'Glades, Hurston emphasizes how powerless humans are against nature. Nature does not care who has money or power, it will strike with a vengeance if it must. A perfect example of this idea is shown when Tea Cake is bitten by the rabid dog. His succeeding illness is the work of nature; Tea Cake must succumb to his primal state. This is shown when he attempts to kill Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Thesis Statement Rough Draft "The present was an egg laid by the past that had the future inside its shell," claims author Zora Neale Hurston (1891–1960). Through her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God she demonstrates how strong, intelligent women, like the main character Janie, play an essential role in shaping the future of black middle–class women during the early 20th century , so that when the egg is cracked open they will be recognized as independent women in society. Throughout her life Janie Crawford married 3 men, which each played different roles in her life. She never liked her first husband, Logan Killicks, but married him because her grandmother wanted her to. This is why she leaves him after meeting Joe (Jody) Starks, whom she falls in love with. They marry and move to Eatonville, which Joe makes the first respectable black town in America and declares ...show more content... Over the years they fall out of love and Janie begins to despise Joe for humiliating and degrading her. After Joe dies because of a sick liver Janie doesn't remarry, till she meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake is a couple years younger than her, which is why she questions his motives at first. They end up marrying and moving to the Everglades where they both take the job as agricultural workers. During a hurricane Tea Cake gets bitten by a mad dog, yet doesn't go see a doctor after the hurricane. After the rabies spread throughout his body Tea Cake tries shooting Janie which is why she shoots him to defend herself. She is acquitted by the court for killing Tea Cake and returns to Eatonville where she tells her friend Pheoby her life story. The main character, Janie, in Their Eyes Were Watching God serves as an effective looking glass through which the reader experiences the lives of both the average and remarkable black woman, the role of men in their achievements, and their effects on society during the early Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD ESSAY ¬¬ Janie Crawford is surrounded by outward influences that contradict her independence and personal development. These outward influences from society, her grandma, and even significant others contribute to her curiosity. Tension builds between outward conformity and inward questioning, allowing Zora Neal Hurston to illustrate the challenge of choice and accountability that Janie faces throughout the novel. Janie's Grandma plays an important outward influence from the very beginning. Her perspective on life was based off of her experience as a slave. "Ah was born back due in slavery so it wasn't for me to fulfill my dreams of whut a woman oughta be and to do." (16) She felt that financial security, ...show more content... Kind of portly like rich white folks."(35) He became less like a Husband, and more like a respected authority. It was discovered that Joe's intentions with Janie had been wrongly accused. He began to treat her more like an object rather than his loving wife as their marriage deteriorated. His priorities were clear and Janie was not one of them. Joe's charming personality convinced Janie to conform outwardly, yet in the end she was left questioning inwardly once again. Even before Joe's death, Janie "was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen. She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew not how to mix them."(75) Joe's influences controlled Janie to the point where she lost her independence and hope. She no longer knew how to adapt to the change brought upon her. When she finally settles and begins to gain back that independence, the outward existence of society came back into play. "Uh woman by herself is uh pitiful thing. Dey needs aid and assistance."(90) Except this time Janie acted upon her own judgment and fell for someone out of the ordinary. Tea Cake was a refreshing change for Janie, despite the society's disapproval. "Janie looked down on him and felt a self–crushing love . So her soul crawled out from its hiding place." (128) This was what she had always dreamt of. When she was with Tea Cake, she no longer questioned inwardly, she simply rejected society's opinions and acted upon her own desires. Throughout the novel Janie makes Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary Dyshere Logan Tammy Geidel AP English Languish and Composition 23 July 2014 A Summary of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a novel written in flashback telling the story of a woman named Janie. It starts off by the main character Janie returning to the town that she watched grow from the ground up. Instead of the usual respect and praise she usually got before she left, she now is faced with ridicule and judgment. The only one who sticks up for Janie is her closest friend Phoeby. Phoeby does not partake in ridiculing Janie, but decides to pay her a visit and speak with her old friend. Janie and her pal begin to speak and that's where the story begins. Everything Janie ever knew was taught by her Nanny. Due to the fact her mother ran off after being raped and giving birth to Janie her grandmother had no choice but to raise her. Nanny provided anything Janie could need. She protected and nurtured Janie so that she would have a better life than she or her mom did. Nanny was so strict about this that when she noticed Janie blossoming into womanhood she immediately forced ...show more content... A natural leader with a little bit of an edge. tea cake was liberating and fun. Especially for Janie. Tea cake is the type of man to let a woman be herself anywhere. There was no hiding things when he was with Janie. He was spontaneous, fun, and most important reliable. Though Janie may not have known how he'd get things done, but he always did. This is what made Tea Cake Janie "True Love". Tea cake allowed Janie to do things she never imagined. From Talking with woman or men to working along side her husband. Janie and most others fed off of tea cakes energy which made him such a likable and humorous guy. Tea cake met his demise in an untimely manner. He can honest be described as trajic hero. He was a wonderful person that was in the wrong place at the wrong Get more content on StudyHub.Vip

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