...Maya Lin’s quote “To me, the American Dream is being able to follow your own personal calling”. To be able to do what you want is an incredible freedom.” fully captures the uniquely American idea of chasing one's dreams and aspirations in search of fulfillment. This idea can be found throughout Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, which explores Janie’s journey to find her dream. Even if it goes against societal norms and pressures. The term “The American Dream” was first coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 in his novel The Epic of America, where he writes about how the American Dream has influenced the United States' past but also future. To Adams, the American Dream is about reaching one’s best self and rising above what someone was born to do. But at its core, and what Maya Lin believes, is that the American Dream embodies...
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...Now, Janie feels nothing trapped as she returns to the home that Joe once trapped her in. Even though the downstairs is “shut and fastened”, it seems cozy and comforting instead of stuffy. Upstairs, the open windows give the room a sense of openness which, paradoxically, does not feel empty. Instead, it makes Janie have a sense of freedom. “On the train the next day, Joe didn’t make many speeches with rhymes to her, but he bought her the best things the butcher had, like apples and a glass lantern full of candies. Mostly he talked about plans for the town when he got there…” (34) - Voice 4 Unlike Logan, Joe doesn’t start off his marriage by using his voice - the theme of the quote - or embellishing a love that isn’t sincere. His words are directed towards his destination which is Eatonville and plan for the future. These reveals his ambition but not his emotions. He seems to think that objects and gifts are all that Janie needs, and this trend continues throughout their entire marriage. He never expresses his emotions or heart to Janie since he isn’t communicative while Janie becomes silent....
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...eyes were watching god” is a story about a girl named janie crawford and her quest in searching for love. Throughout her journey of trying to accomplish her dream the book walks us through how she slowly matures and enter her womanhood. In the novel “Their eyes were watching god” Hurston uses similes, metaphors, and symbols to display the moral that marriage and intimacy doesn’t bring love. Hurston uses similes as one of the ways to show that love doesn’t come by marriage or intimacy....
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...on a journey for life fulfillment. Janie lives her life how her grandmother wants her too, and then tries to take her own course only to find out that she is still unhappy. Finally she finds happiness within herself. During the Harlem Renaissance Janie faces all of these feelings and conflicts. The Harlem Renaissance was a movement that included the new African-American cultural expressions across United States during the 1920’s. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses the style element of conflict to reflect from the Harlem Renaissance ideal of asserting agency, while she departs from the ideals of the movement with her use of conflict to reflect from the Harlem Renaissance ideal of...
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...Janie and Tea Cake first met eachother. Janie had been working at the store while everyone else had gone to a baseball game. Tea Cake had come into the shop to buy cigarettes and casually started up a conversation with Janie. The two clicked with each other and he offered to teach her how to play checkers. Janie had finally begun to feel as if she fit in again and did not feel as if she was being classed off just because she had been the mayor’s wife. I believe that Tea Cake helped Janie to break out of her shell and she finally realized she needed to stop caring about the other people in town and how they felt about her. I feel that Janie was finally beginning to become genuinely happy again after meeting Tea Cake because she felt accepted by him. I also believe that after meeting Tea Cake Janie came to the realization that it was finally time for her to move on and start her life up again. Evaluation/Analysis of Characters: In chapter eleven of the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, some people of the town had taken to notice Tea Cake and Janie hanging around one another quite often. Many people had come to Janie to warn her of Tea Cake and told her that he was only after her money. Janie...
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...What brings Janie to this conversation with Phoeby looking over her life? Soon after Janie’s first kiss, Nanny declares to Janie that she is a woman and she must find a man to marry. Nanny believes that marriage is solely for protection, and that is what Janie needs to survive in their society. Thereafter, Janie goes through a couple of marriages to finally find somebody that treats her right. Janie doesn’t necessarily realize how her voice is silenced while she is living through abusive relationships, but as she reminisces on her life with her friend Phoeby, she experiences self-revelation about talents she has always had but is never able to exercise prior to escaping these relationships. Through Janie’s voice being constantly silenced in abusive relationships, Janie discovers her knack for storyteller after being in a healthy relationship where her voice is important. First, Janie takes place in a relationship with Logan Killicks where she has no place and Logan has the influence to boss her around any way he wants. The two get married very soon after they meet, but she never has a passionate love for him and doesn’t really find herself attracted to him: “ Ah’d rather be shot...
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...different. Oprah does a wonderful job at completely destroying the morals of the time period, and the symbols shown in the book. The movie changes relationships making the main character stronger and more independent. The beautiful love story shown by Oprah became a ridiculous rendition of Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel missing key elements from the book. Oprah Winfrey completely disregards the moral fiber of the time period. In the movie some scenes got extremely graphic with the kissing and love making. These scenes...
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...“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone.” (8) This powerful quote and many others are found in Zora Neale Hurston’s African American Literature Novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston writes of a young, light skinned, African American female named Janie who journeys through life trying to find the “perfect” relationship. As Janie goes through her life, she, along with her search, has taken turns for the worse and for the better. Janie has endured many conflicts through her relationships with Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake. Throughout Janie’s relationships with men, she discovered that she did not want to live a marriage life full of fear, unhappiness, and sorrow. Her ability to dream and to act on her instincts allowed her to truly find her happiness within her last relationship. As stated above, the...
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...Zora Neal Hurtson, the main character Janie is desperate for love; over the course of the entire novel, she marries to 3 men, one being an African American man by the name of Joe Stalks, aka Jody. The author characterizes Jody as prideful, vain, overly ambitious man who has an obsession with feeling superior and powerful. Hurtson develops this characterization through Jody’s dialogue, treatment towards Janie, and his physical appearance. During this time period, women were considered inferior to men, and Jody strongly supports such ideals. Jody states "Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves." This quote demonstrates Jody’s conception...
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...Summary Logan and Janie now begin to bicker constantly, his true personality now revealed. He constantly brings up his previous wife and insists on Janie doing the same things she did like chop wood. One day he goes off to buy a mule and Janie sees a “cityfield, stylished dressed man” come into town. Janie begins to pump water to attract his attention and he wanders over. They strike up a conversation, Janie learns that his name is Jody Starks and he is from Georgia. He has learned that the town is ruled entirely by black people and fed up of working for white people his whole life, intends to invest and make a lot of money here. Janie can tell Jody is interested in her but she is not sure that she wants to leave Logan, first because her Nanny wanted them to marry and second because she does not see a pear-tree love with Jody. Before Jody leaves town he tells Janie to meet him up the road the next morning if she wants to be with him. That night Janie bring up the idea of her running away but Logan tells her no man would even want her in the first place. The next morning Logan essentially tells her that she has to obey his every order and refers to her as a spoiled girl; he finishes the discussion by threatening to kill her with an axe. This makes up her decision to leave Logan and meets Jody where they travel to Green Cove Springs to get married. Quote...
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...Were Watching God” the horizon symbolizes the hope that Janie has for her future every time that she moves on in her life and the dreams of equality and love she hopes to one day experience. Present throughout the entire book, the horizon manifests itself as Janie’s dreams for a better life. She travels along in the horizon in her marriages, always searching for her own ideal life. In her mind and adventures, the horizon gives her hope that a better life will be there for her allowing her to move on and grow as a person. The beginning of the book states that “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board… For others they sail forever on the horizon.” (Hurston 1)These first parts of the book foreshadow Janie’s own personality and what she is going to do in the near future. This quote is Janie stating that all men have dreams and intentions, just like Janie, but even though they have an advantage over women they do not pursue their own dreams and so their intentions slip away. Janie is different,...
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...supports your present, loves you and encourages your future,”perfectly blends with the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, as it describes the ideal man that the main character is searching for her whole entire life. Janie, the protagonist has several relationships with men to find her “blossoming bee” but, never did she know the true meaning of love. Through the relationships that she had, she comes to discover her true identity. The two relationships that impacted her life immensely are the two characters, Joe Starks and Tea Cake. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie goes through multiple relationships that changes her beliefs, ultimately demonstrating that experiencing trails of love will eventually lead them to self-realization. Janie's relationship with Joe Starks constrains Janie from experiencing the outside life and shapes her into an emotionless person. Joe Starks is a working man who always wanted to have a big voice in the society. He meets Janie when she was working in Logan’s farm and grabs her attention. Soon after their encounter, they get married and move to Eatonville where Joe Starks becomes mayor. After Joe gives a speech, Janie is asked to say something. However, Joe responds, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin’ bout no speech-making. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home” (Hurston 43). Joe didn’t marry Janie...
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...a muddy pond, beautiful and strong.” This quote is especially apparent in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God as Hurston uses symbolism to express Janie’s life experiences. Multiple uses of symbols can be found in this story such as the pear tree to follow in Janie’s journey of self awakening. Many symbols focus on aspects of Janie’s identity including the pear tree which is brought to attention throughout the novel. The pair tree in her...
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...This quote represents the theme and connection of the film, “ Beasts in the Southern Wild, “ with the novel, “ Their Eyes Were Watching God. In both, the protagonist go through tough experiences and have a strong connection with nature. The movie, “ Beasts in the Southern Wild,” released in 2012 directed by Benh Zeitlin is about a young girl named Hushpuppy who lives in a peculiar isolated area which they call the “Bathtub.” Hushpuppy lives with her crazy, sick father which is her only parent figure in the film, and with a community full of brave and wild people. In the film, Hushpuppy and her community face a storm which ends up exposing...
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...contentment is shown in Hurston's imagery of a pear tree, which represents nature's beauty. The pear tree represents Janie's idealized views of nature, as it demonstrates her naive and romantic character which constantly seeks true love, and her idealism of the harmony in a marriage based upon love as she travels a path of self-discovery throughout the novel. She was lying across the bed asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma’s house answered her. (11) In this part of the novel it deliberately describes the pear tree in this fashion to show the relation between a blossoming tree, which is blooming as it grows, to the significant character changes in Janie as she marries different men in an attempt to discover happiness in a loving marriage. As the bees interact with the tree's blossoms, she witnesses perfection in nature's simple beauty, which is captured in her imaginative description. This energy, passionate interaction, and blissful harmony are ideals Janie chases throughout the rest of the novel. As the protagonist...
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