...Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis Their eyes were watching God is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston introducing Janie, a female character who encounters different situations when she becomes married. In each marriage she lives different lives, unfortunately she was never content with neither. Janie as a young woman fails to what marriage is. Logan Killicks was a man chosen for Janie by her grandmother . Nanny saw him as “security” and a hard working farmer with 60 acres of land.Their house was “ a lonesome place like a stump in the middle of the woods” (Ch.3p.22).Janie didn't love Killicks , she believed “ husband and wives[must love] each other” and she doesn't love him(Ch.3 pg.21). They do not get along and Janie...
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...In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Janie Mae Crawford married three men, Logan Killicks, Joe “Jody” Starks, and Vergibal Woods or Tea cake. Janie is initially attracted to each man but she becomes detached to each except one. As each of the marriages progress Janie goes through many fights and bumps in the road and from each challenge she faces, she learns about herself and want she wants from life. Janie’s first marriage is with Logan Killicks. Janie’s is caught kissing a boy named Johnny Taylor under a pear tree during the springtime. Nanny spots them and says that Janie is now a full grown woman even though Janie denies it. Nanny then says that Janie should be married right away, even though Janie does not want to marry. Nanny arranges...
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...As a hero herself, Janie goes on journey of hardships where she persists through them with her endurance. But with endurance comes with her determination and her want to go forward with her life. Not only does she stand against those that hurt her but Janie wants to keep going. Wanting to move forward, Janie exhibits the heroic quality of determination in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Meeting Jody, Janie finds that he could be the new start in her life and is determined to begin a new. But with the journey she realizes that along with Logan, Jody fails her too shown s she looks over her life “She had been getting read for her great journey to the horizons in search of people . . . But she had been whipped like a cur dog and run off down a back...
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...know nothin’ ‘bout no speech makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is the home” (43). Joe assuming that Janie can’t speak publicly is the ultimate example of Janie being silenced. How could Joe know that she couldn’t speak if he never gave her a chance? When Logan says that Janie place in in the home, implying that she is mainy in the marriage to do household chores. Joe and Logan share the negative similarity of silencing Janie’s voice and not even giving her a chance to speak. Lastly, Janie marries Tea Cake, who treats her with respect and love. Janie has a place in this relationship and they actually love each other: “It’s so many people never seen de light at all. Ah wuz fumblin’ round and god opened the door.” (159). With Janie’s two prior relationships, she didn’t feel as if she had a consistent spot. It was dark. She was just another body for Logan and Joe. Now, times have changed. Tea Cake opened the door for Janie and suddenly the sunlight shined in. The placement of this quote is during the hurricane and they are at serious risk of dying. Even though the circumstances are tough, Janie wouldn’t rather be with anybody else. Tea Cake gives Janie more of a voice in their relationship than both Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Whereas Logan and Joe would shut Janie right down when she attempted to make a point, Tea Cake lets her express her thoughts. Janie’s feelings matter to Tea Cake and he would risk his life for her. He exemplifies...
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...Agency is the freedom or capacity to live in a defined world. As a reader we see a specific character and their ability to act freely or not be able to act so free. In all the novels and plays the class has read this year, every character we have been introduced to has had a diffrent types of agency. The two extremes being Janie from the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God and Jack Worthing from the Importance of Being Earnest. Agency is a big thing that defines both characters even though they are two characters who are opposite of each other. Janie has a lack of agency throughout most of Their Eyes Were Watching God and regains it later in life. Jack from The Importance of Being Earnest might just have the most agency in the world. Due to...
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...Connecting Hurston life to the novel While Their Eyes Were Watching God is a work of fiction, it has been considered autobiographical as well. Hurston reveals her personality through the interaction of the author’s, protagonist’s, narrator’s voices and through the narrative events. Hurston’s father has been lodged in many characteristics of Jody Stark. Like Jody, her father moved to a solely black town called Eatonville as in the novel. Her father John Hurston was also noted for “being very ambitious, hard-headed and having a prominent position of carpenter as well being a Baptist preacher and attaining a position of power within the South Florida Baptist Association”. (Robert 5) Like Jody, he sought out to be a leader within the fledgling community of Eatonville Janie similarly shares many characteristics with Hurston. One of...
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...Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. The character Logan Killicks was old and not a good looking man. Logan had a 60 acres and a good house, and that was the choose that janie’s Nanny made for Janie. Janie’s Nanny want her to be safe and secure financially and Logan Killicks was the man. Killicks only pampered Janie for a short while, then he wanted her to work outside with him and work farm with him. But Janie wanted told him that she works in the kitchen and her works outside. Later on she didn't want to be Logan Killicks wife and ran of with Joe Starks. Joe Starks was not looking for romance when he married Janie. He saw Janie as the perfect Major's wife material. After Janie marries Joe, he keeps her away from the other townspeople to make that people envy him for having such a young and beautiful wife. Even after that he doesn't give her love or romance to Janie because “ he is not that kind of men”. Janie fails to understand the reality of marriage because she is so enamored by her idealistic view of love....
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...In Their Eyes Were Watching God by 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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...while he’s out in the wild. This shows the deep issues with intimacy he possesses. This issue ends up proving fatal during his two year quest. Since, he doesn't make relationships with the people he has met along the way, he ends up being completely alone. Without those relations when he runs out of food and shelter he has no one to come and help him. Along, with hurting the people he had recently met, he also risks the family bonds when he leaves. This relates to our world today as well because some people feel so disconnected with the world, that they feel if they vanished no one would be bothered. But in reality everyone who knows that individual is affected on some level. Same with Chris, his parents, friends and other people in his life were devastated when they heard the...
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...By chapter 6 in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Janie has already been in two marriages; With one of them currently ended from Janie running off. Joe Starks, Janie’s, current husband, criticizes Janie in many ways throughout the chapter. Examples of how he treats her are how he excludes her from wearing her hair down by forcing her to wear a head rag and forbidding her from attending the mule’s funeral. However, the way Janie reacts to all of these things Joe does to her reveals a great deal of information about her character at the time in the book. Joe has been jealous of the other men in town messing with Janie’s hair when she let it down, so he made her wear a head rag in order to prevent the other men from messing with it. This occurs after Walter was caught “brushing the back of his hand back and forth on the loose end of her braid” (Ch 6, P55), which of course infuriates Joe and Janie obeys to his command without resistance. What this reveals about her character thus far into the book is how submissive she is. She simply lets another person take control of her like...
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...Progressively since the 1930s, more women have been showing characteristics of being independent and strong. Now, in the 21st century, there are lots of women who stand up for their beliefs and are not afraid of having their voice heard by society. Other people’s thoughts and opinions do not scare them. In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie Mae Crawford, experiences herself go through different phases of being inferior to being bold and resolute in disparate situations over the span of her three marriages. Logan Killicks is Janie’s first husband. They did not marry because they were in love but because of Janie’s grandmother, Nanny. Nanny realizes that she “ ‘ain’t gittin’ ole’ ”(Hurston 15), but that she is “ ‘done ole’ ”(Hurston 15) with not a lot of time left on her hands. She conveys her thoughts by telling Janie that “ ‘One mornin’ soon, now, de angel wid de sword is gointuh stop by’ ”(Hurston 15), and she will no longer be by her side to take care of her. Nanny’s main worry was leaving Janie behind, all alone. Therefore, she decides to marry her off to a financially secure and wealthy farmer. Logan pampers Janie and treats her very...
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...As once said, “A relationship is someone who accepts your past, 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...
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...Born in Alabama in 1891, the prestigious Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the greatest writers of twentieth- century African American literature. As a leader in the Harlem Renaissance Hurston was credited for protecting the rights of African Americans through her folk writing style. However, one of the books I read by her quickly changed my perspective of her and I soon realized that she was not only a proud supporter of African American rights, but women`s rights as well. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses character Janie Crawford to speak out against the unjust treatment of women in their marriages. Zora Neale Hurston is an inspiring figure to me because she taught me the importance of self-reliance and how to...
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...When generating symbols for a novel that is completely filled with them, it is extremely difficult to choose two that are the most influential in the novel. Some different symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God include the horizon, the pear tree, the gate, Janie’s hair, the mule, and the hurricane. In this analysis, I will be choosing the horizon and the hurricane that are the two most important symbols in the novel. Both of these symbols represent something that is more than the book itself and have a great connection with the reader’s thoughts. The horizon represents the possibility of what Janie’s life could be like in the future. The hurricane represents the power of nature and what it can cause in the character’s life. Overall, the hurricane and the horizon are two of the best symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God over all of the other symbols. To begin with, the horizon is one of the first symbols that the readers are introduced to in the novel. Zora Neale Hurston...
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...Their Eyes Were Watching God tells a story about a young woman going through life and finding her voice, the movie made by Oprah Winfrey flips the story and its characters making the main character and everyone in the story 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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