The title of Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, can come off as confusing to some readers, or it may trigger a certain thought process on trying to figure out what the title means. The title, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was only mention verbatim once throughout the entire novel. The title derives from a quote in the novel, “They seems to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God” (Hurston 187). The title, as well as the quote holds a significant meaning to the
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For some readers, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God falls short of challenging the outdated societal views of the 1930s in any meaningful way. However, for many other people, it has clear value as a piece of literature that explores sexism and racism through symbolism and the characters’ actions. Hurston utilizes language in her novel as a symbol of the power, or lack of power, that certain groups of people held in society during the 1930s. In some sections of the book, this
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Their Eyes Were Watching God Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a coming-of-age novel that shows the transformation of main character, Janie Crawford, from an immature teenage girl to a fully grown woman. In the story, Janie tells her friend Pheoby about her numerous and tiresome adventures that lead her to feeling fulfilled with her life. Over the course of her life Janie marries three men and they all have a profound effect on her. Janie's values and personality are shaped
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Vocabulary: “Behind her crude words was a belief that somehow she and others through worship could attain her paradise-a heaven of straight haired, thin-lipped, high-nose boned white seraphs” Seraphs-an angel of the first order “Five or six men left the porch to surround the fractious beast” (Pg 56) Fractious- difficult to control “According to all Jane had been taught, this was sacrilege so she sat without speaking at all” Sacrilege- blasphemous behaviour “The wind through the open windows had broomed
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The novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is extremely rich in dialect. Dialect is regional, and it consist of distinctive features of vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Hurston uses dialect to bring the story as well as the characters to life. The use of dialect makes the characters seem real; they are believable. As a reader to become familiar with the language, readers feel as if they were actually a part of the action. Early in the novel, Hurston tells her readers what to expect in the language
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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
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In my art piece for “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, I illustrated a close up of pear blossoms on a branch with a background of geometric swirling clouds. The pear blossom branch represents the idealized expectations of a fulfilled life many of the characters hold in the book. Janie Mae Crawford, starts out as a black girl in 1930’s Florida forced to marry Logan Killicks by her grandmother. Janie’s grandmother suffered the hardships and brutality of slavery, and she finds a fulfilled
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Death appears to be a major turning point In the Novel Their Eyes were Watching God death turns out to have a significant impact on a specific character; the protagonist rather, and from there on the character could experience significant changes in life. This is absolutely true because the protagonist leaves her first husband for a second husband Joe Starks and believes that he is the answer to the pear tree hoping that it will be someone that the Protagonist can love. She has three husbands in
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In the African- American community today, there is a lack of representation, along with voices that go unheard and unspoken. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, delves into the significance of silence, and the ways that the protagonist, Janie Crawford, has had her voice silenced. This resonates with many people of the Black community, who feel as though even with the progression we’ve made as a society, that their lives and struggles matter less than a white person’s. With movements
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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
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