Nature in their Eyes were Watching God

The profound role of nature in Their Eyes Were Watching God reveals itself through symbols that mirror the female experience, women have always been associated with nature. Whether it be the uncontrollable side which contains natural disasters or the nurturing side which is commonly birth-giving and growth of plants; nature has always connected to women. The environmental elements in Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, subtly weave through the narrative, creating vivid imagery of the living world around us - from a growing pear tree to a disastrous hurricane and a lush everglade.

The natural landscape serves not just as setting, but as a profound metaphor for female experience, growth, and transformation.

The physical world experiences domination and torment at the hands of humans, mirroring how women have faced similar struggles throughout history. Both are exploited yet claim to be valued; both continue to persevere and grow. Ecofeminist Susan Dobscha writes, "The domination of women (as studied in traditional feminism) parallels the domination of the environment and that this mutual domination has led to environmental destruction by the controlling patriarchal society" (Dobscha). In Hurston's narrative, Janie Mae Crawford embodies this parallel; she discovers herself, her body and ultimately reaches self-discovery. The Pear tree, the everglades and the hurricane serve as powerful symbols of her inevitable transformation, marking each stage of her journey toward self-actualization.

The Pear Tree

Under a blossoming pear tree in Florida, a young Janie Mae Crawford dreams of a world that will answer all her questions. Like the first stirrings of spring, this begins Janie's journey toward herself and toward the farthest horizon open to her. At the age of sixteen, Janie finds herself enthralled with a beautiful blooming pear tree and naive of the world around her. The tree becomes her first teacher, showing readers her youthful innocence. This living symbol is also on its pathway of growth, "from barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to the snowy virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously" (Hurston 10).

The surrounding ecosystem - the tree, birds, and bees that captivate Janie - serves as a metaphor for her own blooming into womanhood and sexual maturity. Hurston makes no mistake in her language. She intertwines the rhythms of the natural world with details of a blossoming tree, creating a powerful metaphor for Janie's developing body. This pivotal moment coincides with her first kiss and her grandmother's realization that Janie is now a woman in need of a man who could support her (Hurston 10-14).

The pear tree in Their Eyes Were Watching God serves as a profound symbol of Janie's journey toward self-discovery and female autonomy. Its imagery of fertile springtime and blooming life deeply moves Janie, awakening her fantasies of love and passion while marking the beginning of her sexual awareness. This is encapsulated in her declaration: “Oh to be a pear tree – any tree in bloom!” (14), where she expresses her desire to embody the harmony and vitality she observes in nature.

Zora Neale Hurston's intricate portrayal of the relationship between nature and feminine identity reaches a powerful crescendo in the pear tree scenes. Here, the tree becomes more than a mere natural object; it transforms into a teacher of life's intimate lessons. For Janie, the pear tree represents an idealized vision of a relationship built on mutual passion and equality, free from domination—a modern conception of female sexual autonomy. Like the rhythms of nature that guide the seasons, Janie's understanding of love and life deepens and matures over time. Initially, her longing for a union resembling the harmony of the pear tree leads her to equate its natural beauty with the institution of marriage. This reflects her early, immature consciousness and her quest for happiness through romantic relationships.

As Janie matures, her perspective evolves. She begins to see the pear tree not as a static symbol of marriage but as a dynamic representation of life's complexities. Reflecting on her experiences, the older Janie observes, “Her life was like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches” (10). This shift highlights her deeper understanding of life’s dualities and the balance of opposites. As Kubitschek notes, Janie moves from a simplistic interpretation of the tree to a more sophisticated vision that harmonizes her daily life with the ideals derived from her pear tree epiphany.

Ultimately, the pear tree symbolizes Janie's journey—her sexual awakening, her evolving consciousness, and her pursuit of a tranquil yet dynamic harmony inspired by the natural world.

The Everglades

The lush wilderness of the Everglades takes center stage when Janie's third husband Tea Cake leads her to this fertile paradise, where the "ground so rich that everything went wild" (Hurston 129). Like the natural cycles of abundance and loss, their initial prosperity - both financial and emotional - eventually gives way to devastating destruction by a massive hurricane.

The shifting landscape of the Everglades mirrors the natural order of the world and the transformations that both the environment and women experience. This verdant setting becomes a metaphor for all three of Janie's marriages - each beginning like fertile soil full of promise, only to face eventual upheaval. Just as the ecosystem transforms through seasons, these relationships evolve from ripe and blossoming romances to tragic endings marked by lost love or death.

The raw vitality of the Everglades shapes Janie's journey as she learns profound truths about herself through each challenge. She has "done been tuh de horizon and back," experiencing life's full spectrum - its joys and sorrows - before finding peace within herself. Through this immersion in Florida's wildest landscape, Hurston crafts a powerful tribute to a black woman who, despite society's constraints, refused to be silenced.

The Hurricane

Like an untamed force awakening, the destructive and powerful hurricane that strikes towards the end of the book embodies the primal elements at their most fierce, showing how quickly both Janie's life and the physical world can transform. Hurston uses this overwhelming display of natural force to strip the characters of their illusory power over material possessions.

In the face of the storm's might, people find themselves on equal footing with fleeing animals. Houses in the quarters and big houses alike are flooded and blown away, proving that environmental forces do not discriminate. As such, this atmospheric upheaval functions as a destroyer of human power, erasing artificial distinctions and hierarchies. The tempest symbolizes humanity's humbling recognition of its own insignificance, revealing the ultimate irrelevance of race, gender and social class.

The climactic storm represents the height of Hurston's natural symbolism, contrasting sharply with the nurturing pear tree. Whereas the tree embodied beauty, pleasure and harmony, the tempest demonstrates the chaotic and capricious nature of existence. "The living world contains both the pear tree and the hurricane; communities have both celebrations and brawls; individuals have both compassion and more violent feelings" (Kubitschek, 110).

In this final trial, Janie comes to understand the chaotic essence of the universe and the futility of struggling against it, ultimately achieving the harmony with the natural world that was her fundamental ambition. She expresses this hard-won wisdom: "If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people that never seen de light at all" (159). Through this profound insight, Hurston illuminates the universal nature of life's experiences and the absence of any predetermined path. The only achievable goal is discovering one's authentic self.

Coming Full Circle

Throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, natural symbolism charts Janie's transformation, as Hurston masterfully demonstrates the parallel journeys of environmental cycles and female experience. From the young girl beneath the pear tree to the woman who survives nature's fierce testament in the hurricane, Janie's story mirrors the persistence of the living world - the pear tree continues to bloom, and storms eventually pass into calm.

Like the deepening rings of a tree, each stage of Janie's development adds layers to her character. Her story demonstrates how life's hardships, like environmental forces, can shape and strengthen rather than destroy. The landscape of her experience culminates in one powerful passage, where Janie "pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see"(183).

In its final moments, Hurston's masterpiece reveals how the rhythms of the natural world - from gentle growth to violent storms - parallel the journey toward self-discovery. Just as the environment endures through cycles of destruction and renewal, Janie emerges from her struggles with a soul made resilient. Her story becomes as timeless as the natural world itself, proving that true growth, like the changing of seasons, requires both sunshine and storms.

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