Their Eyes were Watching God Themes

“Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston displayed a lot of themes throughout the book. The main theme was jealousy. Jealousy is an unhappy or angry feeling of wanting what someone else has; caused by the belief that someone you love, likes or is liked by someone else. Jealousy can cause someone to spitefully hurt others feelings in order to make others feel less of themselves while boosting their own ego. In the book Hurston portrays aspects of jealousy through different point of view from society, joe starks, and tea cake.

Tea Cake is Janie’s unparalleled genuine romance all through the novel. Twelve years more youthful than Janie and of much lower societal position, Tea Cake seems at first as a dangerous contender for marriage. In any case, he treats Janie with undeniably more regard and love than both of her different spouses, however all isn’t impeccable in their marriage as Tea Cake now and again lies and once beats Janie. Upon their gathering, Tea Cake connects with Janie in exuberant discussion and requests that her play checkers, regarding her as an equivalent player. Tea Cake fulfills Janie’s craving for sexual satisfaction and self-articulation, enabling her to touch base at the skyline at the novel’s end.
Joe Starks is Janie’s attractive, well off, yearning, and eager for power second-spouse. Meeting Joe Starks prompts Janie to abandon her first spouse, Logan Killicks, who she felt regarded her as simply a creature. After gathering Joe, Janie feels that she gets a look at the skyline. In spite of the fact that Joe at first compliments Janie by concentrating on and complimenting her magnificence, he also winds up dispiriting her, regarding her as an item whereupon to practice his craving for control and power instead of as an accomplice of equivalent remaining in the relationship.

Everything starts with porch sitters. The long “”begrudge”” that these gossipers on the development have for Janie rapidly translates into consuming proclamations and murdering devices all made up of words. Their desire makes them forceful and pernicious. Hurston portrays the gossipers’ savage words as “walking without masters” that influences it to give the idea that everyone is tossing out reactions, anyway would ne’er guarantee them or assume liability for what they are stating. The gossipers’ remarks make it plain that they begrudge Janie’s excellence that license her to improve in overalls and let her hair free and still look alluring. Rather than making Janie look perilous, their jealousy influences them to show up as though a pack of unreliable women. Mayrella, similar to the porch gossipers, segregates and attempts to embarrass Janie on the grounds that she is envious of Janie’s great looks and garments. Appears as though young ladies have constantly hated Janie for being pretty. “”Dere wuz uh knotty head gal name Mayrella dat useter git mad every time she look at me.

Mis’ Washburn useter dress me up in all de clothes her gran’chillun didn’t need no mo’ which still wuz better’n whut de rest uh de colored chillun had. And then she useter put hair ribbon on mah head fuh me tuh wear. Dat useter rile Mayrella uh lot. So she would pick at me all de time and put some others up tuh do de same. They’d push me ‘way from de ring plays and make out they couldn’t play wid nobody dat lived on premises. Den they’d tell me not to be takin’ on over mah looks ‘cause they mama told ‘em ‘bout de hound dawgs huntin’ mah papa all night long.”” (chapter 2 page 9). Keep it in mind that Mayrella went to school with Janie and Mayrella did not like Janie because she lived with white people and also because she had nice clothes. She was very jealous of Janie. Mayrella represents jealousy between the same race. She also represents how kids in those days who were hued and treated inadequately would begrudge another offspring of shading who are dealt with superior to anything they are by the whites. There was jealousy in the event that you were blended in view of in the event that you had long hair or light skin and stunning eyes. There was preferences expedited by the whites, yet by individuals of a similar race too.

As Janie clarifies, her marriage to the civic chairman of the town makes her a piece of that specialist according to the town, so the townspeople hold her at a separation. The general population of Eatonville hold Janie to a twofold standard; they place her in a place of predominance yet they likewise claim all authority to be sharply desirous of her. The equivalent goes for Joe. Such is the open mindset. “Janie soon began to feel the impact of awe and envy against her sensibilities. The wife of the Mayor was not just another woman as she had supposed. She slept with authority and so she was part of it in the town mind. She couldn’t get but so close to most of them in spirit. It was especially noticeable after Joe had forced through a town ditch to drain the street in front of the store. They had murmured hotly about slavery being over, but every man filled his assignment.” (chapter 5 page 46)”

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