Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Examples - Free Research Papers on PapersOwl.com

Significance of Death in “Their Eyes were Watching God”

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Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a beautiful novel about Janie Crawford’s search for love and identity. Her search for love and the realization of her identity is propelled by the death throughout her life. Janie’s entire growth is attributed to the death of her idols, ideals, and individuals. The presence of death should not be viewed as a curse, rather, it should be treated as necessary suffering that compels Janie to grow. The very first death […]

A Theme of Independence in “Their Eyes were Watching God”

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Zora Neale Hurston in 1937 published a novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, about a young woman’s quest to self-fulfillment, and independence. The protagonist, Janie Crawford, has been taught from a young age that she needs marriage to be whole and to live a good life. However as she experiences three different kinds of marriages, she not only realizes that marriage doesn’t guarantee love, but she learns the true meaning of self-fulfillment. “Their Eyes Were Watching God” portrays the overall […]

The Meaningful Pear Tree

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“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in the branches.” (Hurston, 8). In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford, the main character throughout the novel tells Pheoby, her friend, her story from beginning to end. A woman who learned and grew from her three harsh and somewhat lovable marriages. Janie didn’t have much freedom of her own, she was connected with nature […]

Symbolism in their Eyes were Watching God

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“Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, is a tale about a woman who finds her true self all while living amongst men in her life. This book while very educational in the ways of racism and feminism, it is also rich with symbolism. Three of the main symbols in the novel are Janie’s hair, the pear tree and the horizon, and the hurricane. Janie’s hair symbolizes her power and her unconventional identity. The pear tree and […]

Janie Form their Eyes were Watching God

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“Janie is the main character in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Largely because of her relationships with the three key men in her life, Janie is often beaten down and physically abused. However, these moments is where her strong personality get to shine. She is mistreated by Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake, but she comes out from each situation more prepared for the next with more self awareness. The times that she should be scared and frightened the most is […]

Janie in “Their Eyes were Watching God”

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After Janie’s three marriages, she found herself; who she wants to be and what she wants to become. Jamie’s husbands were controlling until the last one who was more outgoing. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God can be viewed using the feminist critical lens and the overarching themes of the act of speaking, seeking horizons, and confidence to deviate from traditional gender roles. Janie was being controlled by her husbands. her ability to speak represents her freedom […]

About Zora Neale Hurston

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Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1891 in the month of January between the days of the 7th and the 15th in Notasulga, Alabama to John and Lucy Hurston. Zora’s parents didn’t have much money, her mom was a teacher and her dad was a preacher. Zora moved to Eatonville, Florida with her family when she was two. After her mother’s death Zora lived with different family members and family friends trying to support herself until she joined a traveling […]

Their Eyes were Watching God Voice Essay

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“In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses voice throughout the story to shape characters and their relationships. The main character, Janie, is often silenced, beaten down and disregarded. She struggles to find her voice, mostly because of her relationships with Logan Killicks and Joe Starks. Even though Janie’s relationships cause her to lose her voice, she emerges from each marriage as a stronger, more independent woman. Janie’s voice was found when she overcame her husbands’ attempts to […]

“Their Eyes were Watching God”: Feminism and the Embracement of Self Love

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“Feminism is a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation and oppression.”- Bell Hook. This definition is the embodiment of the feminist revolution, which is very prominent in the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. In the novel the main character, Janie, is essentially on a journey to find her true self. Janie is an attractive, confident, middle-aged black woman, who returns to Eatonville after leaving for a long time. She experiences her first loss of innocence […]

Complexity of Marriage & Gender Roles in their Eyes were Watching God

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Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the story of Janie Crawford, with Janie ultimately serving as her own narrators. Her story begins with a flashback to her life as a young girl and traces her path through three different marriages. Throughout the various pages, the book is perhaps most salient in Janie’s reflections on marriage in terms of how it deviates from her own expectations. The resultant tale serves as somewhat of a path through which […]

In their Eyes were Watching God

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In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses the life and trials of Janie, the protagonist, to illustrate the resilience and ability of African American women to transform much of what others use to oppress and destroy them, such as gender, education, race, and poverty, into a source of strength and empowerment. Initially, Janie is a young woman forced to adapt to the impulses and demands of those surrounding her, but she later transforms into a confident woman […]

Janie being a Protagonist of Zora Neale Hurston’s Novel

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“Janie being a protagonist of Zora Neale Hurston’s novel titled “”Their Eyes Were Watching God”, is severally characterized as the feminist character in the Novel (King, 2009). Even though Janie is strong in aspect of feminist, she is influenced by the aspects of nature namely; the Pear tree, the horizon, and hurricane. The aspects of nature influence Janie life positively and negatively on three areas including physical influence, emotional influence, and metaphorical influence. The hurricane in this essay signifies all […]

Their Eyes were Watching God: Sexism in Florida Communities

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Set in the twentieth century, Their Eyes Were Watching God addresses the role sexism had in Florida communities. The main character, Janie, faces an immense amount of sexism by her peers and is able to rise against at the end of the book. Though she was able to gain her independence, many other women were not able to do so because sexism was the social norm. Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses the role of sexism […]

Position of Women

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“In Their Eyes Were Watching God, women are confined as objects of desire to men. In the novel Janie’s first husband named Logan, believes that having a wife is to make his life easier, so he would not be constantly working. Logan insists that Janie helps him with his stuff when he says, “You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh. Git uh move on yuh, and dat quick” (Hurston 30). It is obvious that Janie is […]

“Their Eyes were Watching God” Research Paper

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In Zora Neale Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God there are a lot of hidden messages that one can take from the book. For instance, the book shows self-worth, significance of personal enjoyment of life, male dominance and, love. Hurston uses a lot of symbolic messages throughout the book that is overlooked. However, a lot of things that go on in the book happens in everyday life and may be common in someone else’s relationship. The book just shows […]

Addressing Race, Class, and Gender in their Eyes were Watching God

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I suggest that it is clear to identify the stereotype within the fictional novel Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neal Hurston. This coming-of-age story illustrates how African American women were being discriminated against the society from the White people who have the authority of control. The misrepresentation of stereotype leads to the loss of self-identity that occurs to the protagonist Janie Mae Crawford throughout the story in which her marital partners and the people from the town […]

Their Eyes were Watching God Essay about Power

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In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie inhibits several communities, which each plays an significant role in the story, which serves as essential influences on Janie’s life. At the different stages in her life, Janie lives with her Nanny, in Eatonville, and in the muck. The communities that Janie inhibits in Hurston’s writing contributes to Janie as a character and builds the story by playing the part of the protagonist. Up until Janie reaches […]

The Injustice of Women in the U.S.

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On August 18, 1920, the U.S. Constitution provided women their right to vote after almost a century of conflicts and strife. Women’s suffrage has been an essential staple in the history of our country. Dating back to the protests women held to finally getting their justice they deserved. Although women have their right to vote, there is still injustice of women in the workplace and in the world today. In the breakthrough novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, created by […]

Women Face Challenges and Difficulties in their Lives

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How they face them determines the outcome and whether they overcome them. There are two books that give us an example of the challenges women face with gender issues and inequality. Their Eyes Were Watching God was written by Zora Neale Hurston in 1937 and The Color Purple was written by Alice Walker in 1982. In Their Eyes Were Watching God there’s a strong independent woman that spends most of her life in loveless relationships for security. She is raised […]

Silence in their Eyes were Watching God

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“In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God the role of silence is heavily seen contrasting with the role of voice. Voice and silence are both complex ideas that have been seen absent and present throughout the novel depending on the situation. The main character of the novel, Janie, is seen as a strong independent black woman that has been hurt from silence of past relationships.The author of the novel gives the reader inside knowledge of the character’s thoughts. This […]

“Their Eyes were Watching God” by Zora Hurston – the American Dream

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The American Dream Throughout life, people have something they want to achieve. Whether it be big or small, they want to achieve it. When a society values the same thing or concept, it becomes that society’s goal or “Dream”. A society’s dream can be achieved in many ways. It may be good or bad, but as the society changes the dream changes with it. The impact of other countries, technology, business, beliefs and the people can radically change the dream. […]

Nature’s Role in their Eyes were Watching God

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Historically, 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. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston subtly uses nature as an element in her work. She creates a mental image in readers heads of a growing pear tree, a disastrous hurricane and a lush everglade. In a few articles […]

Their Eyes were Watching God Analysis

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In today’s society, head shawls are commonly worn for religious purposes or used as accessories. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, it was used to hide someone’s beauty and identity. Throughout the book, Janie’s hair changes from being let down to tied up due to the forceful request upon her husband at the time, Jody. As Zora Neale Hurston writes in Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s hair symbolizes her independence throughout the different times during her lifetime and the […]

“Their Eyes were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston Essay

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Novelist, Zora Neale Hurston, in her 1937 famous classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows the story of Janie’s struggle to search for her voice in a time when black women had little say. Hurston’s purpose, through Janie Crawford’s character and using rhetorical devices of imagery, symbolism, and colloquialism throughout the novel, is strongly to convey to her readers finding their will and their own voice in a human relationship and in society. With the art of persuasive writing […]

“Their Eyes were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston

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In, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” the antagonists are not truly evil people, rather they are misinformed. I find the “antagonists” to be damaged people, with humanly issues, imperfections, and occasionally have twisted morals, rather than being inherently bad people. Every one of Janie’s husbands share the common interest in wanting what they believe the best is for Janie. However their idea of “best” is not what Janie truly desires. I believe their intentions to be good most of the […]

Love is a Powerful Connection

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“Love is a powerful connection one has with a significant other based on trust, respect, and communication. Many see love as an aspiration to hopefully seek in life, but it is not so easy to attain. Especially hopeless romantic individuals who sadly can be manipulated and taken advantage of, in the name of love. In the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, the author portrays an individual’s struggle with love through the main character, Janie and […]

Women in Novel of Zora Neale Hurston

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“In society, women are taught from childhood to dream of marriage and to make being married one of their major goals in life. They are encouraged to strive for a man who is financially stable and can take care of them. In Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston, readers see Janie, the protagonist, navigate through three marriages as she strives towards her desire for marriage which society had embedded in her. Janie’s first marriage was arranged […]

The American Dream, Fact or Fiction?

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The American dream is an idea held by an abundance of people in the United States of America that with hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity. These were morals held by plentiful early European settlers and have been passed on to many generations. What the American dream has become is a question often under discussion. In the 20th century, the American dream had its obstacles. The Depression caused a lot of difficulties during the late Twenties and […]

Analysis of Janie’s Marriages in their Eyes are Watching God

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Gender roles are very common in today’s society. Women and Men are required to do a certain job and perform a certain way. Gender roles can play a huge part in helping establish one’s identity. Gender roles in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes are Watching God,” plays a huge role in Janie Mae Crawford marriages. Janie uses her marriages to try to find her sense of self, love, and independence. In the novel, Janie is the main character, and […]

Their Eyes were Watching God Literary Analysis

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In Zora Neale Hurston’s contemporary novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she displays the fight between freedom and societal pressures. The author illustrates the struggles black women face growing up in the mid-thirties when discrimination and unequal rights existed. Throughout the novel, Hurston displays to women the importance of gaining self -realization and independence. Hurston shows women’s struggle to gain what they deem important in a controlling marriage. In the novel, Janie notices a stranger, Joe Starks, because he “spoke […]

Their Eyes Were Watching God Essays