Log In. Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. [45] Scholars of the African diaspora note the cultural practices common to the Caribbean, Africa, and the United States in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston said that she … Domestic abuse was not entirely disapproved by the African-American community, and men thought it was acceptable to control their women this way. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, many different symbols are used to express Janie’s longing for love and acceptance. He is charismatic, charming and has big plans for his future. Their Eyes Were Watching God In Zora Neale Hurston's contemporary novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she displays the fight between freedom and societal pressures. Others though, like the mule, hurricane, and the bee are often overlooked. He backs this claim by noting the short amount of time Hurston spent writing as well as statements made by Hurston in her autobiography. "[citation needed], Then, in Janie's second relationship, she left Logan Killicks in an attempt to pursue a better future with her new husband, Joe Starks. For instance, consider how Janie “knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up.” Throughout the challenges that Janie endures and the events she witnesses (like the hurricane), she realizes how powerful and important that God is. This novel is certainly not universal in its significance as it does not address any issues of men. What does Janie learn from her three marriages in "Their Eyes Were Watching God"? She wrote in her autobiography that she had "tried to embalm all the tenderness of [her] passion for him. She praised Their Eyes Were Watching God as filled with "a flashing, gleaming riot of black people, with a limitless sense of humor, and a wild, strange sadness". From Their Eyes Were Watching God, choose a character who is unusual or mysterious. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 novel by African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston. He restricts her from being friendly with the other townswomen, requiring her to behave in a separate and superior manner. It is considered a classic of the Harlem Renaissance,[1] and it is likely Hurston's best known work. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston’s utilization of animals enables her to symbolize African American men and women to convey their different perspectives of each gender’s prestige in society by presenting women’s bondage and degradation, and men’s cruelty in society at that time. [19][20] He excludes her from various events and the social gatherings in Eatonville to further his dominance and control over her. These stereotypes "become a chain on the American women, preventing them from developing individuality, and from pursuing their personal happiness"[12] and ultimately what forces them to mold into their gender role. Janie was older than Tea Cake by nearly twelve years. It is interesting that two Christians question all that they know about God’s universal love and protection … "A Woman on a Quest, via Hurston and Oprah.". During their twenty-year marriage, he treats her as his property, criticizing her, controlling her, and physically abusing her. Janie Works In The Field With Tea Cake Tea Cake started cutting The mule acts as a metaphor for the exploitation and mistreatment of the black community by the white superiority race. Like Jody, Punter was sexually dominant and sometimes violent. [citation needed], During the course of their brief marriage, Logan attempts to subjugate Janie with his words and attempts to make her work beyond the gender roles in a typical marriage. 22. She didn't feel any love or affection either. In that work, she described how the Black community's general rejection of Hurston was like "throwing away a genius". Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel about a woman and the trials and tribulations that she goes through while trying to find the true meaning of love and loss. Nanny, having transferred her hopes for stability and opportunity from Leafy to Janie, arranges for Janie to marry Logan Killicks, an older farmer looking for a wife. God plays a part in the plot as indicated by the title "Their Eyes Were Watching God". Get Your Custom Essay on . Turner disapproves of her marriage to Tea Cake, as he is darker skinned and more "African" looking. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston shows the issue of gender roles through the story of a young woman named Janie, who struggles through an arranged marriage. This is done with two contrasting writing styles, one in standard English prose when the narration is done in third person, and the other making use of black Southern vernacular in dialogue. Select from premium "Their Eyes Were Watching God" of the highest quality. So you could argue that Janie is not to be praised or pitied.