Their Eyes Are Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston Essays

People are constantly searching for their voices. A voice gives someone independence and the ability to make her own decision. The First Amendment ensures that all United States citizens possess the freedom of speech; however, not all people are given the ability or opportunity to exercise that right. When a person has no voice they rely on others to make their decisions. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Are Watching God, Janie constantly struggles to find her voice. Her marriage to Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Tea Cake help her discover and utilize her voice in different ways. During Janie’s first marriage to Logan she has no voice, Joe silences Janie’s tiniest whisper and controls her similar to a slave; in contrast to†¦show more content†¦Her vision of love does not include manual labor instead it includes rest and relaxation. The voice inside Janie’s head tells her to run off with a different man, yet she is still unable to verbal ize her needs and desires. Janie’s voice, however has grown from being silent to a tiny whisper, and with that small boost of courage, Janie overcomes her fears by sharing her thoughts of leaving with Logan. This marriage gave Logan a sense of security, but he fears the â€Å"terrible ache† of loneliness (30). When Janie reveals her plan to â€Å"run off† with another man and leave Logan, she puts fear in his heart and fills him with anger (30). Finally, after Janie chooses to use her voice, a tough decision lies ahead for her to make since Janie never discovers true love and happiness through her marriage with Logan. She comes to the realization that her marriage needs to end before she becomes a grown woman. Janie â€Å"has done lived Grandma’s way† and she desires a life of her own (114). This thought propels Janie to stand up for herself and decide to leave Logan and she uses her voice to confront Logan and notify him that she is leaving. Altho ugh Logan becomes furious and curses and yells at Janie, his outburst only seals his fate and makes Janie more confident in her decision to leave. Janie breaks free of Logan, and with her new found freedom, life is â€Å"bound to do her good† (32). Unlike her initial reaction to Logan, Janie is drawn to andShow MoreRelatedTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston988 Words   |  4 PagesZora Hurston was an African American proto-feminist author who lived during a time when both African Americans and women were not treated equally. Hurston channeled her thirst for women’s dependence from men into her book Their Eyes Were Watching God. One of the many underlying themes in her book is feminism. Zora Hurston, the author of the book, uses Janie to represent aspects of feminism in her book as well as each relationship Janie had to represent her moving closer towards her independenceRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston Essay1688 Words   |   7 PagesAfrican American women to have their own voice and independence has been an ongoing conflict. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie struggles a majority of her life discovering her own voice by challenging many traditional roles that are set by society during this time. Hongzhi Wu, the author of â€Å"Mules and Women: Identify and Rebel—Janie’s Identity Quest in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God,’† recognizes the trend of African American women being suppressed by making a comparison betweenRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston Essay1339 Words   |  6 Pages In â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God† by Zora Neale Hurston, as well as in modern times, there are many struggles surrounding gender, social class, and race. Throughout the entirety of this novel, Hurston describes every aspect of Janie’s life, in an attempt to show how young girls are transformed into women. Hurston did not describe the physical transformation, but instead tackled the much more complicated mental transformation. At the beginning of the novel, the reader is greeted with a seeminglyRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston1459 Words   |  6 Pages 1. In â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God† by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie Crawford experiences many different kinds of love. Throughout her childhood, Janie experienced protective love from her grandmother. When Janie reached the ripe age of 16, her grandmother wanted her to get married. Because of this, she ended up marrying her first husband, Logan Killicks. Just like she did when she was with her grandmother, Janie was the receiver of protective love from her husband. The next typeRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching god, by Zora Neale Hurston1054 Words   |  5 Pageswalk. Compare an idea to an image. Exaggerate a concept. Each person has a different poetic style, and each poetic style uses different poetic techniques: personification, simile, hyperbole, imagery, or irony. Zora Neale Hurston reveals her unique poetic style through Their Eyes Were Watching God, the story of Janie Crawford and her journey to finding unconditional, true love. 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Even though these three pieces are each diverse genres, they areRead MoreThe Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston1595 Words   |  7 PagesJanie the Feminist The novel â€Å"The Eyes Were Watching God† by Zora Neale Hurston takes place in the Harlem Renaissance period where African American culture exploded in the United States. Slavery has been abolished which gives more rights to black men, leaving women to fill the position as a modern slave. This was a period of such suppression of woman that they were treated as if they were brainless property, much like slaves. Janie refuses to succumb to society s standards of how woman shouldRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston1078 Words   |  5 PagesIn the novel, Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston there are many hidden symbols. The most important and strongest is the horizon, a glorious symbol portraying Janie’s dream, a lifelong search for true love and happiness. The horizon is created through Janie’s tough experiences seeking to find the future. Hurston suggests, She searched as much of the world she could and leaned over to gaze up and down the road. Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world