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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

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Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay
Crabtree, Claire. "The Confluence of Folklore, Feminism and Black Self-Determination in Zora Neale Hurston's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'." The Southern Literary Journal 17.2 (Spring 1985): 54-66. Rpt. in Contemporary Literary Criticism. Ed. Roger Matuz and Cathy Falk. Vol. 61.
Author Claire Crabtree objectively created her article off of the custom that Zora Neale Hurston used in the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. This was her way of letting the reader/audience inside life as an African American and the role that the women play. Using Janie as an image to analyze the topics of self-determinism of blacks, independence of women, and feminism. Hurston glimpses at the life of African Americans by showing Janie’s exploration of self-determination and spiritual freedom. She first showed Janie struggling with her spiritual freedom by first dealing with her identity. Once she realized who she is and where she belonged, it was easy for her to let go spiritually. She also hints towards the African American “lifestyle” by including the black slang which help set the story.
"Notes on Their Eyes Were Watching God Themes." BookRags. BookRags, n.d. Web. 5 Nov. 2015.
This source displays Janie’s journey with dealing with her identity. It shows her growth of learning her identity form chapter to …show more content…
Being that Janie married three times, it is reasonable that these relationships help make her the person she is. Her first husband, Logan Killicks, was an arranged marriage set up by her grandma. She hoped to find real love after marriage with Mr. Killicks. Her next marriage was to Joe Starks. Unfortunately, he only married her for the image not for love. Her last marriage was to a man that goes by the name of Tea Cake. Janie fell in love with him and realized that he was all she wanted. In the end she learned from each one of her marriages and knows now who she really
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