Preview

Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Criticism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
97 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Criticism
All in all, Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a literary masterpiece that is an enjoyable and worthwhile read. While, Hurston’s style is down to earth and filled with colloquialisms, she does not fail to bring serious issues such a feminism and race throughout her writing. She achieves this through her heavy usage of animal imagery and nature. Although, Their Eyes Were Watching God was originally published in 1937, it is a classic novel that has stood the test of time as many of its overarching themes can still be applied to the struggles times today.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Richard Wright's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'
    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Richard Wright's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'

    Richard Wright believed that Hurston failed to convey any type of message, thought or theme. He believed her original audience and motive for writing the book was to entertain the white readers with a story that would make them laugh. All of Wright’s reflections are inaccurate, because the title of the book itself hints at a religious theme. The title, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” means the creation of a new form of humanity, that is no longer based on the master and slave society.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary Of Their Eyes Were Watching God
    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Summary Of Their Eyes Were Watching God

    In chapter five of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston tells the readers about Jody and Janie arrive in Eatonville, Florida to find that it consists of little more than a dozen shacks. Jody introduces himself to two men, Lee Coker and Amos Hicks, and asks to see the mayor; the men reply that there is none. After buying land, Jody announces his plans to build a store and a post office and calls a town meeting. Jody hires Coker and Hicks to build his new shop and quickly becomes mayor after recruiting new residents and rebuilding the town.While this was happening, Janie is told to not speak in front of crowds and feels alone because of her husband.…

    • 297 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example for Their Eyes Were Watching God
    • 1762 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Rhetorical Analysis Essay Example for Their Eyes Were Watching God

    Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is the story of one black woman’s attempt to realize her dreams and to achieve happiness in her life. Throughout the book, the reader follows Janie Woods as she travels from one man to the next and from one town to the next in search of happiness, freedom, and love. Janie abandons her first husband and the oppressive, conventional life that she lives with him in order to pursue a more stimulating, adventurous, and exciting one with Jody Sparks. With his big dreams for the future and his plans to build an “all-colored” town, Jody seems at first to…

    • 1762 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparing Hemingway's Stories And Maus By Art Spiegelman
    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Comparing Hemingway's Stories And Maus By Art Spiegelman

    The female view in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes were Watching God suggests a changing sense of attitudes in American culture in many ways. Firstly, the story is told in third-person point of view from Janie, the main character’s, perspective through her narration to her friend Phoeby. She’s not only a woman, but African-American. The story is about Janie’s trials and tribulations in her life, including her three marriages. The novel is a celebration of African-American characters and is formulated around its female point of view. It showed a change in the attitude in American culture because of the way it portrays its characters. Hurston gives context as to why the major characters do what they do. Janie is searching for both love yet independence, Logan was looking for a wife, Joe wanted to be powerful, and Tea Cake’s need to travel. All in all, these characters help project Janie’s growth into finding herself by the end of the novel. It shows a change of attitude because of how all these characters help Janie develop as a character. It shows a in-depth story of a woman who faces many trying times but overcomes them in the…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Rhetorical Analysis
    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Rhetorical Analysis

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is chock-full of metaphors. Through metaphors, the author can create a link between different parts of the book, pointing out changes over time that the characters experience. These metaphors showcase the character development and refining of personality which the characters, especially Janie, go through in this book. Although she must suffer hardships in life to reach it, Janie ultimately attains happiness and good character, as is evident in the signature nature-focused Romantic metaphors [HUH?!?Try rewording it] that Hurston uses. [Try to make the thesis in one sentence with the “why” portion after a semicolon]…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Analytical Essay On Their Eyes Were Watching God
    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Analytical Essay On Their Eyes Were Watching God

    One reason “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is considered a story of the Renaissance was simply because it was written in New York, during this special decade. Common themes of the Harlem Renaissance were the use of folk material and glorifying African American cultural heritage. In chapter six of the novel, Hurston opens with a mule folk tale based on one she had heard growing up. It is significant in that it illustrates the tense relationship with Janie and her second husband, Joe Starks (Hurston, 48-52). Also many authors use jungles, tribal scenes or scenes like the “muck” or “everglades” in the novel to demonstrate a renewed emphasis on African…

    • 684 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis Essay
    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Character Analysis Essay

    All throughout Their Eyes were Watching God, the main character, Janie, seems to swoon over her third husband Tea Cake. She’s obsessed with the fact that he makes her feel worthy or even smart unlike her other husbands, Joe and Logan. He actually takes the time to teach her how to play checkers, something she was never allowed to do. Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods also makes Janie young and spontaneous. Their adventure filled relationship make her glow inside. To the sudden night fishing trip, to romantic picnics, even to dancing until her feet hurt at Jacksonville clubs.They way he cuddled up to her scratching her head and petting her hair make her feel beautiful and loved deeply. All these factors may all make Tea Cake seem like a “good” man, but Janie really fails to narrate or even look into his cons, which happen to big ones overcasting his pleasant traits. He’s stolen her money without her permission, caught practically cheating on Janie with another…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis
    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the story illustrates a biracial African American woman, Janie, who is returning to her home in Eatonville. The novel is told in the form of a flashback and gives an account of her early teenage years all the way through her mature adulthood when she returns to her home. During her journey through life Janie is confronted with many different conflicts. She fights both internal and external conflicts, such as her search for true love, gender roles, and racism. When Janie is a young girl she sits under a pear tree which is where she finds her ideal image of love and marriage. Janie undergoes three different marriages with each having their own conflicts that in the end would be beneficial…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Comparison Essay
    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Comparison Essay

    “Look deep into nature,and then you will understand everything better.”Albert Einstein.”Beast of the Southern Wild” was a film that was directed by Benh Zeitlin and was released by June 27,2012. “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was a novel that was written by Zora Hurston and was published in September 18,1937.The film and the novel had some similarities such as having connection to nature,mothers relationship,and what happened in the big storm.…

    • 666 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis
    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis

    Being in high school you meet a lot of people, some you like, some you do not like, some enjoyable, and then some like Joe Starks from the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, by Hora Neale Hurtson. Joe Starks is the husband of the main character Janie, they meet while Janie is married to Logan Killicks. Janie runs off with Joe because he promises her a better life. For the first seven years, their marriage is great! Joe turns bitter as the years go on. Joe is jealous, confident, and cold hearted, Joe is like this because he never found true love and depended on his money for happiness, this paper seeks to evaluate the traits of Joe Starks.…

    • 627 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: An Analysis
    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: An Analysis

    The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, illustrated how black women during the early 1900’s were constantly marginalized and silenced. In this time period black women did not have the same respect as men or white women when they gave their opinions and were often ignored. Black women were also perceived to be less intelligent and ____ by others. Hurston portrayed how black women were marginalized and silenced by others through the protagonists’ relationships with other people.…

    • 501 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Women Analysis
    • 1947 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Women Analysis

    In Zora Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, we get a look into the life of an African American woman who faces difficulties because of her race and sex. African American women at that time were at the bottom of society. They could not voice their opinion or express their ideas. Their job was to work and do what they are told. They were neither respected nor viewed as valuable to society. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie Crawford, despite her skin color and gender, is determined to achieve her goals. She goes on a journey of self-realization and is able to find herself in a few different ways. One way she approached the journey is by challenging the men in her life that are dominating and trying to control her. Another way she tries to find herself is through romance and sexual desire. She wants the freedom to love whoever she wants and be loved by them. She wants the type of love that is real and not controlling. Janie spends many years trying to find the love she desires from the men she marries. She goes through three relationships that test her strengths and ability to love. Lastly she will be able to find herself by finding her space. In most of her relationships she is prevented from exploring…

    • 1947 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay
    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis Essay

    As a woman, at times it can feel as if society has deemed conflicting roles upon us that we are expected to fulfill all at once. Historically, most cultures have honored the “home keeper” role in which we are expected to take care of our husbands and families. However, as time passes and ultimately, norms and customs evolve, women are more inclined to seek careers that establish an individual sense of purpose. While there are tons of women who successfully handle both the role of nurturer while fulfilling their own, separate goals, how does a woman distinguish how to meet the needs of one role while not feeling as if they are neglecting the other? In Zora Neale Hurston 's novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, the main character, Janie Crawford, tells the story of her life through her three marriages, yet still, leading to the discovery of her own true self. Thought to be a “mirror” of Hurston 's own life, the ending of the novel is in contradiction to her reality, in which she chooses her career over the man she loves.…

    • 1349 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis
    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

    Zora Neale Hurston was an African American writer during the Harlem Renaissance who wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. She was a very ambitious woman and did many things in her lifetime. In one article an author wrote, “Hurston realized many of her dreams during her lifetime and wrote prolifically, publishing short stories, essays, plays, historical narratives, ethnographies, an autobiography, and several novels” (“Zora”). Not only was she an author she was also an anthropologist. However Hurston’s life wasn’t all perfect at times. At a young age she lost her mother, which ended her childhood abruptly, much like the main character Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God. After her mother’s death, she also began working odd jobs and traveling,…

    • 1882 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Critical Analysis
    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Their Eyes Were Watching God Critical Analysis

    You wake up beside your significant other as if it were any other day; then look them in the eyes and utter the words “Good morning!”. You feel overwhelmed with joy by the mere company of your spouse for in the morning after your wedding night and the dream of obtaining the level of companionship in which you yearned becomes a reality. In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God the main character Janie pursues the quest of finding companionship in means of a husband. Zora Neale Hurston’s work includes many salient themes. The overlying theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God does not become evident until the last chapter of the novel. The perception of the ideal idea that love and relationships lead to happiness versus the idea that sadness comes from lonely and disconsolate independence that stems from socially scrutinized ideas…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics