Preview

Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1882 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
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, …show more content…
When Janie leaves Logan she hopes that Joe will lead her to the life she desires and she won’t have to work like Logan wanted her to. Janie said Joe spoke of a far horizon and she hoped he would get her there. In one article the author states, “At the outset, she knows that Jody is not himself a part of the pear tree vision…. A short time later, however, she seeks to realize her vision by disguising the concrete reality which should embody it” (Kubitschek). Janie knew that Joe was not part of her vision of the pear tree, but she hoped that she would still be able to achieve her dreams with Joe. However throughout their relationship she soon realized the Joe was not the person she took off with down the road with to embark on a new life. After Joe had abused Janie she reflected upon herself and realized that she had strayed so far away from the dream she had for herself as a child. Joe had complete control over her and she did whatever he told her to do. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God Hurston wrote, “But looking at it she saw that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams. Just something she grabbed up to drape her dreams over” (Hurston 72). With this realization Janie was able to proceed with discovering herself again, come to terms with what has happened with her life and be able to get

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    In conclusion, Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston developed different views due to their different upbringings. Hurston was proud of her culture and upbringing and wanted to glorify it. As to where Wright only remembered the negative aspects of his upbringing and wanted to showcase the negative aspects. This caused a problem when Hurston wrote, Their Eyes Were Watching God, because Wright believed that it was written to please the white audience rather than telling the truth behind the racism that occurred. While this may be true, there is a good reason as to why she decided not to write in the negative manner that Wright wanted her to. That reason is the fact that she did not experience racism the same way that Wright experienced it, so…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    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
  • Good Essays

    “Mary Helen Washington On Hurston’s Failure To Create A Genuinely Liberated Female Voice” criticizes the feminist viewpoints on Hurston’s writing in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The article is interesting because it goes against all the feminist viewpoints out there about Janie being a strong, independent women. Instead, the author uses evidence from the book to point out that throughout the book Janie is pushed into the “female” role. Feminist writers see Janie as this empowering female character, whereas the author of the article sees Janie as a women being pushed down by her male counterparts. The author feels strongly about the feminist ideas, however she believes that Hurston saw Janie being pushed down for being a female rather than…

    • 126 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    | Since she is asking questions, I am assuming these are the years for asking questions. So that foreshadows that the years for answers is coming. I believe the answers that she will receive will not be what she expects and will probably have some irony to the previous questions she asked.…

    • 1005 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    As t he sun begins to set, and the evening nears closer and closer, you can hear the screeching of dining room chairs making their way onto the front porch. The boiling pot of secrets just about to spill over from the loose lips of the porch’s gazers, which are salivating over the thought of discussing the news of the town; that of which spread like quick fire . Not stationary to their porches the gazers are like investigate reporters, just waiting, to find a new story to talk about. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God , the importance of group discussion and bond forming bonds between women was essential to make it through the struggles and battles that the women faced. The concept of a “Strong Black Woman” was proven to be true in , but it also proves that even being a strong black woman, having another woman to talk to is a powerful force all in itself.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, was born in 1891 in Alabama. She studied anthropology and liked to tell many stories about her African-American heritage and even other cultures. Hurston became interested in writing in her early thirties where she would write short stories and sometimes script plays. During the development of her writing career, she played an important role in the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston even traveled to Haiti and then Jamaica which mainly inspired her most famous piece of work Their Eyes Were Watching God. (Bio.)…

    • 326 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    From the beginning, Zora Neale Hurston was ahead of her time. She was born early in 1891 in Notasulga, Alabama. While she was being born her father was off about to make a decision that would be crucial to her in the development as a woman and as a writer; they moved in 1892 to Eatonville, Florida, an all-black town. In childhood, Hurston grew up uneducated and poor, but was immersed with black folk life, and the town of Eatonville had become like an extended family to her. She was protected from racism because she encountered no white people. Booker T. Washington observed that in black-governed towns like Eatonville,…

    • 1929 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a story of how Janie, the protagonist, achieves a strong sense of self along with her independence. In order for Janie to be where she is by the end of the novel she embarks on a long journey to find what she really wants in life. That journey is both literal and figurative. Janie literally travels and sees different parts of the world but at the same time going on within her is a journey to find herself.…

    • 837 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Logan Killicks is Janie Crawford’s first husband in the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston. Logan is a very interesting character, because he doesn’t appear in the story for long, but he is a very strong, and important character in Janie’s life. He is an old person, who Janie is forced to marry, because of her grandmother’s wishes. Her grandmother doesn’t want her to be with Johnny Taylor, whom Janie likes, so she gets Logan Killicks and Janie together for marriage. Grandma wants Janie to be “safe in life,” and later says “You ain’t got nobody but me. And mah head is ole and tilted towards de grave. Neither can you stand alone by yo’self… Ah got tuh try and do for you befo’ mah head is cold.” With Logan Killicks, Janie…

    • 664 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zora Naele Hurston did not begin her career as a writer, but as an anthropologist. She traveled to the South and Caribbean, collecting the folklore of black people. She then transformed her information into novels, short stories, and essays. Hurtson’s best-known novel is Their Eyes Were Watching God. This novel tells the story of an African American woman living in Eaton, Florida.…

    • 333 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston

    • 2006 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston was an astounding Afro-American author who was recognized not for being the first Afro-American writer, but rather for her ability to bring forth her cultural language and imagery. If not for Zora's pioneering effort as a female black writer, the world of modern literature would have never seen the cultural insights of the African American culture in such a candid way.…

    • 2006 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Racism has been a problem in America for centuries. From slavery, to Jim Crow laws, to the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, racism always has been, and will always be a problem. In her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Hurston talked about racism and showed how it affected the life of the main character, Janie. Their Eyes Were Watching God took place in the 1890s, a period of violent racially motivated crimes and segregation. This segregation played a huge role in people’s lives, in history, and in the novel.…

    • 1825 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hurston took her struggles in life and channeled them into a novel. She grew up with little and she transferred what she went through into the novel. Janie grew not knowing much except what her grandmother told her about the world. As she got older, she searched for information, and how to find her place in the world. When she married Joe, she felt like she learning more about herself. It wasn’t until Teacake came around that she really opened up and learned more about herself. Teacake had a great influence on Janie’s progression in later years. He allowed her to do what most men wouldn’t allow their wives to do. She could think for herself, work, and even question. Being with Teacake, she lost herself in him and found herself in how her treated her. Janie felt that she was truly a part of society when it came down to it. Even after Teacake died, she was content with what her life came out to be in the end. Janie had allowed herself to be found and it only took three marriages and losing two husbands in tragic ways.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and novelist known for her contributions to African-American literature. As a writer, she portrayed the racial struggles of black people in the American South, in her work. Hurston’s fiction, which depicts relationships among black residents in Southern Florida, was largely unconcerned with racial injustices. Hurston is best known for her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Published in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God has become a staple in women’s studies programs and has inspired many female authors to create non-stereotypical black female characters. Hurston is considered one of the foremost writers of the Harlem Renaissance.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, was an ambitious African American writer in the 20th century with numerous achievements, many including her inspirational writing pieces. Hurston was born on January 7th, 1891 and was raised on a large estate in Eatonville, Florida, the first incorporated black society in America. This culturally affirming environment aided in Hurston’s makings for success, and shaped her to be independent. Once her mother died when Hurston was barely 13 years old, her idyllic childhood was corrupted and she was left with her father, a Baptist preacher, whom she fought with frequently. That year, she was removed from school by her father and forced to work various jobs until her mid twenty’s during…

    • 2102 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays