Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Submitted by: Joshdu
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- Category: English: Novels
- Date Submitted: 10/08/2010 05:27 PM
- Pages: 5
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Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God has been argued to be a flimsy folk tale by Richard Wright. In his essay, "Between Laughter and Tears" he seems to believe that characters are not well explored and that it "lacks a basic idea or theme that lends itself to significant interpretation" (Wright 1). However, Hurston's novel not only delves into characterization, but presents a multitude of themes and ideas found throughout the entire story. Richard Wright's claims cannot be held true.
The main character that is explored is Janie Mae Crawford, a woman who experiences so many highs and lows that her character deserves diving into. Janie's experiences as a black woman can be broken up between her three marriages. In her first marriage, Janie was not a wife out of love, but work. Her husband used her merely to get chores done around the house. She was a prime example of what Nanny compares black women to, "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world as fur as Ah can see" (Hurston 14). Nanny's metaphor refers to a cycle where the white slave owners would put the work on the male black slaves who in turn, put it on the female ones. Thus, her first marriage describes a situation where the black wife is simply overworked. It was during one of these chores that Janie was lead to her second marriage. Here, Janie is subject to verbal and physical abuse as well as a loss of her own free will. Her second husband shields her from the rest of the world, beginning with his disapproval of Janie to speak in public. He continues to do so regarding the "porch conversations," conversations that take place between the men of the town. He also makes her hide her long hair by tying it up, an act that causes her to hide who she really is, a strong woman who does not want to be controlled. However, Janie is now too fearful to fight back and nearly loses her identity. She later overcomes this as her husband is sitting on his deathbed, a pivotal point in Janie’s characterization....
The main character that is explored is Janie Mae Crawford, a woman who experiences so many highs and lows that her character deserves diving into. Janie's experiences as a black woman can be broken up between her three marriages. In her first marriage, Janie was not a wife out of love, but work. Her husband used her merely to get chores done around the house. She was a prime example of what Nanny compares black women to, "De nigger woman is de mule uh de world as fur as Ah can see" (Hurston 14). Nanny's metaphor refers to a cycle where the white slave owners would put the work on the male black slaves who in turn, put it on the female ones. Thus, her first marriage describes a situation where the black wife is simply overworked. It was during one of these chores that Janie was lead to her second marriage. Here, Janie is subject to verbal and physical abuse as well as a loss of her own free will. Her second husband shields her from the rest of the world, beginning with his disapproval of Janie to speak in public. He continues to do so regarding the "porch conversations," conversations that take place between the men of the town. He also makes her hide her long hair by tying it up, an act that causes her to hide who she really is, a strong woman who does not want to be controlled. However, Janie is now too fearful to fight back and nearly loses her identity. She later overcomes this as her husband is sitting on his deathbed, a pivotal point in Janie’s characterization....