Their Eyes Were Watching God Harlem Renaissance

- Zora Neale Hurston, born January 7th, 1891, was an African-American author, widely known for her classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Being raised in Eatonville, Florida, the first black township of the United States, Hurston was indulged in black culture at a very early age. Zora was described to have a fiery, yet bubbly spirit, befriending very influential people, one being American poet, Langston Hughes. With heavy influence from her hometown, along with the achievement of the black women around her, an abundance of motivation came when Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God. The novel promotes black power, all while rejecting the stereotypes held against women.

The black culture is very diverse in different parts of the world-even in different parts of the state. Janie as moved throughout Florida to places such as West Florida, Eatonville, and the Everglades. Residing in these different places helps develop and define the character of Janie. Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experiences many variations of black culture that helps build her character as she travels through Florida.

“It was generally assumed that she thought herself too good to work like the rest of the women and that Tea Cake “pomped her up tuh dat.” But all day long the romping and playing they carried on behind the boss’s back made her popular right away” (Hurston 157). Men on the field were surprised to see her pick of the basket to pick beans, but as time went on they grew fond of her and their opinions of her changed. TeaCake and Janie’s relationship is going so strong and so well, and Janie starts to reflect on her previous relationships and how they compare to hers with TeaCake. He makes dinner with her, respects her, and see’s her as equal to him, whereas the men in past relationships have not treated her, or seen her, like that.

Then she meets Vergible Woods, an impoverished young gambler who goes by the name of Tea Cake with absolutely nothing to offer her. Nothing to offer that is except his respect, friendship, and love. The power dynamic between Janie and Tea Cake is unlike that in any of Janie’s previous relationships, instead of viewing her as an object or an animal he sees her as a person. Tea Cake’s respect for Janie is expressed in many different ways, for example, he cares about what she has to say, teaches her how to play checkers, and does not put her down in order to build himself up. However, Janie did not just fall for Tea Cake immediately, in fact, she initially drew back, scared that he was playing her for a fool or taking advantage of her.

Race, Gender, and Social Norms In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston it focused on a woman named Janie who was on the quest of finding true love. Hurston made sure she included the realities of the era in which the book was written which is the 1900’s. Hurston made sure to include issues like race, gender, and social norms into Janie’s life and everything and everyone that was around her.

And, Hurston’s theme of writing is not direct, the plot is similar, a young woman is forced to marry an older widower. Hurston indicate Janie values in the novel: Their Eyes Are Watching God is joyless with her life, Hurston writes, “Ah ain’t got nothin’ tuh live for” (118). The change of the character growth represents how she has learned about life, including love, and sorrow. The author engage the reader attentions to overcoming fear can lead to harmony. Janie survival help understand that life is challenging , it is wonderful.

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston has a lot of instances of racism, and race plays a very large role in the story. Hurston gives us a taste of what is was like to live in a black community during times of oppression, and she depicts the minority as a large community filled with stereotypical racist views towards whites. The story describes the positive aspects of the black southern culture, as well as the negative impact and trauma brought on by the oppression and slavery that occurred before the 20th century, which is when this story takes place. Janie, the novel’s main character, identifies as a black woman throughout, although she is genetically predominately Caucasian, since her father and grandfather were white.

Racism can be defined as prejudice, discrimination, or contributions to a system that perpetuates the idea that one race is inferior to another. Racism was heavily enforced throughout American history, specifically in the early 1900’s. Coincidentally, this was the same time feminists, or women’s-rights activists, were in the in the midst of their fight for equality. Feminism is the theory that women should be treated equally to men in terms of social, political, and economic matters. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses the protagonist, Janie, to convey both concepts through her journey to self-love and acceptance.

Porch. A covered shelter projecting in front of the entrance of a building. This inanimate object served to develop various themes throughout the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. She reveals the theme of jealousy and envy, gender inequality and a sense of community with the help of the porch.

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the long-lasting effects of slavery have taken a toll on Janie Crawford. Janie’s grandmother was raped by her master and had a child named Leafy. Leafy, although not born into slavery, endured a similar fate, which led her to run away, leaving her mother to raise her child, Janie. Janie’s appearance, showing strong European features, was both praised and shamed by society. This double standard was created by racism and was able to remain present due to segregation.

In the beginning Janie feels as if Tea Cake’s age would effect their relationship. She has strong feelings for him, but on the other hand people are saying he will run off with her money. Janie proves them wrong and runs off and gets married to Tea Cake. He makes Janie feel wanted, she feels like she could be herself. Janie states, "We been tuhgether round two years.

The United States Constitution states that the country values liberty, life, and happiness for all of its citizens. These three values shape the ideal American experience. Most view it as living freely, where all men, women, and races are created equal, and where oppression of genders and races does not exist. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, however, Zora Neale Hurston challenges the traditional view of this experience by illustrating how gender roles and racism change it, manifesting that it is not close to what the average citizen goes through, especially if he or she is black.

Is it worth risking everything in order to be happy? In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, an African American woman named Janie makes many challenging decisions in order to be happy. This novel takes place in the 1920’s which creates many obstacles that Janie must overcome in order to achieve happiness. There are many stereotypes and inequalities during this time that make life extremely difficult for Janie. Although Janie allows others to mistreat her at points throughout the novel, she is overall an excellent role model for young readers because she overcomes several stereotypes of African American females during this time period, and she makes many difficult decisions based solely on her own happiness.

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston. The novel portrays Janie, a middle aged black woman who tells her friend Pheoby Watson what has happened to her husband Tea Cake and her adventure. The resulting telling of her story portrays most of the novel. Throughout the novel, Zora Neale Hurston presents the theme of love, or being in a relationship versus freedom and independence, that being in a relationship may hinder one’s freedom and independence. Janie loves to be outgoing and to be able to do what she wants, but throughout the book the relationships that she is in with Logan,Jody and Tea Cake, does not allow her to do that.

Conclusion Their Eyes Were Watching God is Hurston’s document to explain the impact of the history which is represented by the legacy of slavery on the present dilemma of her female protagonist Janie. As Janie’s grandmother was abused physically and exploited sexually and her mother was also raped ,Janie develops her past history within the era of post- Emancipation and attempt to find the real concept of her identity and self-fulfilment. Janie tries to put an end to the African –American women’s thoughts which are influenced by the white culture.