Their Eyes Were Watching God Motifs - 1272 Words

Jessica Vega Mr. McCarthy English 10H-5 31 May 2012 The Journey of Love and Life In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston reinforces the idea of understanding oneself by the use of repeating patterns such as the blossom and the bee, and the horizon throughout the novel. The use of these two motifs represents the ideal relationship, an effortless union of individuals and the possibility of change or dreams and wishes. Janie Crawford in the beginning of the novel is a young lady who is naà ¯ve to love and will do anything that is asked of her. She is essentially forced into a marriage that her Nanny set up for her, for her own protection. Janie denies at first but then gives in, believing she will fall†¦show more content†¦Joe forbids Janie from taking part in the conversation with the men about the mule. She reacts strongly one day, when the men mistreat and tease the old mule. â€Å"They oughta be shamed uh theyselves! Teasin’ dat poor brute beast lak they is! Done been worked tuh deat h; done had his disposition ruint wid mistreatment, and now they got tuh finish devilin’ ‘im tuh death. Wisht Ah had mah way wid ‘em ali.† (56) Janie feels sympathy and compassion towards the mule because she has gone through the same difficulties as the mule has. She thinks back when her Nanny referred to black women being the mule of the world. She is amplifying the fact that women in general, are enslaved by the world. After Jody’s death, Janie is alone in Eatonville and meets Tea Cake in the store. He arrives in Eatonville as a fun-loving man who quickly falls for Janies beauty and charm. Although Janie fears that she is too old for Tea Cake, she cannot help but fall in love with this man. Janie leaves behind everything that she has ever known to start a new life with Tea Cake. She adores him, as he adores her. After moving to the Everglades with Tea Cake, she embraces this new life as well as her new friends. Finally, Janie has found the love lik e that between the bee and its blossom. She declares that Tea Cake could be a bee to a blossom — a pear tree blossom in the spring. The horizon representsShow MoreRelatedTheir Eyes Were Watching Who?2015 Words   |  9 PagesOprah’s interpretation of Their Eyes Were Watching God sends multiple important details and significant events on a mass exodus, completely altering the story. With a different title, changing focus, unrecognizable characters, an altered theme, and the absence of symbolism, the entire meaning of the journey skews in this false interpretation of a classic novel. The elements of racial conflict and the purity of relationships are also replaced, removed, and distorted. All of the major details in theRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God, Written by Zora Neale Hurston1374 Words   |  6 PagesTheir Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, is a novel about Janie Crawford, a â€Å"light† african american woman living in the 1930â⠂¬â„¢s. Janie’s life is chronicled as she tells her friend her story: a pear tree, a dead mule, three marriages, and a hurricane later the reader and the listener, Phoeby, feels they had â€Å"‘done growed ten feet higher from jus’ listenin’’† (192) to her story. However, overall Hurston wants the reader to understand that they have to find out about living for themselvesRead MoreThe Sentiment of Oprah, Not Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God1502 Words   |  7 PagesOprah took a magnum opus, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and remade it into an entirely different story that did not comply with the book. By altering Janie’s character, moral fiber, relationships, and public acts, it changed the meaning of the novel. The symbolism and the significance of the title varied from the book and the story morphed into a tale of love when made into a movie. Zora Neale Hurston’s book held a disparate meaning before it fell into the hands of Oprah, who annihilated it. Janie’sRead MoreEssay on Love in Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God869 Words   |  4 PagesLove in Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (1937) is a search for self-fulfillment and true love. On a porch in a small town called Eatonville a story is told about an attractive African American womens journey. Her name is Janie Crawford. Her struggle to find companionship and herself starts as a young girl who had lost both of her parents. She lives with her grandmother who is a nanny for a wealthy white family. JanieRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God Essay724 Words   |  3 PagesTHEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD ESSAY  ¬Ã‚ ¬ Janie Crawford is surrounded by outward influences that contradict her independence and personal development. These outward influences from society, her grandma, and even significant others contribute to her curiosity. Tension builds between outward conformity and inward questioning, allowing Zora Neal Hurston to illustrate the challenge of choice and accountability that Janie faces throughout the novel. Janie’s Grandma plays an important outward influenceRead MoreEssay about The Growth of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God2970 Words   |  12 PagesTheir Eyes Were Watching God      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Human beings love inertia. It is human nature to fear the unknown and to desire stability in life. This need for stability leads to the concept of possessing things, because possession is a measurable and definite idea that all society has agreed upon. Of course, when people begin to rely on what they know to be true, they stop moving forward and simply stand still. Zora Neal Hurston addresses these general human problems in her novel Their Eyes Were WatchingRead MoreExamples Of Greed In The Great Gatsby1195 Words   |  5 PagesGod’s eyes. By utilizing eye motif, repetitions of sight words, and tone changes, F. Scott Fitzgerald justifies that avarice will always end in vain and amoral decisions will always end in regrets. Through the repetition of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg’s eyes, it becomes clear that the motif is a symbol for God’s eyes, taking in account of all unethical decisions one had made in exchange for own benefits. Furthermore, immoral behaviors are extremely common in the Roaring Twenties, when people were fixatedRead MoreFlowers for Algernon Symbols and Motifs1629 Words   |  7 PagesSymbols and Motifs By Amber Wang In Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes, there are many motifs and symbols. According to Dictionary.com (2013), a motif is: â€Å"a recurring subject, theme, idea, etc., especially in a literary, artistic, or musical work.† On the other hand, a symbol is, according to the same website: â€Å"something used for or regarded as representing something else; a material object representing something, often something immaterial; emblem, token, or sign.† However, unlike motifs, it isRead MoreMy Lack Of Knowledge On Vietnam1730 Words   |  7 Pagesor worship our ancestors. We only offer offerings to God, since my family is Orthodox. The concept of offering food to the dead was really intrigue because they believe that not only are they honoring they’re dead but also could potentially get blessings from their ancestors. I questioned how the dead was going to help the living because I believed only God could give you blessings. I thought it was a waste of food since Hang and her mother were struggling to eat. One of the group’s topics was onRead MoreSystematic Blind Man s Bluff : Identity Through Vision2109 Words   |  9 Pages Systematic Blind Man’s Bluff: Identity through Vision in The Invisible Man and Their Eyes Were Watching God In present day American society, African-Americans’ skin color makes them into targets -- of violence, prejudice, stereotyping, and potentially of victimization. Police are trained to racially profile in their work, and the byproduct of this has been devastating; in 2015 alone the police killed about 102 unarmed black people. These happenings have sparked national outcry over institutionalized