StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
In this scene, Janie is waiting to marry Logan. She understands that she does not love Logan, but anticipates that once they get…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER91.9% of users find it useful
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Their Eyes were Watching God The conversation between Nanny and Janie, in Chapter three of the novel, clearly indicates the difference between these characters’ worldviews. In this scene, Janie is waiting to marry Logan. She understands that she does not love Logan, but anticipates that once they get married, love will come naturally. After a magnificent wedding, she visits Nanny for pieces of advice because she is afraid that her love for Logan will never grow. However, Nanny decides to send her back to her husband because according her, relationships are a matter of expediency.

Nanny feels that Logan can make a good husband because he is honest, well-off, and hardworking. The plot of this novel is set in a postwar era when it was difficult to accumulate wealth, but Logan still managed to offer physical security and shelter. This paper, therefore, analyses the difference between Nanny and Janie’s worldviews in relation to the theme of Love and Relationship versus independence as presented in chapter three scene. Janie perceives Nanny as a former slave who had no independence and, therefore, she would have such a perception.

Her life has been characterized by hardship and poverty, and any progress to acquire material wealth has been derailed by her skin color. Therefore, according to her perception, Logan who owns his own land and has financial independency is the ideal husband she could dream of when she was still young. However, according Janie, a woman in her current age should pursue something more than material wealth from a man. She is looking for some kind of completion that offers both emotional connection and passion.

Emotional and physical connections are significant in her life and inseparable from her understanding of love. This is the reason she describes Logan as “ugly” and “he doesn’t speak beautifully to her” (Hurston 27) when explain why she does not love Logan. This implies that she neither feels physical, nor intellectual, nor emotional connection to him. In the pursuit for physical and emotional connections to a man, she decides to run away with Jody. She believed that her real man was hiding somewhere.

Janie believes “God tore down the old world every evening and build a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take the form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making” (Hurston 32). This is a sign of Janie’s romantic desires. She is even ready to compromise or abandon these desires for the possibility of change. In conclusion, the conversation between Nanny and Janie, in Chapter three, describes how Janie struggles to achieve a strong sense of self and independence. Janie feels that relationships should be based on mutual respect but, not on Nanny’s suggestion of material wealth.

This is the reason she decides to liberate herself from her unfulfilling and unpleasant relationship with Logan, who is a barrier to her personal journey. Her later relationship with Tea Cake, in Chapter 12, gives her a feeling that Tea Cake’s spirit resides within her and of a deep connection to her surroundings. This is the reason why she does not feel alone even after Tea Cake’s death. Works CitedHurston, Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. Print

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 5”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/english/1613323-their-eyes-were-watching-god
(Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 5)
https://studentshare.org/english/1613323-their-eyes-were-watching-god.
“Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words - 5”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/english/1613323-their-eyes-were-watching-god.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Their Eyes Were Watching God

The Novel: Janie in Search of True Love

[Instructor Name] Janie in Search of True Love Their Eyes Were Watching God has been called “an awakening novel” because it enlightens us of the important issues in the society which must be dealt with.... After watching this grandma decides that Janie should get married to a capable man who can look after her and protect her.... Obviously Pheoby's choice and actions were a lot better than those of the porch sitters....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale

The paper “Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale” focuses on the ways in which the novels “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston and “Run With The Horsemen” by Ferrol Sams demonstrate that the search for identity can be a conscious or an unconscious process.... In regard to the aforementioned facts, this paper aims to dissect and explicate the search for identity in the two novels namely "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston and "Run With The Horsemen" by Ferrol Sams....
3 Pages (750 words) Book Report/Review

Annotated Bibliography

In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston points towards the way women particularly from the African American origin were treated and used by men in the conservative male dominated society in the first half of the twentieth century.... Their Eyes Were Watching God.... In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Hurston points towards the way women particularly from the African American origin were treated and used by men in the conservative male dominated society in the first half of the twentieth century....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Their Eyes Were Watching God Has Been Called an Awakening Novel

Their Eyes Were Watching God has been called “an awakening novel” because it enlightens us of many important issues in the society which must be dealt with.... Obviously Pheoby's choice and actions were a lot better than those of porch sitters.... Janie was struggling to find the answers to questions about love and freedom and these were the ultimate goals of her life....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Their eyes were watching god (pear tree analysis/comparison of love)

Janie Pear Tree Analysis in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” The pear tree and the horizon represent Janie's idealized views of nature.... Janie's sexual awakening is one of the cardinal subjects of Their Eyes Were Watching God.... Their Eyes Were Watching God....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Janie's Definition of Love in Their Eyes Were Watching God

The pear tree eventually drives this girl to seeking true love, Janies Definition of Love in, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Janie Crawford is a girl of mixed races, meaning she has theheritage of both the blacks and whites.... Their Eyes Were Watching God.... She is an outcome of a meager black girl who is raped by her schoolteacher and brought up in a poor background....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Feminism in Their Eyes Were Watching God

In the paper “Feminism in Their Eyes Were Watching God” the author analyzes Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston who presents gender stereotypes in the African American culture.... Right from the beginning of the novel, readers are treated to the perception of gender....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Use of Name Significance in Their Eyes Were Watching God

This is "The Use of Name Significance in Their Eyes Were Watching God" essay.... nbsp;… In the essay: “The Use of Name Significance in Their Eyes Were Watching God,” the writer provides critical evaluations that make use of a name that defines the relevance of characterization.... The moment Nanny neared demise, and it was evident that the desires were dedicated to ensuring that the safety of Janies is maintained and assured in her process of marrying a wealthy person....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us