Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God

“Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford, a young , beautiful, African-American woman who wishes to leave her hometown to explore the world and find love. She has three husbands throughout the book and learns life lessons from each of them. In the end her dream for love came true but was short-lived in a self-defense shooting that killed her favorite husband Tea Cake. Janie found independence as she matured and found her identity through experiences from her husbands. In the story, Janie’s life was constantly oppressed, whether it was by her closest family or her three husbands, she was overruled as a woman. However, later in the story Janie was depicted as a heroine. Throughout the journey, Janie learns to live not by others but by her own dreams and standards; although to conclude Janie as a heroic figure is not misleading, there are many incidents where Janie is not shown to as an in dependent woman. The hero’s journey is an example to express Janie’s life, the route to a heroic figure that we interpret Janie as.

The ultimate call for adventure for Janie is for her to become a woman. Her life as a woman is Janie’s journey. In the book, it is when Nanny tells Janie it’s time for her to get married, “Yeah, Janie, youse got yo’ womanhood on yuh… Ah wants to see you married right away” (Hurston 12). Although this was none of Janie’s wish, it was inevitable. In the story, Nanny crafts Janie’s view on marriage and love, which was very different from Janie’s personal thoughts, this becomes an obstacle for Janie throughout her marriage. Janie then enters the threshold, where the character decides to confront their first challenge, this meant no turning back. Janie, the novel's protagonist, started out young and on the quest for finding true love, however throughout the course of her three marriages, she became independent and loss the desire to be attached to a man. Hurston uses this to show the transformation of Janie as a woman. In the story, Nanny’s point of view on marriage kicks in again and makes a decision for Janie’s marriage partner, Nanny chooses Logan Killicks because he provides a home and money. The marriage with Logan was Janie’s first challenge as a threshold. After marriage, Logan appreciated Janie’s beauty but not her as a person and forced her to work in the fields. The marriage end up in an elope with Janie’s second husband. Janie’s second husband was an ambitious man named Jody Starks. They moved out of town to Eatonville, where Jody becomes the mayor. Although at first he flattered Janie but further in the story, especially when he becomes the mayor he ignores Janie and abuses her. Jody restricts and limits her freedom due to his insecurity. When Jody died Janie said, "To my thinkin' mourning oughtn't tuh last no longer'n grief" (Hurston 89). Janie