Their Eyes Were Watching God Essays (950 words) -

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie, is driven to achieve a strong sense of self as well as comes to appreciate her independence. It would seem that throughout her life, Janie is a little na?ve. That is until her grandmother?s death. Janie exhibits this by searching for love and progression in all the wrong places. Her journey to self-empowerment is not taken alone; an example from the text is the amount of poor marriages that she experienced. Many themes and symbols throughout the book correlate with one another. The most noteworthy theme is the idea of power and conquest as a means to fulfillment. We see this theme in context to Janie?s hair. Janie?s hair is a symbol of her power and unconventional identity; which also represents her strength and individuality. She shows these characteristics by emanating her independence and defiance of petty community standards and judgments. Her hair contributes to the normally white male power those she possesses and it helps her disrupt traditional power relationships between male over female and white over black in the novel. In the beginning of the novel the town feels that it is undignified for a woman of Janie?s age to wear her hair down. She is strong and has a rebellious nature. She does not want to bow down to societal standards. In a sense, her hair functions as a symbol of masculine power which clashes between gender roles this is why Jody becomes threatened by her actions. Janie does not have much of a say when it comes to expressing herself. Joe makes her tie up her hair and he forbids her to just be herself. Hiding her hair, Janie does not have a strong grip on her identity, which supports the amount of control that Jody has over Janie. In my opinion, I feel that Jody is intimated by Janie because of the beauty of her hair. Her hair is one element that grabbed Jody?s attention when the two first met; he loved the length and elegance of her hair. Once they became married he wanted her to pin her hair up because he felt that he wouldn?t want anyone else to find her attractive as he did. Gender differences is another theme Hurston depicts in the novel require men and women to provide each other with things that they need but do not possess. Janie views ?fulfilling relationships? as something both partners should do out of mutual respect for one another. This would also show each individual viewing the other as an equal. The novel indirectly emphasizes that Tea Cake allows Janie to be heard and gives her a sense of equality; which lifts her confidence level that has been silence by her previous marriages. Jody is an example of how Janie is not equal or does not have mutual respect from her husband. He comes along at the point where she is under the spell of her grandmother?s philosophy, prizing material wealth and status, but at the same time has begun to search for something greater. She is unsure what that something is but knows that it involves more than what she has with Logan Killicks. When Jody arrives, full of ambition, he reconciles Janie?s upbringing with her desire for adventure. His talk of power and conquest soothes Janie?s disenchantment while his ambitious social climbing satisfies the values that Nanny has imparted to her. On the other hand, as the novel progresses Janie is made aware of Jody?s ?real? personality. Initially when she first meets him, he seems to be everything that she thought her Nanny had imparted in her, as well as helping her unpacks her dreams. Early on in their marriage Janie is made aware that their wants in life differ. ?In Chapter 5 Jody states, "Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech- makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home (40-41). The quote expresses that Jody under-minded Janie and would not allow her to speak. Janie?s interest in Jody ultimately leaves because she discovers that the role he wants her to