Possibilities to include:
Hurston had various slurs printed from critics against her; many from black male authors of that period.
“Hurston, as a feminist, did not want Janie to find fulfilment in a man, but rather in her new found self.”(Crabtree 317)
Personally I see the critics ideals of Zora Neale Hurston’s master piece of a novel to be extremely ethnocentric and even a personal idea very ethnogenderic specially when particular expressions are generated from male authors those expressing such an ignorant ideal on her ending.
I agree with this quote in conclusion: “Janie decides she will not be treated as a mule if she has to reject the values her grandmother has taught her.”
Innovation education and individualism are the main themes explored within their eyes were watching god and these are the themes that many teenagers if today’s society experience when trying to find their state of emancipation as Janie once did.
Alice Walker quote “Was a place where being black was not a burden but an act of beauty, not a liability but a state of grace.”
Real Addition to essay:
Hurston attracted many people as her life was a bible of stories to be told, through her various marriages and the ups and downs of her career Hurston could interlink her own life with the life of the main character Janie in her novel. Hurston was funded by many white women at this period to write her novels. Janie too was only really accepted by the white people in the court when being tried for tea cakes death. This poses the idea that may be it was Hurston’s idea to portray Janie and women in general as most free when being independent without men. As even at a time when Janie was most devastated she still had the black male society against her through sexist means. “Well as long as she don’t shoot no white man she kin kill jus’ as many niggers as she please.” This follows through the status hierarchy that black women really were “de mules uh de world.” Black women came below white men and women and black men, although Janie was one of the first black women to step out of this status hierarchy. From the reaction of the black men in Eatonville’s society Hurston portrayed them to feel threatened. In her own life it would seem various black male authors felt threatened by Hurston’s success but they may put this down to her funds form white folk.
Conclusion Half Complete
I feel Hurston allowed tea cake to die at the end of the novel not to make Janie happy but to make the novel as a whole more independent so it can win merits off its own proposals. Hurston reached this by allowing Tea Cake to die, this runs against societies stereotypical ideals of a fairy tale ending as did Hurston’s death you don’t expect a great author to pass away in a welfare home. Generally everything about Hurston’s life was distinctive “Hurston gave statements of confidence rooted in place and time, race and politic which she expressed eloquently and which she was herself a flamboyant expression.” This is the great thing about Hurston she may do the most radical pieces of writing be critcised by some but be idolised by many. As her piece was so radical for the era its written in it can still be enjoyed today by a variety of ages including teenagers as Hurston herself created zeitgeist for the 21st century not the 20th century. For me although Janie was not truly happy at the end of the novel she was truly independent and such and independence showed a light for women in the novel lead by Janie. It also gave women in particular black women of the time of the Harlem renaissance a step forward to their state. 1,350 words including quotes.
Old essay:
The story begins at a time when Janie is very young; she was a black orphan child in the household of the Washburn’s. Here she lead a happy life which was very pre-laps Arian as she was encased from anything bad the outside world had to offer. She was accepted by the Washburn family so much so that she thought she was the same race as everyone else. “Where is me? Ah don’t see me? Aw, Aw! Ah’m colored! But before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest.” This was one of the first epiphanies Janie has in the novel, it helps her to develop more as a character as she realises not everyone is the same or treated equally. As the Washburn children were happily settled Janie no longer was. She had to find her true identity before se could settle, to do this she went to live with her grandmother in a black community.
It was only when Janie settled in with her grandmother that began to develop physically and mentally into a woman “She had glossy leaves and bursting buds”. At this point she was still very naive in the ways of the world. Janie’s first ideals of love were so natural, imaginative and unpredictable for the times that she was still in a very pre-laps Arian period. It was as if within this world of her own nothing and no one could hurt her she had her own views and that was all that mattered. Hurston was able to show this through the grave amounts of symbolism with nature, as nature grows in wild directions so did Janie’s dreams grow in these wild directions. “Oh to be a pear tree any tree in bloom! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seamed to elude her. Looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made.”
It was whilst living with her grandmother that Janie became aware of the way that the poorer people of southern America lived, and the kind of views her grandmother had. This shaped the way that Janie saw marriage for a time. Janie’s grandmother had come from an era of slavery but managed to escape so had different expectations out of life to Janie. “You Know honey, us coloured folks is branched without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways. You in particular. I was born back due in slavery so it wasn’t for me to fulfil my dreams of what a woman oughta be or do.” What Nanny does not realize is that Janie has the potential to make her own path in the walk of life. When Janie kissed Johnny Taylor it was a moment of attraction and of experience for Janie “In her former blindness she had known him as Johnny Taylor, tall and lean. That was before the golden dust of pollen had be-glamoured his rags and her eyes.” In Janie’s grandmother’s eyes it was a trashy nigger, breath- and- britches, Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foots on.” Janie believed a relationship initialled love and attraction for one another, but her grandmother saw a relationship as a marriage regardless whether there was love involved as long as there was a stable home life and money coming in. So Janie being naively lead at such an age married Logan Killicks, for stability and to please her grandmother before she died. Janie’s grandmother had helped Janie to develop but enabling her to move on to experience losstaught Janie stereotypical thoughts of marriage, she also taught Janie some of her history so Janie began her way to finding herself.
“The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree” the first of three husbands of Janie’s. Logan was very old fashioned in his state of mind, this was to be expected as he was many years Janie’s senior. He wasn’t the riches man nor was he the best looking but he was stable with work and an income, at this stage it would appear this was all Janie needed. Killicks had similar beliefs on marriage as Janie’s grandmother, when marrying Janie he wasn’t looking for love. Killicks was a very sexist man in a patriarchal world, his ideals for a marriage was a women that would cook and clean and help on the land, for his wife to do as she is told. “Mah first wife never done bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood no how. She’d grab that ax and sling it lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten.” Although Janie did trust her grandmother’s judgement, she was only doing the best for her granddaughter, Janie didn’t like the situation. This marriage went against all of Janie’s dreams, there was no love in this relationship, there was certainly no attraction “He’s belly is to big too, and his toe nails look lak mules foots!” Killicks had shown no love or affection towards Janie it was as if she was nothing but a slave to him “Ah aim to run two ploughs, and dis man Ah’m talkin’ ‘bout is got uh mule all gentled up so even a women kin handle ‘im.” This marriage was what Janie’s grandmother called “Picking from a higher bush and a sweeter berry” but for Janie it was being trapped in a world of labour without any rights. The intelligence of Janie to realize that she was receiving wrong treatment shapes her development further; this is a prime example of the capabilities that Janie possesses as an independent woman. “I wants things sweet with my marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think.” It was then that she learned to grow up and once again form her own views on marriage “she new that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead so she became a woman.” One critic Lynn Domina stated that “Janie decided that she will not be treated as a mule even if she has to reject the values that her grandmother has taught her.” (Novels for students Detroit research, 1998) It was at this point when Janie met a new character Joe Starcks that she finally escaped her first marriage of patriarchal slavery. “But when the pollen again glided the sun sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things.” Janie did not wish to become like her grandmother so she left.
The next cycle is that of Joe Starks. The role of this marriage is of a different nature. Janie no longer is a house slave. Joes Starks spelt out new horizons for Janie in an otherwise unmotivated world that was stuck in the times of small village banter and over worked mules ready to collapse at any time like Janie was. “He spoke of far horizon. He spoke for change and chance”. Janie had required an agent for escapism from Logan and his whole way of life and Joe Starks was the best opportunity “So they married just like Joe had said. With new clothes of silk and wool.” Joe had more money than Logan he also had more ambition so when he became Mayor Janie became a trophy wife to make his status in the town seem perfect. “Building a high chair for her to sit in and over look the world and she here pouting over it!” Starks’ attention is always directed towards what brought him and Janie together; the idea that this new found town will bring him respect and a new start in life. From looking at Janie’s second marriage from this perspective a reader can see that although there was some change in the place Janie’s living and the ambitions that Starks has there are still some very similar components to Logan’s marriage with Janie. Starks never really loved Janie, not the way Janie wanted. Janie couldn’t love Starks because he never treated her as his equal. “It must have been the way Joe spoke out without even giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things. Unconscious of her thoughts.” Starks treated Janie as someone for all the other men to look at but never touch, he kept her working in their grocery shop unable to talk to anyone so he would make her wear head rags to cover her beauty. At first Janie didn’t have the courage or will power to fight against Starks as she was still set in the old fashioned way of being below her husband. Starks could use intimidation against Janie by the fist time he hit her. “she found out one day when he slapped her face in the kitchen” Joe wanted her total submission “So gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush.” It was here that she eventually realised Joe Starks was not the man she wanted for a husband, Janie wanted an equal not someone with sexist remarks or someone that felt the need to use so much violence. At the beginning Janie had a notion that she could escape Logan’s physical oppressions and fulfil her pear tree dream through Starks “Just something she had grabbed up to drape her dreams over.” Although once in the situation she realised Starks created a mental oppression where she had no freedom of speech “Mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh women and her place is in de home.” It is the point at which Starcks hit Janie that she woke up and realised and then felt the power to retaliate in an honest way, where all the feelings she had learnt to hush came out. “Stop mixin’ up me doings with mah looks, Jody when you got through telling me how tuh cut unplug uh tobacco, when you kin tell me whether mah behind is on staight or not.” It was at this point after Starcks controlling what Janie said what Janie wore and when Janie worked that she was ready to leave him, Joe Starks died and this meant an easy escape for Janie. “Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging below her waist.” Hurston shows the reader this ending by symbolising the head rags as Janie’s freedom her liberation. Joe Starks was the transitional fase in Janie’s development through life between begin totally dependant on Logan to being totally independent with Tea Cake. He showed Janie what it was to be rich in status and in income which was one of the few things the black population got to experience in America at this time. He taught Janie that money did not buy happiness and so it did not make her marriage. “She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be.”
The final marriage was with Tea cake who I believe made Janie most fulfilled. As a reader I could tell that this marriage could be a lot of things but Janie would always enjoy her time spent as it began upon a time of play and this was how it continued. Tea Cake spoke for something new, a down to earth traveller who was always ready for taking a risk but most of all he was known for playing checkers. This was how Janie met Tea Cake, he taught her how to play which was one of the things Joes Starks wouldn’t let Janie do. “Tea Cake and Janie playing checkers, playing coon-can; playing Florida flip on the store porch all afternoon as if nobody else was there.” Out of all Janie’s marriages her one with Tea Cake was the only one where she was truly treated as an equal. Tea Cake didn’t force Janoe to work with him like with Logan, he didn’t put her on a pedal stool and trap her from the rest of society with Joe. Tea cake simply asked Janie to come and work on the land with him not for her slave labour but for her company “Ah’ll have to tell yuh the real truth, so yuh can know. Janie, Ah gits lonesome out dere all day’thout yuh.” This shows how in love tea cake is with Janie as he says it in such a shy hesitant way Logan would never say such things and neither would Joe as he would see it as below himself as he had such high status in the town. As there marriage is so equal Janie feels she can tease Tea Cake and he’ll never Take offence which she could never do in any of her other marriage’s. “Tea Cake, you’se a mess! Can’t do ‘thout me dat lil time” Tea Cake was so trusting with Janie which was so different to Joe who would make Janie cover her hair Tea cake believed Janie should wear overalls as they were more comfortable to wear whilst working on the land. This shows Tea Cake to be a confident man as he doesn’t mind other men looking at Janie as he trusts her. He also doesn’t find it difficult to fancy a women in overalls as Joe did as he made Janie wear dresses. Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake was very realistic as it was not a flauless fairy tail marriage they would argue. At one point Tea cake hit Janie to give her bruises to show that she was his property, Janie didn’t fight back here she accepted it was something that Tea Cake had to do “Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. Ah bet she never raised a hand yuh hit yuh back, neither.”Many women would consider this as wrong and not put up with it but this is how Their Eyes were Watching God is so different to other romantic novels it is realistic its about making your own decisions on what your ideal relationship includes. Regardless of what other people thought about their relationship Janie and Tea Cake were completely themselves within the relationship, completely in lover and happy. Tea Cake taught Janie to develop by showing her what it was to be poor and how this didn’t matter as long as you’re with those you love. He taught Janie how to play as at her childhood she had been an orphan then she went to live with her grandmother who taught her to grow up to quickly and marry Logan. Through his charm, risk taking, down to earth behaviour and his equality ideals showed Janie what true happiness was and what Janie’s ideal love was. “He could be a bee to a blossom –pear tree blossom in the spring”.
After Tea Cake dies Janie moved back to her home town where she used to live with her grand mother here she was surrounded by female companions many critics believed this is when Janie is fully developed and fully fulfilled Claire Crabtree stated “Hurston, as a feminist, did not want Janie to find fulfilment in a man, but rather in her new found self.” (Crabtree 317 Southern Literary Journal, spring 1985). Many readers may agree with this as Janie couldn’t be fulfilled with Tea Cake as he would take up all her time and energy and that Janie found more comfort speaking to women. There is this idea that many have that in order for Janie to be totally liberated she would have to be alone. These are very valuable interpretations of the novel but my personal understanding is different. Firstly I see Zora Neale Hurston as a womenist this is a down to earth women, who has her own beliefs on what should and what shouldn’t be accepted in a relationship. These are a woman’s own rules and she will not be pushed away from them. I feel Hurston herself couldn’t be a feminist as she was married one to many times like Janie. Most often her marriages failed because Hurston’s status was higher than her husbands through her writing abilities, which they could not accept. When writing this novel Hurston had just ended a relationship, this is ironic as most women would be looking for revenge. But Hurston decided to write a novel for everyone to enjoy one that’s honest quiet and shows what love really is there fore she is not a feminist. Hurston being a womenist allowed Janie to go through three marriages in order to develop into the well rounded women she became. Within each marriage she was taught something different in order to form her own views on marriage, different from her grandmothers, Logan’s and Joe’s in order to find her true fulfilment and her true love in Tea Cake. Her relationship with Tea Cake was fulfilled as it was a platonic state of love in which both of their personalities different in ways join to become one full person that whatever is missing in one persons character is brought out by the other. So I feel that it is with Tea Cake that Janie is totally emancipated.
The main focus of this novel is horizons each character has there own horizon to reach which makes it such a great novel as everyone is able to relate to it, regardless of the fact it is written in African American dialect. It is good as it is such a down to earth novel the ideas behind it are so realistic, its enough to make any reader understand Janie’s reasons for so many marriages. It would also appear realistic as it is very similar to Hurston’s life herself. Not only did it to relate to Hurston’s life it also could relate to many back people at the time of the Harlem Renaissance to remind black people who they are and what they too are capable of. Hurston’s Novel was much like a celebration of what once was slavery but now black people being more accepted into society. The celebration of a second generation of black folks which what was happening at the time which is what I fell Janie represented. This is what Hurston means when she quotes "I have been in sorrow's kitchen and licked out all the pots. Then I have stood on the peaky mountain wrapped in rainbows, with a harp and a sword in my hands."
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