Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

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Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God tells of Janie Crawford’s, the main protagonist, search for happiness and independence. Using the slang and the lifestyle of African Americans living in the rural South during the Roaring Twenties, Hurston cleverly orchestrates a story about Janie recalling the many things she experiences. Their Eyes Were Watching God begins with Janie Crawford narrating her story to her only friend, Pheoby, after suddenly returning back to her home in Eatonville, Florida. Janie’s transparent personality allows her to tell of her journey for freedom as a woman in a male dominant society. During the course of her story, Janie sheds light on her many obstacles and endless struggles caused by the social hierarchy …show more content…
Hurston writing the book from a third person point of view, instead of from a first person point of view, strips Janie of her value and power. Even though this is her story, other characters, especially male characters, seem to have bigger roles in it than Janie herself. Her silence seems to be more noticeable in her marriage with Joe, who manages to overthrow her voice with his “big voice”. Along with single handedly rebuilding and taking over Eatonville, Florida as their new mayor, Joe also easily dominates Janie. Simmons describes Joe by stating, “Joe’s authority, she shows, replicates the authority by which whites have oppressed African American” (Simmons 183). The quote reinstates the power Joe holds over both Eatonville and Janie. With this restricting authority he prohibits her form engaging in conversation with other men and forces her to keep her hair hidden away under a scarf. Janie’s compliance to his demands allows her to succumb to abuse and silence. Though what many people seem to forget is that listening is the most important part of communication. Even though Joe effectively keeps her from speaking or voicing her opinions, he cannot keep her from listening. Repeatedly, Janie explains she purposely keeps her true self inside, signifying her depth and inability to be completely understood. Lowe explains, “Janie’s silences are pregnant with creativity…” (Lowe 83). Janie’s great listening skills …show more content…
Janie’s background, childish characteristics, and intentional silence repeatedly traps her and stalls her from reaching independence, but her ability to overcome these things through defiance and patience allows her to overcome these things by the end of the story. Simply put by Loren Lee, “Janie has been the naïve girl and the objectified woman, and she graduates to the transcendent level of a woman without her pedestal” (Lee 145). Her transition from a vulnerable little girl to an independent powerful woman allows her to return home victorious, in the face of all of those who doubted her, and retell her
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