Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie's Journey

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Janie, the protagonist in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, endeavors to distinguish a horizon which promises the vibrancy of love, fulfillment, and enlightenment from the “Ships at a distance” which render her vision jaded and disillusioned (17). Janie begins her story with her sexual awakening under the pear tree - a revelation which engenders a longing for a symbiotic relationship with nature, a reciprocity of love which establishes a strong female identity.It is this ideal of love and fulfillment which hold Janie’s ambitions and desires hostage, but it is the dreams and malicious doctrines of Nanny and Jody Starks which threaten to peril Janie’s quest for fulfillment and subdue her horizon into a dull, disenchanting …show more content…
Tea Cake, juxtaposed with Jody, demonstrates a creative charm unconcerned with material success as Nanny and Jody are. Tea Cake’s charm and his respect for Janie leads her to believe he is the destination of her metaphorical journey to her horizon: the man who can complement what she does not possess and cultivate a strong sense of identity for Janie. Tea Cake allows Janie to craft and assert her own identity, become more introspective, and articulate her inner desires by reuniting with her voice. Janie’s love for Tea Cake is premised on her reconciliation with her voice as Janie states, “He done taught me the maiden language all over” (136). Even Janie’s silence is an indication of her strength as she learns to control when to use her voice. With Tea Cake, Janie nurtures a love of mutual respect and reciprocity, a harmonic union of nature which her younger-self sitting underneath the pear tree earnestly desires. After Tea Cake’s passing, Janie feels liberated and enlightened as Tea Cake’s legacy lives on with her to compensate for his physical absence. The kiss of fulfillment and identity which the horizon permanently bestows upon Janie erases her vulnerabilities to the impersonal whims and dreams of those “Ships at a distance” because nothing, and no one, can silence her voice after she conquers the horizon for
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