Lee 1 Winter Lee Mr. Okada tT Uy] 2 . @ 217 f+ AP English and Language Literature Te 2°3 = l 6 November 2015 Achievements Only Made Through Living Life 3 = a Life is what one makes it to bg ang how to accept both the positive and the negative outcome This statement relates to the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, in that itis told in the past tense perspective of the narrator Janie Starks. Janie has been through multiple life altering events, and through it she has learned to value and make the best of situations whether Ps good or bad. ‘Throughout the novel, Janie comes to light, with many realizations at different stages in her life while Hurston utilizes personification, symbolism, or imagery to create a sense of excitement, suspense, or climax.“ OE Se ABBEY TO rset a sense of excitement, suspense, or One awakening Janie had was of her and Jody’s marriage and how it had deteriorated from when they first got married. Janie was happy at the beginning of their marriage because Jody had swept her away from her previous acrimonious relationship. At some point during their a marriage, Jody physically abused Janie over an off-putting dinner and Janie, tood there until ae something fell off the shelf inside her... It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered” (68). After, Janie had an imperative realization that Jody was a self-centered brazen man who C only thought of Janie as an object he owned and could treat her any way he wanted to, Hurston utilizes symbolism portraying the “something” that “fell off the shelf inside” of Janie, as the “the image of Jody" (68). This symbolism of Jody is significant because Janie’s image of Jody was almighty and praiseworthy due to his ambition and goals, but that soon fell when she was forcefully put in place. The shattering of the image also symbolized the exact moment of i ——E—E=F——EE Tr revoLee 2 her realization, Hurston diligently utilizes imagery when describing how Jody made Janie feel in ee the beginning of their relationship, and how he makes her feel now. At the start of their arriage, there were “petals” on flowers and “blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man” ob x ae (68). Their love was like a blooming flower with beauty and potential to evolve, but as time “f elapsed, it consisted of a flower wilting and dreadfully withering due to Janie’s realization of eae ‘negatively ardent character. Through the use of these literary devices, Hurston evokes a wow ise of suspense and climax. Suspense is shown through the way Hurston describes the Any Se bie “Symbolism because there is an object falling sea ide of Janie, yet that object falling is the wo shattered image of Jody that Janie has, The suspense is that a valuable object fell and shattered, and because it was a rarity, it could not be fixed or put back together the exact same way. This relates to the image of Jody that Janie had made, Hurston makes this fall seem as a shock, and through shock people react differently s0 how Janie reacted to this egregious realization hgsical “ determined the suspense Hurston creat The/pyszalauspere (eet ocould be what would happen fo Janie and Jody's marriage after this event. Climax is shown through the way Hurston describes the imagery of Janie and Jody's love depicted as flowers and not being able to blossom anymore, The climax Hurston makes is @ realization that their climax in marriage is over 1 be“ because ofthe cognizant awakening Janie has at this time. The significance this imagery A re eee: — contributes to climax is that it relates to a cycle or transition in life that every ving being goes through. ‘The flowers bloomed as when they began their marriage, reached a climax as when they were both in a state of happiness and equilibrium, and finally it reached its end as did Janie vet and Jody’s mindset of their marriage. Janie realized her marriage with Jody had depreciated greatly, and this was revealed through symbolism and imagery which Hurston utilized to create suspense and climax. \/~Ye pat Lee 3 Another awakening Janie had was of her love for Tea Cake. Janie’s love was so enthralling, “her soul crawled out from its hiding place" (122). After Jody passed away, Janie became a widow and gained freedom. She was not certain that she would ever love and marry again, but Tea Cake appeared and they both instantaneously clicked. Hurston applies personification towards Janie’s soul, and this is personification because a soul, even though connected to a person, innot physically crawl as described. This is important because Janie had put away her heart and soul as to not love again, yet when Tea Cake came around, he made her feel alive and living with a purpose, thus bolstering, “her soul” é crawl “put from its hiding w ogee! etrer— is place” (122). The personification developed by Hurston created climax because this soul, realization of Janie’s love made the first impact on Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship. Also, her ““™ eo soul crawling out can be compared to a rebirth of life, with Jody's ending came Tea Cake’s beginning. The cli i i tion was that when Janie Giclee jeor re pee ty clean pee) ies. Ceaberert internally realized her love for'Tea Cake, that was the moment she knew to take a leap of faith in love. Janie thought Tea Cake, “could be a bee to a blossom-a pear tree blossom in the spring” (101). This metaphor was Janie thinking that Tea Cake touched upon her image of the pear tree which was her ideal image of what love is. Tea Cake, like “ a bee to a blossom”, made Janie feel the emotion of happiness and his being made her feel a sense of completeness which she lacked in her previous relationships (101). Excitement is shown through this metaphor because Janie has finally found “a bee" that has pollinated dn her pear tree. This metaphor contains exciteme because Tea Cake isn’t her exact pear tree, but is a bee who has reached out to her idea of a peat 7) tree, which is significant in that he was the only man in her life who even got within close | 722" of rh proximity of her pear tree. Janie realized her ardent love for Tea Cake through personification) “ef “© Lv and metaphor which Hurston utilized to create climax and excitement.Lee 4 Hurston represented suspenseful, exciting, and climactic moments in the novel through symbolism, imagery, and personification to show Janie’s internal awakenings. Each realization was shown through a literary device used by Hurston to then create a sense of emotion. Janie’s internal realizations were important because they helped progress and shape the woman she became in the end throughout her life. Ideas and concepts are achieved through trial and error, which is how life should be perceived. Wafer’ J dd a ged Joo of incerenbey qusbes cae % oteriay a veneby of Opes. LE alse yee fle Way yor Chented fre tute (ue Av eS ppnkes op fee of fe Aalyns ~oshich at tees fel @ lt cpdire. Overly Ahi to g~d eth on a tough pot pep re Winker.Lee 5 Works Cited Hurston, Zora. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York. J.B. Lippincott. 1937. Print.