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Niaylah Mascall

Mrs. Pettay

ENG 112

10 March 2019

Literary Analysis ​Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston once expressed, “Love makes your soul crawl out from its hiding

place.” In ​Their Eyes Were Watching God, ​Zora Neale Hurston sets up the story in the early

1900s. She tells the story of a young woman named Janie, who is yearning to find true love

amidst her grandmother’s desires for her and the pressure of society. An important topic that

​ ora Neale
Hurston focuses on throughout the book is love. In ​Their Eyes Were Watching God, Z

Hurston expresses that Love can create pathways to growth.

The heart of the innocent tends to wander into paths that can challenge a woman’s

patience. Hurston uses Janie’s first marriage to show readers the immaturity and innocence that

seventeen-year-old Janie possesses. What Janie doesn't realize is that her Grandmother wants her

to be secured. Janie says, “Nanny. Please don’t make me marry Mr. Killicks.” And her

Grandmother responds with, “T’aint Logan killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection”

(15). Because of this time period in society, it was important for a woman to find a man to care

for her; a woman had to sometimes compromise love for security. By stating, “She knew now

that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25), the

narrator expressed that love will and does not come easily. This time in Janie’s life connects to

life outside the novel because there are many young women who are immature and do not know
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the true meaning of love. Young Janie is a representation of a love-hungry woman who will not

stop searching for true love.

Growth allows the shift of maturity to produce self-worth. Janie’s second marriage

exemplifies that over time, Love can guide in needed maturity that can reveal self-worth. The

revelation that was revealed within Janie in her marriage with Joe Starks was apparent. Joe only

wanted Janie to look pretty and to show off when he stated, ​ ​“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”(43). Women can empathize with Janie and

have that same realization: she is more than just a pretty woman. As this marriage progresses,

Joe starts to show his true colors. He ridicules and silences Janie at every chance there is. When

he is on his deathbed, Janie approaches him with final words, “Naw you gointuh listen tuh me

one time befo’ you die...But you wasn’t satisfied wid me de way Ah was” (86). Janie became fed

up and recognized that she didn’t have a voice at all with Joe and she just wasn’t the real woman

she ought to be. Janie has gone through a complete transformation in the past twenty years. The

narrator states, “She went over to the dresser and looked hard at her skin and features. The young

girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place” (87). Throughout this time in Janie’s

life, she has aged and understands things a little more. Over her 20 year marriage, she has been

treated like a servant and was never allowed to speak her mind. Janie is now strong and

completely aware of the type of love to avoid on her journey. This situation that Janie was

engulfed in can teach many women about self-worth and when enough is enough.

On to the next path of Janie’s journey, she explores the level of being comfortable in

love. Janie’s last husband, Tea Cake, has brought fun and authenticity to the table. Janie’s love of
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nature reveals the attractiveness of Tea Cake, “He looked like the love thoughts of women. He

could be a bee to a blossom--a pear tree blossom in the spring... He was a glance from God”

(106). The fact that there was comparison of this man to something as pure and breathtaking as

nature, foreshadows that this love is true and that Tea Cake is Janie’s soul mate. This type of

comparison is familiar for many women today compare their lovers to nature and beautiful

sights. Throughout this budding relationship with Tea Cake, Janie starts to develop a feeling that

she has never felt before. The narrator expresses, “Doubt. All the fears that circumstance could

provide and the heart feel, attacked her on every side. This was a new sensation for her” (108).

Janie wanted to be enough for her new lover, but the fact that she was way older than him

produced a feeling of uncertainty. This sensation can relate outside of the story because many

women possess doubt when dealing with a new relationship and it can be based on the past hurt

or just insecurities. As the relationship progresses on, Janie’s doubts are quelled every time by

Tea Cake, which provided her with security and satisfaction. Janie learned how to have fun and

be herself in this relationship. Even though Tea Cake and Janie’s marriage was cut short, Janie

returned home with ample fulfillment and lessons. Love may not have a cliche, happy-ending,

but love can help a person grow and become more aware of the inner-self.

Zora Neale Hurston uses Janie’s three marriages to show the transformation that took

place to articulate that Love can construct ways to prosperity. Hurston wants the readers to

connect this story to the real world by acknowledging the hardships and struggles of love. Even

though this book was set in the early 1900s, there were many familiar situations that women

today can connect and relate to. There will be trials and tribulations, but it is an individual’s
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choice to learn and move on from them or just dwell on the matter. Love may not be a great

experience for many people, but the lessons acquired from it are everlasting and impactful.
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Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. ​Their Eyes Were Watching God.​ New York: HarperCollins Publishers,

1937.