Kyle Cooper

Mr. Burnett

A.P Literature

14 January 2020
Alienation

A society's values and morals can be highlighted in writings using characters that

are alienated from that society because of their gender, race, or class. This can be seen

in the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, which follows the main character, Janie

Crawford, throughout her life. During Janie's life, she is alienated in many different

ways because of her gender, race, and class. Through Janie’s alienation, the

surrounding society's assumptions regarding moral values when it comes to the lower

class, African Americans, and women become apparent.

In the beginning of Janie's life, she was alienated because of her race. She

started her life living with her grandmother who lived on the property of the white family

she worked for. Janie's alienation because of race did not occur until she saw a photo of

herself next to the white children. Prior to seeing this picture, she did not realize that she

was different from the other children. This realization shows that initially Janie was not

alienated by her race. Once she started school, her differences became even more

clear to her because she started to be bullied by the other children. Even other African

American children would taunt Janie because she wore hand-me-downs from the white

children she lived with. Thus, Janie’s alienation by race is made more obvious because

she was not alienated in the beginning of her life. Without the comparison between her

early life and her life while in school, Jamie's alienation by race would be unclear.

Furthermore, Janie's alienation due to her race shows how strong the slave society in

the south was. Even years after slavery ended, African Americans were not treated
equally. In this society, those of color we're expected to be lower class and treated as if

they did not matter as much as white people. Therefore, when Janie goes beyond the

society's standards for African Americans, she is treated horribly. Janie's treatment by

other people also shows how little this society values people of color. Through Janie's

awful treatment, it can also be implied that this society felt threatened by African

Americans moving up in status. Typically, those of color were of lower status, so they

did not have very nice clothes or places to live. However, even though Janie is colored,

she has a good home and nice clothes. These better aspects of Janie's life separates

her from most African Americans during this time period. Nevertheless, Janie is not

treated like a white person because she's African American. She's alienated by white

people because she is of color, but she is also alienated by people of color, because

certain aspects of her life are more like a white person's. It shows that the society feels

threatened by colored people having a higher status because even though Janie's life

was similar to a white person's, she is still treated badly. Overall, in this society, race

was very important to status. An African American could be just as intelligent as a white

person, but she would be treated completely different.

In the next phase of her life, Janie is alienated by her class. When Janie is just a

teen, her grandmother, also known as Nanny, forces her to marry a man that she does

not love. She wants Janie to get married so that she will not suffer as she and Janie's

mother did. However, this marriage started most of Janie's suffering. While Nanny did

provide Janie with a stable and mostly happy home, they were still a low-class family

because her grandmother did not make very much money. Therefore, in her

grandmother's eyes, if Janie married a respected, higher class man, then she would
have a better life. As a result, Janie’s circumstances do not give her much of a choice in

the marriage. Since she is from a lower class, she does not have many choices about

how she wants her life to go, causing her alienation by class. Janie's alienation by class

is shown through her treatment by others. Since she is from lower class, she is treated

poorly by being forced into an unwanted marriage. Unfortunately, Janie's alienation by

class causes her a great deal of pain. Her husband, Logan, is fine at first, but quickly

becomes abusive by frequently threatening her. Since Janie does not have any other

options at this point, due to her class, she is forced to endure this abuse until another

man rescues her. This alienation shows what the society thinks about lower classes. In

this society, they believe that lower people are typically doomed to have bad lives.

Furthermore, it is implied that this society’s upper class people are more intelligent and

have more options for their lives. Janie's first marriage with Logan shows what the

society expects of all lower class marriages. They expect lower class relationships to be

forced due to grim circumstances. This is made clear when Janie does not leave her

abusive husband until another man comes for her. In general, this society had very low

standards regarding lower class people which is made obvious by Janie's alienation due

to her class.

Lastly, Janie became alienated by her gender after she left her first husband,

Logan. Janie leaves her first husband after another man, Jody, persuades her that he

will be a better husband. Janie knows that Logan is being abusive, so she takes Jody's

offer and runs away with him. In the beginning of their relationship, it seems like Jody is

going to be a better husband for Janie. However, as the relationship develops, he

begins to alienate her because of her gender. When Jody becomes the mayor of the
town of Eatonville, he becomes very possessive of Janie. There are an abundance of

other men in the town that find Janie very attractive. When Jody notices this, he starts

alienating Janie. He tells her that she had to start wearing her hair up in order to look

less attractive to the other men. In addition, she also is not allowed to participate in

activities with other people in the town. For example, when the mule that Jody bought

for Janie dies, Jody forbids her from going to the funeral, for he does not feel she is

worthy enough of going. Jody only allows her to be at home or at work because she is a

woman. In his opinion, the only places she needs to be are at home or at the store. This

restrictiveness shows how this society felt about women. In this society, women were

like objects for men to possess. Janie’s alienation because of her gender emphasizes

that this society did not highly value women. Here, women are supposed to play the role

of a submissive housewife. This idea can be applied to the way Jody alienates Janie.

He does now want other men in the town to see her because he feels like he owns her,

since they are married. Since the other people in this society allow Janie's poor

treatment to continue, it shows that this is the standard. All in all, this society believes

that women are objects owned by their husbands, which is obvious through the

alienation of Janie, from Jody, because of her gender.

In conclusion, when a character is alienated because of her gender, race, or

class, it shows the society's assumptions and values. In the novel, Their Eyes Were

Watching God, Janie is alienated in multiple different ways that show her surrounding

society's views on African Americans and women. In this society, both African

Americans and women are not highly valued. For those of color, they are still seen as

lower than the white citizens even though slavery has been over for many years. As for
women, they are seen as objects for men to control and possess. Alienation of a

character for any reason, including gender, race, and class, emphasizes the society's

assumptions and values about those concepts.