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  • Essay / « Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston and The Character of Jane

    IntroductionLove is something that everyone wants to achieve at some point in their life. In the fictional novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, love is exactly what Janie, the main character, wants. This book is set in the early 1900s and describes the story of a woman named Janie, who is looking for love. She encounters many obstacles in her three relationships with Logan, Jody and Tea Cake. She struggles in relationships until she meets Tea Cake, where her journey ends. Overall, this heroic journey Janie is on is all about love. For Janie and many others, love is worth fighting for. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayLove is worth fighting forThe CallThere is always something that motivates a person to begin their journey. As far as Janie is concerned, her motivation is handstands. When Janie was sixteen, she would sit under this pear tree and talk about her idea of ​​what love is and what kind of love she wanted in life, while doing this. Hurston says, “She was lying on her back under the handstand tree. soaking in the alto song of visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze as the inaudible voice of it all reached him. She saw a dusty bee sinking into the sanctuary of a flower; the thousand sister chalices arch to meet the loving embrace and ecstatic thrill of the tree, from root to smallest branch, creaming in each flower and sparkling with delight. So it was a wedding! She had been summoned to see a revelation” (11). As she sat under that tree, it was almost as if it was sending her a message to find pure love, and after that time she spent there, she wouldn't do it again. stop until she finds it. Janie left her first marriage to Logan for Joe to see if she could experience love with him, and she left with Tea Cake to see where their relationship could go. Janie was willing to do anything for love, and it all rests on the ground. Allies Going through life without a friend who supports you in everything you do is difficult. Luckily, Janie had someone to help her overcome the obstacles in her love life, and her name was Phoebe. She was the only person who understood Janie and didn't judge her. She wanted what was best for her and didn't want Janie to get hurt. When Janie finishes her story, Phoebe explains, "I made my teenage feet grow taller listening to you, Janie." Ah, I'm not satisfied with myself. . . No one has any interest in not criticizing you when they hear” (192). . She supported her and helped her get through it. Phoebe wouldn't let anyone hurt Janie now that she knew the truth. She never stopped Janie from experiencing everything she could in life. She's stood by her through thick and thin, and that definitely makes Phoebe an ally. Preparation You can't run a marathon without preparing for it. You need to take a test and prepare yourself for reality. You have to experience it first, because your first attempt is never perfect. When Janie sat under that handstand and created her own idea of ​​love, she immediately shared her first kiss with Johnny Taylor. After her experience under the tree, she saw people differently through her own eyes. For example: “Thanks to the pollinated air, she saw a glorious being arriving on the road. In his former blindness, she had known him as the impassive Johnny Taylor, tall and thin. It was before the golden dust ofpollen does not bewitch his rags and his eyes” (12). At that moment, she realized that she had to start seeing people for who they really are. She had to start her expedition now and gather enough courage to succeed, and that's when she prepared for the long journey ahead of her. Guardian of the ThresholdLife in the early 1900s was difficult for people of color, and even worse for a woman. Janie's grandmother, also known as a nanny, had planned Janie's life. Nanny didn't have the easiest life as a black woman, she was a slave and never had a normal life, nor money to fall back on. She wants Janie to marry a man who has money, even if there is no love in the relationship. This is the opposite of what Janie wants. Nanny forces Janie to marry Logan Killicks, a man who owns many acres. Janie feels nothing for him, and only marries him to make Nanny happy. Logan is not what Janie imagined under the pear tree, it was even mentioned that "Logan Killicks' vision desecrated the pear tree, but Janie didn't know how to tell Nanny that" (14). Nanny was holding Janie back from her dream and she was stopping Janie from doing a lot of things. For example, when Janie kissed Johnny Taylor, Nanny was furious. This isn't what she wanted for Janie, but Janie doesn't care how much money a person has and what they can provide. All she wanted from a relationship was love, nothing else. Crossing the Threshold When you are on a mission you have to get to the point where it actually begins, this could take days, months, or even years. Her first marriage was to Logan Killicks, she thought maybe her love would eventually come to her, but it never happened. She married him because she followed Nanny's rules. He wanted her to work, but she didn't think the job suited her very well. When Joe arrived in the town where Logan and Janie worked, everything changed. Janie ended up running away with him, to see if she could experience true love. Janie's idea of ​​marriage changed: “She now knew that marriage wasn't about love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25). Leaving Logan is where Janie's journey began. She thought running away with Joe was the best possible thing for her. Everything ends at some point. The Road to Trials Every couple experiences problems in their relationships, Janie being one of them. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie experienced ups and downs with three men, Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake. Logan wanted Janie to work, which is not what she wanted to do, Jody treated her like a trophy wife, and there was no real love there, and even though his relationship with Tea Cake seemed perfect, they had difficulties. Janie had to fight against the fact that Tea Cake might have been with her for the money, maybe it wasn't true, but she had to listen to the whole town criticize their relationship. No relationship is perfect, but it can always improve in some cases. Logan and Janie's relationship was complicated. Janie never liked him and she realized she never would. For example, “Because you [Nanny] told me I had to love him [Logan], and, and Ah, don't do it. Maybe if someone told me how, Ah could do it” (23). Janie didn't even know how to love him, she couldn't see past the old man he was on the outside. Additionally, Logan wanted Janie to work in the fields with him since he owned many acres. Logan didn't understand that working is not what Janie wanted, so he told her, "If Ah, my cousin, carries the wood and cuts it, look." lak, youshould be able to put it inside. My first wife never bothered me about chopping wood, under any circumstances. She would grab that ax and throw chips, lak uh man. You have been spoiled rotten” (26). Logan criticized her for not working and compared her to his first wife. For Logan, it was normal for a woman to work. But, under the handstand, Janie imagined a relationship in which she could stay home and relax while the man worked and brought home money. It was almost all normal relationships back then. Everyone has a different opinion. Janie expected a perfect relationship when she left with Joe, he made her feel good at the start of their relationship. When Joe became mayor, things began to change. He felt the rise of power and began to become a different person. He never let her talk, she was told to sit down and look pretty. An example of this is when Jody speaks in front of the town of Eatonville before the street light is turned on. He finishes his speech and the crowd demands to hear Janie speak. Jody refuses their request and doesn't let her speak. Janie feels like her opinion doesn't matter. She is extremely hurt by it and doesn't like it at all. Throughout their relationship he continues to do things like this. She can't let her hair down because he doesn't like other men touching it, and she's not allowed to play checkers because she's a woman. Their relationship was ruined and there was no way back. Joe ruined it and didn't care at all. If your wife is happy that you died, it sends a very important message. Power can change a man. It was with Tea Cake that Janie hit the jackpot, but there are still problems. Dating a younger man sends a confusing message to others. People believed that Tea Cake was after money and would never truly love her. Janie had to trust her instincts and believe that the love she had for Tea Cake was genuine. When Janie talks to Phoebe, she hears things she doesn't want to hear. Phoebe says, "But anyway, Janie, be careful not to sell out and go off with strange men." Look what happened with Annie Tyler. She took what little she had and moved to Tampa with this boy they call Who Flung. It’s something to think about” (114). Phoebe was putting thoughts into Janie's head. When Janie woke up one morning after they left for Florida and found that Tea Cake was missing, along with her money, she jumped to conclusions because of what people had told her. She was furious with Tea Cake, she was never able to fully trust him until she was sure it was true love. The opinions of others can really change the way you think. Janie faced problems in all of her relationships, and she was only able to overcome them in one of them, the one where there was actually love between the two. She couldn't work with Logan because she didn't love him enough to do that for him, she couldn't deal with Jody's rules because he controlled her and sucked all her love for him out of her. Janie couldn't be in a relationship that only made the other person happy, she needed happiness too. Janie is grateful to have finally found her true love. The Saving Experience Although Janie never felt the tragedy of Joe's death, it still affected her in other ways. She was forced to wear black to satisfy the town and pretend to be sad. The black she wore seemed to represent more her sadness at all the misery.