Journey To The Horizon in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes...

â€Å"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board,† (Page 1) starts Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, a story about a young girl’s experiences as she tries to find love. The novel begins by distinguishing the dreams of men and women. The dreams of men either come along naturally, or â€Å"sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.† (Page 1) Women, on the other hand, remember only what they want to remember. For them, â€Å"The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.† (Page 1) Janie is a young girl raised by her â€Å"old-fashioned† grandmother who has a fixed outlook on marriage. Her grandmother believes†¦show more content†¦Janie’s first two marriages with Logan Killicks and Jody Starks are not true relationships because they do not reach the eternal line of mutuality, which leads Janie to her last relationship in which she finally realizes the true sensation of love. Janie’s grandmother arranges Janie into a marriage with Logan Killicks as soon as Janie begins to sexually mature. Logan never approaches Janie to ask for her marriage and does not pursue her on his own. He is a grown man who owns sixty acres of land and works all day trying to please Janie. Logan and Janie are two incompatible human beings because Logan is much older than she is. There is a keen distinction between each of their outlooks on the world. Logan, being part of the first generation out of slavery, appreciates things that Janie does not (class discussion). Janie has grown up in a protective society where she did not have to work and never had to take care of herself. She is spoiled and has a completely different outlook on life. Logan does not wash his feet, which is a sign of disregard for Janie. He spoils Janie but does not display the image of love she is looking for. She is placed into the marriage and believes that she will learn to love him after they marry. But while the marriage carries on, Janie realizes that their relationship does not display the respect she is looking for. By the end of their relationship,Show MoreRelatedCritique of Oprah Winfreys Film Version of Their Eyes Were Watching God1771 Words   |  8 PagesOprah Winfrey lied on the opposite end of Zora Neale Hurston’s spectrum when she produced her atrocious rendition of Hurston’s stellar novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. She modified characters and symbols, altered the theme and relationships, and utterly desolated the significance of the title, making it almost unrecognizable to someone who has read the book. Winfrey totally eviscerated Hurston’s unsurpassed novel, extrapolating what she thought important without going in depth in to the trueRead MoreThe Life of American Women in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God895 Words   |  4 PagesZora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel illustrating the l ife of an African American woman that finds her voice through many trials and tribulations. At the heart of the story, Hurston portrays a protagonist who moves from a passive state to independence, from passive woman with no voice who is dominated by her husband to a woman who can think and act for herself. Hurston achieves the greater theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God, of self-expression and independence throughRead MoreJanies Self-Discovery Essay1481 Words   |  6 PagesTheir Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about a young woman that is lost in her own world. 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Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story about one womans quest to free herself from repression and explore her own identity; this is the story of Janie Crawford and her journey for self-knowledge and fulfillment.   Janie transforms many times as she undergoes the process of self-discovery as she changes through her experiences with three completelyRead More Contrasting Native Son and Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay4128 Words   |  17 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper examines the drastic differences in literary themes and styles of Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, two African--American writers from the early 1900s. The portrayals of African-American women by each author are contrasted based on specific examples from their two most prominent novels, Native Son by Wright, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston. With the intent to explain this divergence, the autobiographies of both authors (Black Boy and Dust Tracks on a Road) areRead MoreTheir Eyes Looked Onward : Zora Neale Hurston2748 Words   |  11 PagesSruthi Rameshkumar Mr. Rossi AP English III (7) 2 March 2014 Their Eyes Looked Onward How Zora Neale Hurston uses relationships to fulfil an individual’s quest for identity In her 2013 novel Allegiant, author Veronica Roth stated, â€Å"I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me – they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could† (Roth). In other words, relationships are what humans derive strength and experience from, which they use toRead MoreFemale Empowerment By Zora Neale Hurston And Their Eyes Were Watching God1874 Words   |  8 PagesEmpowerment in Zora Neale Hurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God Their Eyes Were Watching God was a book that presented the world with a new look on writing novels. Zora Neale Hurston’s experience in what she has seen through research was embodies in this novel. She demonstrates what data she has collected and intertwined it into the culture within the novel. While being a folklorist/anthropologist, and inspired by her life experiences, she developed a character who dealt with the issues that were notRead More Powerful Symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston1407 Words   |  6 PagesPowerful Symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston       In 1937, upon the first publication of Their Eyes Were Watching God, the most influential black writer of his time, Richard Wright, stated that the novel carries no theme, no message, [and] no thought.   Wrights powerful critique epitomized a nations attitude toward Zora Neale Hurstons second novel. African-American critics read a book that they felt satisfied the white mans stereotype of African-American cultureRead More Use of Metaphors in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston2926 Words   |  12 PagesZora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God follows protagonist Janie Mae Crawford’s journey into womanhood and her ultimate quest for self-discovery. Having to abruptly transition from childhood to adulthood at the age of sixteen, the story demonstrates Janie’s eternal struggle to find her own voice and realize her dreams through three marriages and a lifetime of hardships that come about from being a black woman in America in the early 20th centu ry. Throughout the novel, Hurston uses powerful metaphors