Symbolism in Their Eyes Were Watching God:
Trees: Throughout the entire novel, different types of trees are mentioned, specifically pear trees. Pears are often culturally referenced, in other works of literature such as the Odyssey where luscious pear trees in Alcinous stayed ripe all through the year. A pear is also the shape of a woman's body, so the pear trees are a symbol of femininity and Janie's sexual awakening. "Janie had spent most of the day under a blossoming pear tree in the back-yard...It stirred her tremendously" (Hurston 10). The pear tree becomes a symbol of the glorified idea of marriage that Janie longs for. "Oh to be a pear tree- any tree in bloom!" (Hurston 11).
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Hair: Janie's hair is beautiful and often what entices different men. Joe Starks forces her to cover her hair up with a head-rag when she is around town, because he does not want other men to be attracted to her. "He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store...She was in the store for him to look at, not those others. But he never said things like that" (Hurston 55). It shows how Joe holds Janie back, keeping her as his trophy wife who cannot interact with others. However, after Joe dies, she removes the head-rag for a moment and feels freedom and independence once more. "She tore down the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair...a handsome woman had taken her place" (Hurston 87). Even Tea Cake loved Janie's hair and brought a brush when he came to see her: "Ah been wishin' so bad tuh get mah hands in yo' hair. It's so pretty. It feels jus' lak underneath uh dove's wing next to mah face" (Hurston 103).
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Horizon: The horizon represents change and freedom throughout the novel. In the beginning, the horizon was just a road, maybe something that Janie would go down someday, but not something certain. It was something she could dream about and imagine something different from what she was living in. On the other hand, when Janie was with Tea Cake she was able to more tangibly have her horizon. By the end of the book, Janie "...pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net" (Hurston 193). She could finally control her own being, and had seen everything she wanted to see. "If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people never seen the light at all. Ah wuz fumblin' round and God opened de door" (Hurston 159).
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Water: When the hurricane occurs, along with the flooding of the lake, it uproots their entire town. They are somehow able to survive the forces of nature, but Tea Cake does not escape unscathed, as he was bitten by a diseased dog. The water is a transition from marriage to independent life for Janie, and from life to death for Tea Cake. "The lake was coming on. Slower and widen, but coming...But it came muttering and grumbling onward like a tired mammoth just the same" (Hurston 163). The water, once a sweet, cleansing drink, became a source of pain and horror for Tea Cake. "Janie dipped up a glass of water and brought it to the bed. Tea Cake took it and filled his mouth and then gagged horribly, disgorging that which was in his mouth and threw his glass upon the floor" (Hurston 174). Water is also connected to love many times, "Love is like the sea" (Hurston 191), and it is what ultimately takes Janie's love away.
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Themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Independence- Janie Finding Her Voice
Janie transforms in this novel. At the start, she was a young, naive, quiet girl who was forced into a marriage by her grandmother. By the end, she had been married three times, but the last time was a caring and loving relationship that taught her more about herself than she thought possible.
Janie with Logan: "'Cause you told me Ah mus gointer love him, and, and Ah don't. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it'" (Hurston 23). -She was clearly forced into a loveless marriage by her grandmother, but stays subservient just the same, only lightly complaining but still attempting to fit in. "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (Hurston 25). Her grandmother did not understand that there could be anything different from her own life, and that a marriage could actually be full of love and care between two people. Her grandmother had had such a rough life that she did not think that there was anything different out there.
Janie with Joe: Originally, her plan had been to run away from Logan and find her horizon and develop her own voice with Joe, but this was not the case. "No matter what Jody did, she said nothing" (Hurston 76). "'...you wasn't satisfied wid me the way I was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me'" (Hurston 86). -Janie starts to see that she is being held down by men, and starts to gain a voice, but it is too late, as Joe is dying. After Joe, Janie goes through a major turning point in finding her voice, because she not only questions Joe's masculinity and his own ability to understand himself, but she tells him that she is secure in herself.
Janie with Tea Cake: Janie found her horizon with Tea Cake, her true love. "Tea Cake, 'taint' no use in you bein' jealous uh me...Ah couldn't love nobody but yuh" (Hurston 180). -Janie finally found a loving marriage, and she is able to live out her dreams that she had imagined since she was just sixteen years old.
Janie: "Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder...She called her soul to come in and see" (Hurston 193). -Janie now has control of herself and her thoughts, and has come to peace with her life and experiences. She has found her voice and told her story to Phoeby, and is complete. One of the other important aspects of the formalistic lens is the point of view, and Janie's strong and changing p.o.v. throughout the novel allowed for an interesting and intellectual novel.
Janie with Logan: "'Cause you told me Ah mus gointer love him, and, and Ah don't. Maybe if somebody was to tell me how, Ah could do it'" (Hurston 23). -She was clearly forced into a loveless marriage by her grandmother, but stays subservient just the same, only lightly complaining but still attempting to fit in. "Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (Hurston 25). Her grandmother did not understand that there could be anything different from her own life, and that a marriage could actually be full of love and care between two people. Her grandmother had had such a rough life that she did not think that there was anything different out there.
Janie with Joe: Originally, her plan had been to run away from Logan and find her horizon and develop her own voice with Joe, but this was not the case. "No matter what Jody did, she said nothing" (Hurston 76). "'...you wasn't satisfied wid me the way I was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me'" (Hurston 86). -Janie starts to see that she is being held down by men, and starts to gain a voice, but it is too late, as Joe is dying. After Joe, Janie goes through a major turning point in finding her voice, because she not only questions Joe's masculinity and his own ability to understand himself, but she tells him that she is secure in herself.
Janie with Tea Cake: Janie found her horizon with Tea Cake, her true love. "Tea Cake, 'taint' no use in you bein' jealous uh me...Ah couldn't love nobody but yuh" (Hurston 180). -Janie finally found a loving marriage, and she is able to live out her dreams that she had imagined since she was just sixteen years old.
Janie: "Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder...She called her soul to come in and see" (Hurston 193). -Janie now has control of herself and her thoughts, and has come to peace with her life and experiences. She has found her voice and told her story to Phoeby, and is complete. One of the other important aspects of the formalistic lens is the point of view, and Janie's strong and changing p.o.v. throughout the novel allowed for an interesting and intellectual novel.
This change can be connected on another level to the natural world, because trees, water, and flowers are frequently mentioned throughout the novel. Man must accept that nature is beyond his control, as Janie at times had to accept her submissive position as a woman.
"...he saw that wind and water had given life to lots of things that folks think of as dead and given death to so much that had been living things" (Hurston 160).
Janie's life is often connected to nature as well, as seen in the quote, "Janie saw her life like a great tree in life with things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone" (Hurston 16). Her connections to nature show the development of her individuality and the ability to use her voice slowly becoming more feasible. She is using nature to symbolize what she idealizes about marriage, and her bond with nature over time shows her also coming to accept herself.
"...he saw that wind and water had given life to lots of things that folks think of as dead and given death to so much that had been living things" (Hurston 160).
Janie's life is often connected to nature as well, as seen in the quote, "Janie saw her life like a great tree in life with things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone" (Hurston 16). Her connections to nature show the development of her individuality and the ability to use her voice slowly becoming more feasible. She is using nature to symbolize what she idealizes about marriage, and her bond with nature over time shows her also coming to accept herself.