Whartons The Age Of Innocence And Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Idea Of Society - Essay Example

?WHARTON’S THE AGE OF INNOCENCE AND HURSTON’S THEIR EYES WERE WATCHING GOD Introduction The notion that society will be included in a piece of literary work as a character may seem abstract but in reality, this is something that can easily happen. This is so because the themes and topical issues that are addressed by writers about people in society actually reflect the viewpoint of society about the people living in it (quote). This is to say that society is made up of people and so any theme that addresses the needs of people addresses the needs of society. Consequently, when authors use their works to address specific and identifiable issues in society, what they are actually saying is that ‘society is giving a message to the people who live in it’. This is in this direction that society could be touted as being used as a character in a given novel or work of literature. In Wharton’s “The Age of Innocence” and Huston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, we read of how the authors bring out specific aspects and issues of the America society at the time at which the stories were set. Based on the issues that the authors about the American society, it can be said that society was used as a character to speak out on matters that affects it negatively and how it wants these issues addressed by other characters around it. How each book conceive of the idea of society In both books, the authors conceive the idea of society as a make up of different people, each of whom is aspiring to have their own versions of satisfaction by pursuing what their hearts desire most. In doing this, light is shed on the fact that even though each person may come into this world as an individual, the collective interactions that exist between each of each forms the concept of society. Each book thus conceives society as a make up different people with different ambitions that bring about variety and diversity. In essence, society is seen as a variety of individual beings, having a social interaction together. In “Their eyes were watching God” for instance, we read of how Janie and Jody, each having different ambitions for life. Whereas Janie was looking for her independence to be herself as a Black female, Jody was seeking ways of exhibit power and fame (Hurston, p. 16 and p. 43). The author of “The Age of Innocence” adds a new dimension to society as a very powerful tool for determining the way that people ought to act. For instance even though Newland had fallen in love with Ellen and had planned on living his wife for her, the mere fact that he heard that his wife was pregnant made him resend his decision. What this means is that societal structures and systems such as the family system has so much power on the actions and deeds of the people within the society. It is not for nothing that even though it was said that “He had known the love that is fed on caresses and feeds them; but this passion that was closer than his bones was not to be superficially satisfied” (Wharton, p. 157), Newland could still not go ahead to take what he wanted because of the societal system. Who are included or excluded from each author’s society Hurston presents an American society that is made up of a White population, dominating a Black population. It was also made up of a Male population, dominating a Female population. To this end, Janie, who happened to be both a female and a Black was supposed to experience a major exclusion from the author’s society. But interestingly, Janie could single handedly fight for a place in the society of the author even to the end of the book. This is because she defiled the gossips that were going on around her to ensure that she attained what she wanted in life, which was the independence of her identity. So at the concluding part of the story, it was stated that “It was not death she feared. It was misunderstanding” (Hurston, p. 188). This means that the major fight that Janie was involved in was a fight to give her a place in the society in which she had sadly been sidelined from. In “The Age of Innocence” also, the author created a society around the family of Ellen and totally excluded Ellen out of this society. The reason is that the family, which is this case, is seen as a society wanted the marriage institution to be treated in a specific manner. Such manner included the nothing that it was wrong for Ellen to divorce the Count. Because of this, the family did everything possible including refusing to attend her welcoming dinner party (Wharton, p. 42) as a way of expressing their disapproval and Ellen’s exclusion from the society of ‘perceived decent people’ that was created. How the two authors show society shaping the course of events As indicated earlier, society was given a pivotal role to play as a character that had its own way of controlling the course of events and other people. In “Their eyes were watching God” for instance, society was represented by the larger mentality that the people within it have. To this end, the Nanny based on the mentality of society that it is more glamorous and dignifying for a woman to be married to a wealthy to force her way to getting Janie marry Logan. Indeed, this was a way that society shaped the course of the event of marriage for Janie, which was supposed to be a life long venture for her. The fact that Janie would later fall out of that marriage means that but for society shaping her decision, through the decision of her grandmother, she would not have made the choice of Logan in the first place. In “The Age of Innocence” also, societal institutions and systems were presented as the phenomenon that has the power to shaping the course of events of the people within it. By so doing, the nuclear family system was give so much influence over the decision of Newland, such that but for the baby he was expecting from his wife, he would have abandoned his family and gone in for another woman. Conclusion What do you think each author is arguing about the role of society? So far, what the authors are arguing about the role of society stands out so clear in the two books. That is, even though society is made up of individual beings who each have their individual freedoms and rights, it is the collective norms of society that regulate how people should conduct themselves and why people should conduct themselves in those manner. By the pronouncement that “And all the while, I suppose," he thought, "real people were living somewhere, and real things happening to them ...” (Wharton, p. 211), it can be realized that once society sets its standards, all people who refuse to live within those standards are classified as unreal and are looked down upon by the larger society as people who do not belong to the accepted fraternity. Society’s role is therefore to shape the way the people in it behave and conduct themselves. CITED WORKS Hurston, Zora N. Their Eyes were watching God. New York: J.B. Lippincott. 1937.Print Wharton, Edith. The Age of Innocence. New York: HarperCollins Publishers. 1920. Print Read More