Their Eyes Were Watching God Has Been Called an Awakening Novel - Essay Example

Their Eyes were Watching God has been called "an awakening novel”. Discuss the meaning of this termand relate it to Janie. Their eyes were watching God has been called “an awakening novel” because it enlightens us of many important issues in the society which must be dealt with. The novel also teaches us some important lessons of life though Janie Crawford, the central character’s life, her search for love, her ultimate goals and her experiences. These lessons can otherwise only be learnt through experience. The novel is the story of Janie, a sixteen year old girl who dreams of love. The story expands to the next twenty four years of her life during which she got marries three times. During this time frame Janie has experienced both love and rejection. Janie returns her hometown in a draggled and tired out. Everyone is astonished to see her in this condition. There she becomes the subject of criticism for porch sitters who gossip outside her friend Pheoby and her husband Sam Watson’s home. However Janie has a friend name Pheoby who defends her and tries to comfort her by asking her what has happened during a last few months. She takes Janie to her house and offers her food and comfort and empathically listens to her story. From here onwards the theme of judgment has been developed in the novel. Porch sitters judged Janie in a wrong way by using harsh words and criticizing her past actions and current look, whereas Pheoby being a nice human and a good friend chose to comfort her. Obviously Pheoby’s choice and actions were a lot better than those of porch sitters. Janie begins telling her story from her early childhood when she used to live with her grandmother Nanny. One day she was in the backyard of her home when a boy named Johnny Taylor meets her and kisses her. Her grandmother saw this and decided that it’s time that she gets married to a capable man who can look after her and protect her. So she decides to marry her to Logan Killicks who is a much older man and can offer Janie protection and a potato farm. The author Hurston compares Janie’s life with a tree stating, “"Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done, and undone." And from then onwards Hurston continued to use the image of tree and Janie yearns for true love and fondness. Hurston uses metaphors for Janie by also stating, "She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her." Janie was struggling to find the answers to questions about love and freedom and these were the ultimate goals of her life. Very soon Janie and Logan Killicks are married and they go to the potato farm to live their life. However even after 3 months of marriage Janie hasn’t yet found the true love she was looking for. She visits her home seeking grandma’s advice saying, "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think." But grandma just gives her a wait-and-see advice. This first marriage has only brought unhappiness and loneliness for Janie. At this point her dream of love and felicity dies and she begins to understand that "marriage did not make love." Logan disregarded all of Janie’s feelings and esire for love and wanted her just to work on his farm like his first wife. Janie clearly hasn’t got from her marriage what she desired of, so one time she responded to Logan’s orders by saying, "If you can stand not to chop wood and tote wood Ah reckon you can stand not to git no dinner." Janie then meets Joe, a stylish and sophisticated man. At one time Joe tells Janie, "A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yoself and eat ptaters dat other folks plant just special for you." After having been talking for many days they finally decide to run away and get married to each other. They arrive in town and get married. Soon Joe is elected as the mayor of the town and he gets himself busy in building and developing his new town, paying little or no attention to his wife’s feelings and love needs. Being mayor he even puts some restrictions on Janie such as not wearing her long dark beautiful hairs in public and not trying to be friends with the townsfolk. Janie feels excluded and ignored. And once again second marriage hasnt worked out for her. Joe was a dominating husband and very soon he started to berate Janie and one time when her cooked food failed to meet his expectations he slaps her. This shattered Joe’s image in her eyes. Janie also spoke against the torturing of mule by saying that, "people ought to have some regard for helpless things." Which is very true. Joe kept ridiculing Janie and their tasteless marriage continued as Joe began to show signs of aging and illness. When Joe starts insulting Janie in front of porch sitters and in tJanie’s store she felt really broken as if "somebody snatched off part of a womans clothes while she wasnt looking and the street were crowded." Finally Janie decides to stood up for herself and expose Joe in front of the townsfolk. She insults his manhood ahead of the porch sitters, and he responded by hitting her as hard as he could. When Joe got severely sick, he didn’t allow Janie to take care of him and restricted her presence in the sickroom. Janie tried to fulfill all her responsibilities as a wife and finally called a doctor but it was too late, and both of Joe’s kidneys have failed. Even after 20 years of marriage Janie is not happy and she hasn’t found true love. After Joe’s death Janie meets Tea Cake, a young happy and attractive man. Very soon they both grow fondness of each other and decided to marry which was not liked by the townsfolk as they thought it was too soon after Joe’s death for their mayor’s wife to be involved with any other man. But they got married in Jacksonville and decided to move to Everglades to live and work in a corn field. Unlike her first two husbands, Tea Cake showed concern for his wife Janie. He expressed his love to her and even when he was at his work he told her how much he missed her. The love between them was growing as each day passed and they even felt jealous when some other young man or woman tried to flirt with either of them. Janie had finally found the true love and happiness sin her life. In summer the storm struck their hometown and many people died. During this storm a dog bit Tea Cake on his cheek which later resulted in infection and severe illness. When he dies Janie mourns and is very much sad. Janie’s flashbacks end there. In her journey during all these years, Janie has learnt two great lessons i.e., people must "go tuh God," and they must "find out about livin fuh theyselves." Janie’s life story could serve as a great lesson for both her friend Pheoby and the readers of the novel. Hence this is awakening and well-versed. Since the love between Janie and Tea Cake was true and many profound memories were associated with it, Janie realizes that until she is alive, the memory of Tea Cake will live within her heart. Janie has thus found the peace she was looking for her entire life. Works Cited Hurston, Z. Neale. Their Eyes were Watching God. University of Illinois Press, 1991. Print. Shmoop. Their Eyes Were Watching God: Shmoop Literature Guide. Shmoop University Inc, 2010. Print. Read More