The ending of “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston was definitely a twist. Here I thought the author was setting up the story so that Janie would never find love or her “horizon”. To my surprise however, she did find it, yet had to choose between love and independence. After all this searching, it is odd that Janie is the one to end her own search for love. Even though Hurston’s piece of writing had many different contradictory aspects to it, I would argue that it is a primarily feminist novel. In the end, for example, Janie chooses to kill her husband. Even though it was in order to survive, this shows her strength and independence shinning through. It was not that she did not love Tea Cake, as she did show true remorse for her husband’s death this time around, but it was that it was no longer the most important thing in the world to her. Her curiosity had now been quenched. The fact that Janie also walked all the way back to her hometown in the same day that her husband died showed enormous willpower to carry on.
After the death of Tea Cake, Janie did not break down along her journey back home, nor cry over the loss of her love. This shows that women do not need a high social status, nor a husband or loved one around in order to be themselves and to be strong. Janie was able to carry on, a content woman, after having accomplished and acquiring both of these things. She was happy with her simple way of life, and she no longer cared about what the people around her thought or gossiped about. Janie did not need the financial backing or protection of some prestigious man (like
I feel that this novel, although it does seem to show woman’s inferiority to men at times, such as to Jody when he yells at Janie and Tea Cake when he beats her, is a feminist novel. It tells the adventures of a woman who is finding herself, and who strikes out on her own in the end. It portrays the types of hardships that she has to face and go through, in order to find her own way in the world. The main concentration of the book is on Janie who breaks gender roles such as playing checkers with her husband and learning how to shoot. Janie also, in a very vibrant way, breaks free of all inferiority to men, by killing her husband, and in doing so, finds her voice so to speak and finally is able to remove all the shackles in which the community has placed on her.
8 comments:
Hey Jessica,
I don't know if I would say Janie was "satisfied" at the end of the story because she still did miss Tea Cake and he would be alive to her until she stopped thinking about him, which underneath it all I'm pretty sure made her sad,but you are right, she did prove to the community she didn't need a man to protect her or help her survive life. She did it all basically on her and took each experience she had and put meaning to it because she realized they were lessons, not just coincidences.
I really like how you pointed out that women are able to live on their own and that in fact it may be easy and better for them to do so. It worked out for Janie because she realized that after all she has been through she doesn't need a man at her side to give her financial protection, she can work and give herself financial protection. I also liked that in the end Janie realized that she had had enough of trying to find love, she found it and as long as she knew that she felt it once then she never needed to feel it again.
I think that your point about Janie's independence is a significant one. I think it is unusual that women characters are portrayed in such a manner. Janie breaks the mold of a dependent woman. She is the model of an independent woman who leaves a husband and works. She is able to stand on her own. She makes decisions for herself. I think that Huston makes a profound statement about women.
I agree that Hurston is highlighting the independance of women in an age when marriage was the norm. Janie demonstrates how a journey is not about the things in life, but how you get there. Hurston showed that women do not need to fit the mold for marriage, or dependance or even what we want out of life. Perhaps it is about each of us finding our own voice and the journey of learning to use it.
I agree with your point about Janie being satisfied at the end of the novel and with her decision to kill Tea Cake. This event gave Janie a sense of accomplishment for herself and to show that she had the upper hand in the end. I felt the significance of this occurance proved that Janie had more confidence and respect for herself to not let a man run her life ever again.
I agree that Janie's ability to take the life of Tea cake shows her strenght and independence, but her true strength is shown in her travel home like you said it showed a lot of willpower to go home and face all those people and their accusations. This shows her true strength.
You really make Janie seem a lot stronger than I had originally thought. I like how you brought up the point about how she was able to carry on and get back to things after Tea Cake died. It's crazy that she went back to her town the same day that Tea Cake died without a tear. Not many women (or men) that I could think of could do that, especially if they had the love that Janie and Tea Cake had. Also I like how you brought up the point about money not really being an issue to Janie. Love was more important to Jane than money, and even when she had both she let the money be, and worked alongside her husband.
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