The American Dream is one of the founding concepts of the United States, yet it takes on different forms. As each person perceives the world differently, one may have particular desires and aspirations that do not correspond with the majority’s view. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston portrays the American Dream of Janie Crawford, an African-American woman. The Dream for her is all about self-realization and mutual affection in a loving relationship in the age when women’s personalities were subdued by archaic traditions regarding their womanhood and status in the society.
The very idea of the American Dream has always attracted much attention. According to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States, freedom and equal rights are the country’s founding principles. These key elements formed the core of the general understanding of the American Dream, i.e., it consists of vast self-realization opportunities that are available to every citizen of the United States. However, according to Bruno, these concepts “may take on different representation(s) to people overtime” (3). At the time the founding documents were signed, African-American people were not considered to be U.S. citizens, while slavery and segregation continued for centuries.
Hurston’s novel takes place in the early 20th century and depicts the life of an African-American woman who has to deal with race and gender-based injustice throughout her story. Nanny, Janie’s grandmother, used to be a slave abused by her owner, so she is cautious regarding men. She insists that Janie should marry a man that would protect her, while love is not a requirement. A woman’s role at the time was limited to staying in the shadow of her man. As Jody Starks, her second husband, said, “Muh wife don’t know nothin’ bout no speech-makin … and her place is in de home” (Hurston 53). Nevertheless, the idea of an African-American woman’s liberation and self-realization is seen throughout the novel.
Hurston depicts the patriarchy-ruled society of the early 20th century, where womanhood was subdued. Janie does not agree to conform, as she sees happiness in exploring her love, feelings, and sexuality. As she goes through three marriages, Janie faces sad reality when she becomes a victim of domestic abuse, instead of receiving love and support. Once she ran away with Starks to become a landowner’s wife, she shortly realized that romantic feelings disappeared only to be replaced by disrespect and criticism on Starks’ behalf (Quasim et al. 6). As he is dying, Janie makes it clear that she was never free in that relationship, and, therefore, Starks never knew the real her. In the end, she becomes financially independent after his death, but contrary to the common understanding of the American dream, wealth does not bring happiness.
All in all, Janie Crawford had to face many challenges in pursuit of true love and happiness. At the time, when a woman’s role in society was to stay silently beside her husband, Janie’s American Dream was to be free of social constraints and able to make her own choices. This desire did not correlate with the society’s understanding of womanhood, which posed additional barriers of the heroine’s way. Janie’s desire for an organic union with mutual love could not be fulfilled with money, so her American Dream was always deeply connected with the unrestrained expression of feelings and self-realization.
Works Cited
Bruno, Alexander. What Really Is the American Dream? APSA Preprints, 2020. Web.
Hurston, Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. University of Illinois Press, 1991.
Qasim, Javed G., et al. “Description of Subjugated Woman in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Feminist Analysis.” Studies in Literature and Language, vol. 15, no. 6, 2017, pp. 1-13.