Introduction
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zara Neale Hurston is a novel about Janie Crawford, an African-American female. Even though the literary piece depicts post-slavery Florida, meaning that people like Janie experienced many social issues during that time, the book focuses on her inner experiences. In particular, it centers on Janie’s understanding of love and what feelings, thoughts, and emotions she had during three marriages. The character undertakes a long journey during which she meets various manifestations of love.
Simultaneously, she identified that many phenomena that are typically associated with the feeling under consideration by others do not have a direct relation to it. Thus, the essay will demonstrate that Janie’s idea of pure and natural love does not find support in her life, while society, power, marriage, and sex do not comprise love.
Janie’s Definition of Love
For Janie, true love is a complex phenomenon that relies on innocence, idyllic purity, freedom, and equality between partners. Firstly, innocence and idyllic purity denote that love can only emerge between creatures that do not seek any benefit except for emotions. That is why Janie’s first encounter with the feeling under analysis refers to the relationship between the bee and the pear blossom (Hurston 43). A loving intimacy between the two creatures is a manifestation of love.
Secondly, freedom is an essential condition for Janie since she does not understand how a person can be forced to love. This situation relates to Janie’s first husband, wealthy Logan Killicks. Even though this candidacy meets Nancy’s, Janie’s grandmother, expectations, the protagonist is not satisfied with the situation. Janie does not feel love because “the vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree” (Hurston 46). Thirdly, the protagonist admits that equality between partners is essential.
It refers to the fact that Janie’s second husband, Joe Starks, belittles her by ignoring her thoughts and opinions. Consequently, the protagonist’s definition of love is centered on the three essential components above.
The Conception of Love
Janie’s obsession with the bee and the pear blossom is her first exposure to love, and she does not find support in her life. The protagonist’s noticing a romantic relationship between these living creatures makes her develop her understanding of love. In particular, such concepts as “glistening leaf-buds” and “snowy virginity of bloom” were used to show an analogy between Janie and the tree (Hurston 43). Thus, she needs her bee that would treat her carefully and sensitively as it occurs in the natural world.
However, the book demonstrates that events from Janie’s adulthood do not support her vision of love. None of the three husbands satisfies Janie’s expectations because each of them lacks some characteristic features. For example, Logan Killicks deprives the protagonist of her innocence since she becomes a woman after her first marriage (Hurston 57).
Joe Starks does not provide the protagonist with equal treatment. One can say that Janie finds true love with her third husband, Tea Cake, but their relationship ends tragically because the man’s obsession with money made him get rabies (Hurston 237). Consequently, Janie’s obsession with the bee and the pear blossom has created an idealized vision of love that does not find its reflection in real life.
Love Is Not Everywhere
Janie’s adulthood allows her to understand that love is not always associated with society, power, marriage, and sex. The discussion of the bee and the pear tree conveys an essential thought since it reveals that the feeling can occur not between humans. It denotes that romantic relationships can sometimes develop outside society. Simultaneously, the case with Logan Killicks demonstrates that love cannot appear based on a man’s social status. Even though Logan has power and can offer social protection, it is not sufficient for Janie to love him (Hurston 47).
This situation reveals that love, as one of the strongest emotions, does not have any money-minded reasoning for Janie. Furthermore, the whole book demonstrates that marriage and sex are not always associated with love. Even though they are typically considered integral components of romantic relationships, they do not indicate that partners love each other. Janie is a suitable example since her three marriages ended because there was no pure love between her and her husband. These findings from the book demonstrate that many phenomena are typically associated with love, but they do not comprise this feeling for Janie.
Conclusion
Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God offers an exciting interpretation of what love is and what it matters to people. Janie demonstrates that this feeling has a natural basis, meaning that all living creatures can experience it. According to this observation, the novel’s protagonist develops her understanding of love that relies on such concepts as innocence, idyllic purity, freedom, and equality.
This definition appears when Janie is sixteen years old, denoting that she is not familiar with the reality of adulthood. Thus, the protagonist has three husbands, and none of them manages to satisfy her vision of love to a full extent. It indicates that the essay has revealed essential differences between idealized love and what it means for real-life people.
Work Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. HarperCollins e-books, 2004. Web.