The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God was written by African-American writer Zora Neale Hurston in 1937. The book describes how Janie Crawford, the main character, turns from a voiceless vibrant teenage girl into a strong and brave woman who can choose her destiny. It has some essential themes and symbols, and, first of all, it is important to analyze the pear tree and spring. From the beginning of the novel, Janie becomes fascinated by the blooming tree. She begins to spend all her time there and feels attracted to its sensing and transformation. Later, there is a change within herself when, under that very spring pear tree, Janie experiences sexual awakening and her first kiss with Johnny Taylor. Throughout the whole novel, spring and the pear tree symbolize the feelings of sexual desire and love and connection with nature Janie experienced at that moment.
Janie’s first marriage almost ruins her dreams about love being beautiful. As she has never been attracted to Logan Killicks and asked Nanny not to make her marry him, Janie is not satisfied with her life (Hurston, p. 16). Her ugly, old, and dull husband treat her as if she was his property and gets angry when she complains and does not do what he asks to. He shows his love by doing some household chores, but this is not the kind of love and marriage Janie wants.
That is why she runs away with Joe Starks, who is a rather old-fashioned man with chauvinistic ideas of women’s role in life and society. He beliefs that a woman’s place is in the house, where she has to cook, wash, and raise children. After marrying Janie, Starks makes it clear that he wants his wife to obey and do whatever he says. He is an overpowering man who will never let a woman challenge his authority.
The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered to have several feminist themes. One of them is the empowerment of Janie and all the women she represents. She was a teenage girl without any rights, born and raised in a social environment with reigning sexism and racism. Hence, she had to face and overcome many serious obstacles before achieving freedom and living her own life. Throughout the novel, Janie was searching for her own identity and voice and did not want to follow traditions and depend on men.
Work Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial, 2000.