In my reading thus far, I have noticed the recurring image of the horizon. Because this exact image is used several times, Hurston uses the horizon as a motif. Because I'm only halfway through the book, I'm not completely sure what theme this motif is supposed to represent, but I have a guess. I think the motif of the horizon (similar to the green light in The Great Gatsby as Lilly mentions in the first post) represents that dreams are always beyond our reach, and can never be truly fulfilled.
The first time the horizon is mentioned is in the very first line, "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time" (1). Hurston says here that while some dreams do come true, or "come in with the tide," some dreams remain on the horizon, an infinite distance away and completely untouchable. In this quotation, Hurston establishes that the horizon is representative of the unattainable dream.
Another time the horizon is mentioned is in a description of Joe Starks, "Every day after that they managed to meet in the scrub oaks across the road and talk about when he would be a big ruler of things with her reaping the benefits. Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance"(29). Hurston describes Joe in this instance as a chance for Janie to get away from her unhappy married life with Logan, a chance for happiness. In this description, the word horizon is used to reference a dream- a dream of a new life with Joe. However, later on, we see that this dream does not come true. Yes, Janie gets away from Logan, but only to be with another man who bosses her around, causing trapped feelings for Janie once more. This horizon does not bring her happiness; this dream did not come true. This might be a little bit of a stretch because the fact that this dream was unattainable was not revealed until much later...but it could work :)
The last time the horizon is mentioned before chapter 11 is on page 89: "Here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon- for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you- and pinched it in to such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her." Nanny had crushed all of Janie's horizons by asking her to get married young, and because of this, Janie has been trapped her whole life. In this quotation, the word horizon is used to directly represent dreams, but Janie could not achieve these dreams because of Nanny. Therefore, the dreams of the horizon went unfulfilled. Hurston even directly states that the horizon is unreachable by saying "for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you," so perhaps my guess of a theme isn't so far off after all?
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