Setting & Location

During the second portion of the novel, Hurston again uses a change in setting to correspond with a change in Janie’s lifestyle. This time Janie travels from Eatonville to the Everglades with Tea Cake. Referred to as “the muck,” the Everglades represent a completely different environment for Janie, especially compared to Eatonville. While Janie’s old town was full of people concerned with image and the status of different members of society the Everglades are different. For starters, they are completely filled with nature and fertile lands. Due to this, Tea Cake has the ability to prove himself by working the land while Janie has the ability to explore herself by learning to do such things as hunt and work the fields. While not as glamorous as her life in Eatonville, this change provided my Janie’s new setting allows her to better explore herself. This expansion of skills and power helps to satisfy Janie’s need to transcend the subservient role she played for so long when married to Joe back in Eatonville.

Other aspects of the Everglades are also important in the development of the story and Janie’s character. One such example is seen at the end of chapter 14 when Janie reveals how much she enjoys her new setting. This is shown in the following passage:

“Sometimes Janie would think of the old days in the big white house and the store and laugh to herself. What if Eatonville could see her now in her blue denim overalls and heavy shoes? … She was sorry for her friends back there and scornful of the others… Only here she could listen and laugh and even talk some herself if she wanted to” (134).

Through this passage Janie clearly states how she is much happier with her life in the Everglades compared to Eatonville. The freedoms that this new setting has provided have allowed Janie to develop as a character and move closer to her true desires and goals. After years of being trapped in the store with a man who did not love her, this new environment has finally giver her opportunity to exercise her own voice. Being herself and surrounded by nature will perhaps allow Janie to obtain her true desire: the moment under the pear tree with Johnny Taylor. In that moment Janie was in nature, without restrictions, and able to be herself. The Everglades has brought Janie back to a position without the restrictions and submissive requisites of Eatonville. Therefore this new location might represent the restitution Janie needs on her quest to find happiness after being without it for so many years.

Motif

In this novel, Janie's hair is a motif. It symbolizes her individuality and sexual power. Janie has very beautiful, long, straight, black hair that is envied by all. It is described as a "great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume." Janie unintentionally uses her hair to make Joe feel insecure and thrive to be better than her. "Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didnt seem sensible at all. That was because Joe had never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen other men figuratively wallowing in it. "(page 55) Here we can see Joe's insecurities and feeling of inferiority towards Janie. When Joe has Janie cover her hair, she is stifled and more docile to his control. She no longer has power over him with her womanhood because he takes it away and controls it. Because of the appeal to her hair, Janie had often had a lot of power over men. Even her first husband Logan loved to finger it and was attracted to it, willing to do anything for her at first. The hair initially attracted Joe also, the first time she saw him while pumping water, heavy hair falling down.
The hair is also empowering because also adds to the feeling of Janie's whiteness, since it is long straight and different, like white skin is different. Janie has white surrounding her because she was raised with white people, is "above" everyone in the town with her status as Mayor's wife, and lives in a house painted stark white by Joe, because of his wishes to be white and act white which were in turn, cast upon her. The whiteness of her hair and the envy of the people make her hair empowering to Janie, and individualizing.

Themes

This is an image of a sculpture by Mary Edmonia Lewis, a 19th century black female artist. The sculpture is called Forever Free and was created in 1867 as a response to the Emancipation proclamation.

Having read further in the novel, I can now reflect on the words at the beginning on the novel, and understand Hurston's stance.
Hurston equates ships, far off on the horizon, with men's dreams. She says that sometimes the ships come to the men, and their dreams come true, and other times, they stay in their minds, never approaching reality, until those men give up. By using such imagery, Hurston establishes that these dreams are unrealistic, even unattainable, while, as she goes on to say, for women, our dreams are down to earth, they are "the truth," and are readily attained.
As in any instance where blanket generalizations are made concerning the sexes, I immediately looked for the sexism in that statement, and while every time you say "men are A women are B," it is always, ultimately, sexist, the statement is not a typical sexist depiction. It characterises women as sensible and efficient, rather than the typical sexist rhetoric that displays them us as flighty and emotional. And yet, it didn't deride men for being dreamers. I couldn't quite make sense of Hurston's motivations for such a statement, so I let it be, for a time.
In chapter 2, Nanny helps us to understand the state of life for the women Janie knew. She says:

"...de white man throw down his burden and tell de
nigger man to pick it up. he pick it up because he have
to, but he don't tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De
nigger women is de mule uh de world..."

Here, Nanny establishes that while all black people are disadvantaged and forced into subservience, women bare the brunt of the load and the burden. While it is difficult for a black man to have high hopes and dreams, as a slave, or the son of a slave, it is unthinkable for women to dream beyond their lot in life. Such is true, especially in this time, for all women. While men had the means and the advantages that allowed them to be unrealistic and hopeful, women were destined for the thankless task of keeping the world going, in the fields, in the kitchens, in the shops, and so only dreamed "the truth", only dreamed for what they could take the according steps to achieve.

"Ah wanted to preach a great sermon about colored women
sittin' on high but they wasn't no pulpit for me."

Here, Hurston clearly establishes, that though women, like all people, would like to dream, they do not have any such opportunity.

Janie, in chapter 2, as she becomes aware of her new found womanhood, begins to dream. She searches for answers, and feels a magical blossoming. She is "looking, waiting, breathing short with impatience. Waiting for the world to be made." She is not sensible or realistic; she is day dreaming; she is sensual, emotional, and free to imagine, to think, to hope, to feel. It is in this state that she experiments, kissing a boy she had no previous attraction to, who she has no expectation of a life with. Her free expression of maturity and sexuality is condemned and stifled by Nanny, who paints a different picture. Nanny shows how every women's sexuality is stolen from her, by white slave owners, by school teachers, and by necessity and the need for protection, which forces her into marriage (like Janie's with Logan) which does not satisfy or fulfill her.
Huston develops this theme, showing that instead of female sexuality being an expression of personal pleasure, choice, and freedom, it is a means of subjugation and survival. Likewise, the female mind and soul cannot be used for free thought and dreams, as it can be for men, but instead, for practicalities. Men may be able to express themselves how they wish, or dream unrealistically, but women, shouldering the burden of mankind, do not have that luxury.

Having established the difficulties and restraints that women face, Hurston can now show how miraculous it is that Janie is able to rise above what her peers thought possible, to disregard the standard way of things, in order to be her own person.

Language Appreciation and Interpretation

Hurston has a way with words. Her writing has the same beauty as a da Vinci painting. There are so many different examples of her phenominal writting in There Eyes Were Watching God, but the one that stood out to me the most was on page 89 and 90. It is when Janie is critiquing Nanny's thoughts about love. Janie reveals her hatred for her grandmother in this passage because Janie believes that the love wasn't genuine. It was "mislove" and in turn hurt her more than it helped. Instead of Nanny showing Janie off to the world, and having "the jewel down inside of her" shine, Nanny put her in the "marketplace to sell". While this is an important part in the novel because it shows Janie's true feelings about her grandmother and how she was raised, the beauty of her words that come after it are what caught my eye.

"When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Then after that some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. So they beat him down to nothing and covered each one with mud. And the lonesomeness in the sparks made them hunt for one another, but the mud is deaf and dumb. Like all the other tumbling and mud-balls, Janie had tried to show her shine" (90) is the magnificent writing that I am referring to. I love how Hurston is putting forth the idea that everyone came from this greater being, and therefore, everyone is great in their own ways. Also that everyone has the potential to shine because they had glittered once, a long time ago. So no matter how low you feel you are, there is always ways to ameliorate yourself considering that once upon a time, everyone had an aura of perfection. This is an extremely motivating and uplifting quote from the novel because it encourages the reader to strive and allow their true self and their positive characteristics to shine through to the rest of the world.

Symbols and Imagery

"The brute jerked up his head, laid back his ears and rushed to the attack. Lum had to run for safety. Five or six more men left the porch and surrounded the fractious beast, goosing him in the sides and making him show his temper. But he had more spirit left than body. He was soon panting and heaving from the effort of spinning his old carcass about. Everybody was having fun at the mule-baiting. All but Janie." p. 56

The mule in these chapters is a symbolic metaphor for Janie. The mule intensifies and clarifies her need for freedom while paralleling her life. The mule is like Janie because he is dominated by Matt Bonner as she is dominated by Joe Starks. Matt does not feed the mule and overworks him, as Janie is over instructed by Joe and he does not "feed" her any independence. Janie watches the mule and feels his pain, because she too feels trapped and dreams of freedom. The bull further parallels Janie because when he is freed he stirs up all sorts of trouble, as does Janie after she is free from Joe because of his death. While the bull's fooleries include sleeping in houses and stealing dinners, Janie kicks up dust in the town with her activities with Tea Cake. Both characters are made stronger and happier by doing the things they enjoy rather than conforming to a masters wishes. Ultimately the Mule dies in his old age, but he is happy with his life. This could possibly foreshadow a similar situation for Janie, or, be parallel to the "death" of Janie's happiness and freedom by Tea Cake's death and her return to the town. The mule is also used to foreshadow Janie's gain of freedom, which one can infer would involve a drastic change in Joe, such as a death. This is because the mule gains freedom by Joe's hands and because he parallels Janie she must as well. Overall, the mule clarifies and simplifies Janie's want and need for freedom, and foreshadows Joe's death.

Characters and characterization - Joe Starks -

Joe Starks is quite an unusual and very dynamic character in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. He begins the novel by stopping by Janine's house when Logan Killicks is off getting a mule. At first sight Joe seems like a caring man, someone Janie longs for in her life. She quickly develops a crush on Joe, and eventually Janie leaves her husband to run off with him. Joe has decided to move to an all black town, which is later known as Eatonville, so that he can have a voice in the town, something he was unable to do when he lived in white settlements. "But when he heard all about 'em makin' a town all outa colored folks, he knowed dat was de place he wanted to be. He had always wanted to be a big voice, but de white folks had all de sayso where he come from and everywhere else, exceptin' dis place dat colored folks was buildin' theirselves (28)" When Joe gets to Eatonville he buys much land to build the town on and gains respect from everyone in the village. He is made the mayor and he takes the job happily and is proud to finally be a big voice. He takes Janie along for the ride and makes her the number one woman in the village, but while doing this he never really thinks about what she wants, and he suppresses her thoughts and makes her do what he wants. At this point in the book we realize a change in Joe. Joe takes his power and manipulates it so he is the big shot, and with all the extra ego build-up he thinks he can do whatever he wants, and in the end it causes Janie to wish she never met him. When Joe is dying Janie tells him how she really feels about him and Joe realizes she is right and just wants her to leave him in peace while he is dying. Joe Starks shows many dynamic qualities in the novel, and he also helps to greatly shape Janin's view on men.

Characters and Characterization: How Much Of A Hero Joe Is To Me

Joe Starks was the most interesting character that caught my attention. He was Janie's chance for a new life, change, and romance. Relating to my previous post about the symbol of the tree and horizon, Joe was the fulfillment Jaine had hoped to find that lacked in Logan. However, Joe did not turn out to be the Prince Charming she had hoped for. I believe this is going to end in tragedy. His domineering and chauvinistic attitude toward women made him even less attractive. If I were Janie, I'd tell him to calm down. But then again IF I were a woman-in-the-1930s-Janie.....I probably would have just kept that to myself.

When he is first described by Hurston, it is in dialouge. However the reader is uncertain of who is speaking. I assumed it was Joe, who talked about himself in the third person...
"He had always wanted to be a big voice, but de white folks had all the sayso where he come from and everywhere else exceptin' dis place dat colored folks was buildin' theirselves. ...Da man dat built things oughta boss it......It had always been his wish and desire to be a big voice..." After reading this passage about himself in the third person (although strange to me at first but later discovered why Hurston did this) anyways, it is now obvious right off the bat that Joe "wanted to be a big voice". It makes sense that Joe would talk about himself in third person because he's arrogant. He thinks that since he has all this money, he deserves to have this "big voice" and be a leader. Anyone who is self-absorbed would talk about themself in third person, trying to make them sound more superior and important. Another instance where this is shown is when Hurston says, " With him [Joe] on it, it sat like some high, ruling chair", again proving that he wanted to be on a pedastal above everyone else. As you can probably tell already, JOE IS MY FAVORITE CHARACTER.

Now onto his sexist views. This makes me admire Joe's integrity even more.....First of all he makes Janie and object to sell himself. He makes her stand at the store, while other women envy her. Second of all, he undermines her intelligence by not allowing her to make a speech at the townspeoples' request. As a chauvanistic pig would say, "Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in da home". Very typical. Maybe I'm being harsh on him, but so far Joe only gave me annoyance when reading about his actions. But I only say this out of my admiration for him (in which there is none, so I guess I'm justified).