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Janie Mae Crawford, the protagonist in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, changes America’s lowly view of the black woman while striving to obtain love, to establish her own identity, and to ultimately be happy. Janie’s strive for happiness is limited by the limitations and suppressions placed upon black women by society. By using Janie to expose the burdens black women are forced to bear by the men of their own race, Hurston adequately supports the meaning of the Malcolm X quote, “The black man. ...
Their Eyes is told as a “story within a story” (Meese 264) by Janie to her friend Pheoby after Janie returns home. The way Hurston framed the novel is that the beginning is the end; the book begins where in turn the story actually ends with Janie returning home after being in the Everglades. Janie is telling her long-time “kissin’-friend” (Hurston 7) the story of her life up until now, and it is through this story that the view of the black woman is forever changed.
Janie’s story begins with her lying under a pear tree and realizing what love is at the age of seventeen. ... Nanny now realizes that Janie is a woman and makes it her goal to get Janie married as soon as possible. ... In doing so, Nanny rapes Janie of the love Janie so desires, just as Nanny and Janie’s mother were forcibly raped by men years ago. Nanny’s forcing of Janie to marry Logan shows the treatment of young, black females. ...
Upon marriage, Logan is “kissin’ [Janie’s] foot” (Hurston 23) by doing common, household chores for Janie, but the marriage lacks love on Janie’s behalf, and Janie is not happy.
Approximate Word count = 1372
Approximate Pages = 5.5
(250 words per page double spaced)
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