Eyes Were Watching God Summary Research Paper

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This turns out not to be entirely true, however, as in one incident Tea Cakes slaps her in public, not to be mean, exactly, but because "being able to whip her reassured him in possession (Hurston, 176). Though I do not like this part of myself, I can absolutely identify with such feelings -- it sometimes seems like anger and even violence are the only effective ways to exert control over emotionally charged situations.

The major conflicts in the novel all have to do with Janie's search fro two things: her independence, and someone she can share life with on her own terms. It is clear the she achieves the first goal, but her success in finding love and harmony is a little more unclear. Before she and Tea Cakes come together, the narrator explains Janie's thoughts about what it means to be a human in harmony -- God created man as something that "sung all the time and glittered all over," and the jealous angels broke that stuff up into tiny sparks and covered them with mud, "and the lonesomeness in the sparks make them hunt for one another, but the mud is deaf and dumb" (Hurston, 96). This explains the difficulty of finding a connection with another "spark"; there is too much mud in the way with most people to make this an easy task.

This passage demonstrates the way that conflicts are often presented symbolically or metaphorically in the novel. The incident with the mule, which Jody buys to impress Janie because she feels sorry for it, symbolizes the way Jody treats and acts as if he owns Janie. There are many other examples of parallel symbols and metaphors throughout the book. Bt however the conflicts are presented, they are usually solved by Janie's determination to change the situation. Her strength is the driving force in the novel, and though her solution is often to simply leave her problems behind, this is often the best choice, both in the novel and in life.

I have not gone through three marriages, nor was I raised by my grandmother, but I have experienced many conflicts similar to Janie's.

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Dealing with an alcoholic father can often be like dealing with an ultra-possessive husband; he lashes out in anger when he feels like he is losing control, which is quite often. Like Janie, I have had to develop the strength to deal with this and protect myself and my siblings from his anger while at the same time carving out my own independent identity. Janie also deals with a lot of gossip, but decides that she doesn't care what other people think -- she has finally learned how to live life on her own terms, and explains her relationship with the poor and much younger Tea Cakes by saying with renewed empowerment, "Dis ain't no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma's way, now Ah means tuh live mine" (Hurston, 108).

This is the most important lesson for living in the book. We cannot live for anyone else, not entirely, so to find satisfaction and fulfillment we must live for ourselves. This does not mean ignoring others, but rather helping them in ways the w are best capable without sacrificing our own identities. This message is as uplifting as the events of the book are depressing, which leads to a messy yet enjoyable tangle of emotions for the reader. I felt sad, frustrated, and triumphant at various moments in the book, and sometimes a combination of all three. Zora Neale Hurston's great skill in Their Eyes Were Watching God is in creating characters that are simply too human not to be connected with. Janie's story is one of growing wisdom, which I can only hope to emulate.

Hurston, Zora Neale.….....

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