"Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, throughout Hurtson's "Their Eyes Were Watching God", figurative language is effectively used to capture the metamorphosis of the character of Janie from an inexperienced and suppressed young girl to a woman, fully content with herself. The paper relates that the image of a pear tree in the story represents Janie's hunger to experience true love and that the horizon, another important symbol described in the novel, stands for Janie's journey towards understanding and growth. The paper also shows how Hurston's rich imagery and metaphoric language contributes to the novel's theme about the internal growth of Janie Crawford.

From the Paper:

"The image of the horizon is applied to illustrate how Nanny negatively influences Janie's initial outlook on love. Janie strives to connect with the world, to comprehend the mysteries of love, and to find true inner peace. The horizon symbolizes a limitless freedom with no boundaries and is used to describe the nature of this quest. "She had been getting ready for her great journey to the horizons in search of people; it was important to all the world that she should find them and they find her." (89) After Nanny forces her to marry a man who she hardly knows, Janie is forced to dive into the game of love a misguided and confused player. "

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• Analytical Essay # 61210 : "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and Spiritual Development"

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