The Impact of Hurstons Life Experiences on the Character...

The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston explores the life of an African American woman from the south who is trying to find herself. The protagonist of this novel is Janie Crawford. She is trying to defy what people expect of her, and she lives her life searching to have a better life. Zora Neale Hurston’s life experiences influence the book in many ways, including language, personality, and life experiences. Through her use of southern black language in the book Zora Neale Hurston illustrates the vernacular she grew up speaking. Black Vernacular is â€Å"any of the nonstandard varieties of English Spoken by African American. It is also called Black English, Black English vernacular.† In the â€Å"Black Vernacular† article,†¦show more content†¦Tea Cake allows her to be his peer and be herself. Hurston writes In Their Eyes Were Watching God, â€Å"She got to be a better shot than Tea Cake. They’d go out any late afternoon and come back loaded down with game† (131). Yet, Janie enjoys herself with Tea Cake more than she has with any other man. Tea Cake does not limit her to a particular person; he enjoys life and invites Janie to be simply herself. Even life was harder for Janie; she is still able to find love, care, and happiness from Tea Cake. The author gives the protagonist a touch of her own delightful personality influences. There are similarities in Zora and Janie’s life; they are willing to take risks and explore for more opportunities. Information from the short biography of Zora Neale Hurston, â€Å"After Lucy Hurston’s death, Zora’s father remarried quickly—to a young woman whom the hotheaded Zora almost killed in a fistfight.† After her mom dies, Zora did not get along with her young step mother. Therefore, she decided to move up to Baltimore. She enrolled in Morgan Academy in Baltimore in 1917 to get her high school diploma. She graduated a year later and went to Howard University. Her interest in people and stories had made her studied anthropology and folklore at Columbia University. Later, she went to Haiti and the British West Indies to collect folktales. Zora is willing to take dangers to explore life. On the other hand, JanieShow MoreRelatedOverview: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston1641 Words   |  7 PagesTheir Eyes Were Watching God wa s written by Zora Neale Hurston and published in 1937. Hurstons book guides us through character Janie Crawford’s hectic journey while taking place in the 1900s. The story starts out with Janie, a middle-aged African American woman, returning to her hometown in Eatonville, Florida. Her surprise visit gets the town talking. They wonder where she had gone, what she was doing, and why she was gone so long. Janie’s friend, Pheoby Watson, visits Janie to find out what happenedRead MoreRelating the Title to the Novel and Novelist in Their Eyes Were Watching God699 Words   |  3 PagesIn Zora Neale Hurstons novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, there are many major points in the novel that reflect the meaning of the title. Hurston seems to relate God to love and life and this could be one reason why a book about love and self-realization would have a title relating to a higher power. The title also reflects a sense of lacking control over the outcome and direction of life. Through Janies experience with Teacake and one of the major turning points in the novel, the hurricaneRead MoreA Hectic Journey in Their Eyes Were Watching God was written by Zora Neale Hurston633 Words   |  3 Pages Their Eyes Were Watching God was written by Zora Neale Hurston and published in 1937. Hurstons book guides us through character Janie Crawford’s hectic journey while taking place in the 1900s. The story starts out with Janie, a middle-aged black woman, returning to her hometown in Eatonville, Florida. Her surprise visit gets the town talking. They wonder where she had gone, what she was doing, and why she was gone so long. Janie’s friend, Pheoby Watson, visits Janie to find out what happenedRead MoreFemale Empowerment By Zora Neale Hurston And Their Eyes Were Watching God1874 Words   |  8 PagesHurston and Their Eyes Were Watching God Their Eyes Were Watching God was a book that presented the world with a new look on writing novels. Zora Neale Hurston’s experience in what she has seen through research was embodies in this novel. She demonstrates what data she has collected and intertwined it into the culture within the novel. While being a folklorist/anthropologist, and inspired by her life experiences, she developed a character who dealt with the issues that were not yet uncovered,Read MoreTheir Eyes Looked Onward : Zora Neale Hurston2748 Words   |  11 Pages Rossi AP English III (7) 2 March 2014 Their Eyes Looked Onward How Zora Neale Hurston uses relationships to fulfil an individual’s quest for identity In her 2013 novel Allegiant, author Veronica Roth stated, â€Å"I belong to the people I love, and they belong to me – they, and the love and loyalty I give them, form my identity far more than any word or group ever could† (Roth). In other words, relationships are what humans derive strength and experience from, which they use to build and develop theirRead MoreThe Harlem Renaissance : The New Negro Movement1459 Words   |  6 PagesTaking place from the 1920’s to the 1940’s, a well-known period of time where black people’s ideas, morals, and customs were adapted and developed was known as the Harlem Renaissance. The main focus of the era for the African Americans was to establish some sort of identity and self-expression through literary, musical, theatrical, and visual arts. The story behind this began in 1890 when African American slaves migrated from the rural South to the urban North as they thrashed their way to freedomRead MoreFeminism and Racism in African American Literature1883 Words   |  8 Pagesfeminism and racism have played crucial roles in the lives of the characters and plotlines in stories and novels. Audiences are captivated by the drama a character must face in order to succeed in life or society. This struggle to overcome personal discrimination and adversity has transcended centuries and genres of literature. African American literature is no exception. Authors of African American literature would base the events that were taking place in the world around them and incorporate them intoRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God1273 Words   |  6 Pageshave at least some effect on our adult life. For Zora Neale Hurston, she presents that view in her novel, Their Eyes were Watching God. While Hurston does not give too much insight into Janie’s childhood, one can perceive how her adult life has been affected by what Hurston gives. Janie was raised by her Nanny, used to enduring things that were out of her control in her childhood (specifically started when she was young and married off.) It seems as if Janie is never in full control, despite makingRead More Comparing the Role of Women in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Go Tell It On the Mountain2325 Words   |  10 PagesThe Role of Women in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Go Tell It On the Mountain   Ã‚   Historically, the job of women in society is to care for the husband, the home, and the children. As a homemaker, it has been up to the woman to support the husband and care for the house; as a mother, the role was to care for the children and pass along cultural traditions and values to the children. These roles are no different in the African-American community, except for the fact that they are magnifiedRead MoreThe Steinbeck s Book And The Migrant s Choice Of Words And Speech Patterns1231 Words   |  5 Pagesand Their Eyes Were Watching God on my library shelf occurred because the two novels are required summer reading for my junior year language arts class. I doubt I ever would have read Hurston’s book, but Steinbeck’s book is known to me. So, I took advantage of this opportunity, to become involved with Tom Joad (and his family) and Janie Crawford (and her grandmother and three husbands). From my reading, I saw connections with the issues of power and s elf-fulfillment, survival, family life and relationship