Posted: March 24th, 2024

Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis Essay

Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis Essay In 1936 when Zorn Neal Hurst first started to compose her award winning novel Their Eyes Were Watching God she deliberately fashioned the aforesaid work so that Its textual structure created anticipation amongst Its readers. She did this by including great adversity for the main character Jeanie to overcome. Jeanie became entangled in the oppressive powers of early 20th century marriage. That of which constrained her for the greater part of the novel.
Going from man to man only intuiting the tyrannical cycle of being property. Throughout the course of the novel the reader wants Jeanie to find herself and break free. This creates anticipation within the reader. The reader was present during the beatings and the harassment Jeanie experienced. The only reason why the reader is in fact still reading is because of the anticipation he or she has building up inside of them. They only want the best for Jeanie and they want to be with her when she experiences it. All of the hardships and perils Jeanie experiences must lead up to something.
It is through all the adversity hat Jeanie perseveres through that creates anticipation within the reader. Their Eyes Were Watching God was precisely articulated so that it naturally created a bit of hope Inside the reader. The reader wanted Jeanie to finally find love as well as find herself. This feeling amongst the reader first emerges when Jeanie is forced to marry Logan Clicks. “Jeanie and Logan got married in Nanny’s parlor. ” (Hurst 21)Jeanie just wants to have someone in her life, something to ward of the recurring loneliness she experiences. But even the reader knows that Logan Clicks is not the answer.

This in itself creates anticipation. The reader at this point knows something will happen and may speculate what could occur. Essentially all that evolves out of this relationship Is Heartbreak for Jeanie. Her relationship with Logan soon dissolves despite the financial security he brought to the relationship. “Genie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman. ” (Hurst 25) The reader knows that Genie’s has partially given up on her dream of marriage but still wants her to find love. Fundamentally the whole relationship Itself with Logan Kills in turn creates anticipation amongst the reader.
All of which plays a role In the reader’s hope that Jeanie will find love and “all will be well In the kingdom. ” In a second sequence of events Jeanie finds herself In a relationship with the ever so powerful mayor, Jody. This marriage is the foundation for more heartbreak but also more hope for the reader. It all began when Jody “slapped Jeanie until she had a ringing in her ears. ” (Hurst 72) That is the turning point in their relationship. Jody had been an overbearing figure in the relationship by limiting Genie’s social contact with the outside world, but never had he been oppressive In a pugnacious manner.
The reader feels for Jeanie at this point. He or she more anticipation is created amongst the reader. The reader knows that something will happen further down the road. That the previous order of events foreshadows something greater. No situation Jeanie has experienced in the past has remained constant. It seems adversity is inevitable for Jeanie. This forces the reader to ponder the many possible outcomes of Jeanie and Jody relationship as well as Genie’s quest for love itself. The aforesaid inevitable adversity that Jeanie experiences will once again come into play as Jeanie engages in a new relationship with Teacake.
Jeanie awoke next morning by feeling Tea Cake almost kissing her breath away. Holding her and caressing her as if he feared she might escape his grasp and fly away. ” (Hurst 107) The reader at this point is relaxed finally Jeanie has found a man that treats her like a woman. That respects her and seems to love her with all his heart. With all the different men that Jeanie has been with the quality that Teacake has that sets him apart from the other ones is compassion. The reader for the first time experiences one of the qualities of true love alongside of Jeanie. The novel might as well be over at his point all is well.
But then again there is that everlasting feeling in the mind of the reader. Jeanie has never had everything go as planned. The reader anticipates something to go wrong. The past is ever present during Tea Cake’s relationship with Jeanie when Jeanie “found out her 200 dollars was gone. ” (Huston 118) Jeanie soon discovers that Teacake is also gone. This order of events creates immense anticipation in the mind of the reader. He or she asks him or herself questions like: “Did Teacake really steal her money and leave” or “will Jeanie Just finally give up on her ream of finding love. All of this anticipation and speculation on the reader’s part was precisely planned by Zorn Neal Hurst to keep the reader interested in her novel. In her 1937 masterpiece Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zorn Neal Hurst creates great anticipation amongst the reader through her use of textual structure. By precisely ordering events Hurst is able to effectively create said anticipation. By incorporating the ever apparent theme of Genie’s quest for love, into her order of events Hurst creates much anticipation amongst the reader.

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