literaRy critic review article
by jordan lutz
Overcoming Abusive Men
Throughout the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora Neale Hurston uses men to reveal a theme that abusive men suppress a woman’s individuality. Janie is constantly being put into unhealthy abusive relationships and Janie loses herself during this time. From not being able to speak, to being beaten, to being forced to cover her hair, men greatly attempt to put dominance over Janie. Every time one of Janie’s relationships ends, Janie become free again and this becomes the primary conflict of how Janie is trying to find herself but is seeking it through oppressive men. The biggest symbol throughout the novel is Janie’s hair. We see Janie’s hair symbolizes her womanhood, individuality, and beauty. People are able to recognize Janie by her hair. Janie gets into a relationship with a man who is afraid of other men looking at Janie’s hair and forces her to cover it up. We see her forced to isolate herself when her hair is covered and this is because of an oppressive man. Another symbol seen is checkers. Tea Cake and Janie play checkers and for the first time we see a man treating Janie as an equal. This equality that Janie and Tea Cake share gives Janie a sense of what love is and while it doesn’t last forever, it was real. Another symbol seen is the horizon. Janie is shown the horizon by Jody. We see Jody is abusive and their relationship does not go well. The horizon symbolizes where Janie wants to be. The horizon is a symbol for Janie’s dreams. Janie finally claims that Tea Cake brought her to the horizon. Janie realizes that she doesn’t need a man in her life and can be a strong independent woman. Overall the message was well delivered and efficiently educates the reader of the issues towards abusive men. This novel should be read by everyone when they are in their teens or older. I would rate this an 8 out of 10.
Throughout the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora Neale Hurston uses men to reveal a theme that abusive men suppress a woman’s individuality. Janie is constantly being put into unhealthy abusive relationships and Janie loses herself during this time. From not being able to speak, to being beaten, to being forced to cover her hair, men greatly attempt to put dominance over Janie. Every time one of Janie’s relationships ends, Janie become free again and this becomes the primary conflict of how Janie is trying to find herself but is seeking it through oppressive men. The biggest symbol throughout the novel is Janie’s hair. We see Janie’s hair symbolizes her womanhood, individuality, and beauty. People are able to recognize Janie by her hair. Janie gets into a relationship with a man who is afraid of other men looking at Janie’s hair and forces her to cover it up. We see her forced to isolate herself when her hair is covered and this is because of an oppressive man. Another symbol seen is checkers. Tea Cake and Janie play checkers and for the first time we see a man treating Janie as an equal. This equality that Janie and Tea Cake share gives Janie a sense of what love is and while it doesn’t last forever, it was real. Another symbol seen is the horizon. Janie is shown the horizon by Jody. We see Jody is abusive and their relationship does not go well. The horizon symbolizes where Janie wants to be. The horizon is a symbol for Janie’s dreams. Janie finally claims that Tea Cake brought her to the horizon. Janie realizes that she doesn’t need a man in her life and can be a strong independent woman. Overall the message was well delivered and efficiently educates the reader of the issues towards abusive men. This novel should be read by everyone when they are in their teens or older. I would rate this an 8 out of 10.