The characters and events in Zora Neal Huston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" act in a way which allows the reader to see deeper into race relations and inequality in America during the 1920s and 30s. The cultural implications of slavery and lack of control by former slaves is seen through the contrast of Janie and her quest of identity and happiness with Nanny and her outlook on being a slave.
Nanny's experience as a slave gives her a narrow view of society and taints her feelings on what it means to be a black woman living in society. Nanny is very concerned with respectability. She cares a lot about what other people think about her and does not want to step out of the mold of how a wealthy woman should act. She likes to flaunt her white side. She believes that black people do not do well in terms of social status, and black women are even farther down the social scale. When discussing Janie's future with her, Nanny explains to Janie this social hierarchy, "So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule ud de world so fur as Ah can see (Hurston, 15)." Nanny uses this rationale to explain to Janie her belief that she needs to marry a man with property, money, social status, and someone who is able to offer her protection in order to be happy. Nanny believes that men are dangerous, especially unmarried ones. This belief of hers is not irrational; she was raped while a slave, and even after she had gained her freedom, her daughter, Leafy, was raped as well. As soon as Nanny saw Janie kissing Johnny Taylor under the pear tree, she knew it was time for Janie to get married. The narrator describes Nanny's dream recounting seeing Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, "She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss (Hurston, 10)". Instead of simply saying Janie was kissing, the author's choice to use the word lacerating is used to demonstrate how great this fear was for Nanny. "Dat’s what makes me skeered. You don’t mean no harm. You don’t even know where harm is at. Ah’m ole now. Ah can’t be always guidin’ yo’ feet from harm and danger. Ah wants to see you married right away (Hurston, 13)." Nanny truly cares about Janie and will not take any chances with her safety. Nanny believes that the best option for Janie is marrying a man who can provide her with social status and protection.
Nanny tries very hard to instill into Janie her belief that he ultimate success is being a wealthy, married woman. She eventually suggests that Nanny ought to marry Logan Phillips for just those reasons. Janie originally objects, giving the reason that she does not like his appearance, but Nanny perseveres "[Nanny]: "How come? [Janie]: Cause I hates de way his head is so long one way and so flat on de sides and dat pone uh fat back uh his neck. [Nanny}:He never made his own head. You talk so silly (Hurston, 23)." Eventually Janie concedes and agrees to marry Logan. Nanny is thrilled; Logan is everything that she believes is appealing: wealth, landowner, protection and the social status that Nanny finds desirable. Janie moves in with Logan and keeps waiting for the feeling of love that she felt under the pear tree, but it never comes. Janie confides her feelings in Nanny, "Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo’ bawn days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks, and you come worryin’ me ‘bout love (Hurston, 23)." It is difficult for Nanny to understand how Janie could not be satisfied with a relationship like this, something she would have killed for when she was Janie's age. Nonetheless, Janie longs to feel the way she felt under the pear tree, "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think. Ah…(Hurston, 24)." Janie soon begins to flirt with Joe "Jody" Sparks, and within weeks she thinks that she loves him, and they run off and get married. Jody as she calls him, is wealthy and able to give Janie the social status that Nanny is after. After a few weeks of marriage, Janie realizes that Jody is not as attentive to her feelings as she originally thought. It turns out that he was only a little more romantic than Logan was. Jody does not treat her the way that she wants and asks her to do more and more work as time goes on, "It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things (Hurston, 35)." Jody constantly insults her and uses her only as a trophy of his own wealth, often not allowing her to go to social events. He constantly manipulates her, but when he goes after her appearance, Janie finally snaps and asserts herself. Their marriage is falling apart and Jody subsequently becomes quite ill. Jody and Janie do not talk for months, but Janie does come to his death bed where she berates him for the way he treated her.
Janie is now coming to terms with the fact that Nanny's idea of freedom is not part of her identity. After the jaw dropping events of Jody's death, Janie meets Tea Cake. He's twelve years younger than her and poor; all the things that Nanny considered undesirable. Janie falls in love with him and gets the same feeling that she has not felt since under the pear tree, "He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place (Hurston,128). " Tea Cake makes Janie feel as though she has finally found herself. He does not have the money of her previous husbands, but he makes her feel like gold. In her past two relationships, Janie was frustrated by her spouse trying to make her do more work. Tea Cake never tries to get Janie to work harder. Janie notices that Tea Cake comes in from work during the middle of the day, and when she asks him why, he says, "Janie, Ah gits lonesome out dere all day ‘thout yuh. After dis, you betta come git uh job uh work out dere lak de rest uh de women – so Ah won’t be losin’ time comin’ home (Hurston, 132-133). " Nanny is touched by this and decides that she wants to come work with Tea Cake. The next day, she is out picking beans with him. When she first gets out there, people whisper negative things about her. This most likely affects her social standing, but Janie does not care; she has finally found her identity and what makes her happy.
In search of her identity and ultimately her happiness, Janie considers what Nanny thought would bring her happiness, but unfortunately, it does not work for her. She realizes that Nanny's values are not the same as hers. In order to find her true identity, Janie has to stray from Nanny's ideas.
Nanny's experience as a slave gives her a narrow view of society and taints her feelings on what it means to be a black woman living in society. Nanny is very concerned with respectability. She cares a lot about what other people think about her and does not want to step out of the mold of how a wealthy woman should act. She likes to flaunt her white side. She believes that black people do not do well in terms of social status, and black women are even farther down the social scale. When discussing Janie's future with her, Nanny explains to Janie this social hierarchy, "So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule ud de world so fur as Ah can see (Hurston, 15)." Nanny uses this rationale to explain to Janie her belief that she needs to marry a man with property, money, social status, and someone who is able to offer her protection in order to be happy. Nanny believes that men are dangerous, especially unmarried ones. This belief of hers is not irrational; she was raped while a slave, and even after she had gained her freedom, her daughter, Leafy, was raped as well. As soon as Nanny saw Janie kissing Johnny Taylor under the pear tree, she knew it was time for Janie to get married. The narrator describes Nanny's dream recounting seeing Janie kissing Johnny Taylor, "She bolted upright and peered out of the window and saw Johnny Taylor lacerating her Janie with a kiss (Hurston, 10)". Instead of simply saying Janie was kissing, the author's choice to use the word lacerating is used to demonstrate how great this fear was for Nanny. "Dat’s what makes me skeered. You don’t mean no harm. You don’t even know where harm is at. Ah’m ole now. Ah can’t be always guidin’ yo’ feet from harm and danger. Ah wants to see you married right away (Hurston, 13)." Nanny truly cares about Janie and will not take any chances with her safety. Nanny believes that the best option for Janie is marrying a man who can provide her with social status and protection.
Nanny tries very hard to instill into Janie her belief that he ultimate success is being a wealthy, married woman. She eventually suggests that Nanny ought to marry Logan Phillips for just those reasons. Janie originally objects, giving the reason that she does not like his appearance, but Nanny perseveres "[Nanny]: "How come? [Janie]: Cause I hates de way his head is so long one way and so flat on de sides and dat pone uh fat back uh his neck. [Nanny}:He never made his own head. You talk so silly (Hurston, 23)." Eventually Janie concedes and agrees to marry Logan. Nanny is thrilled; Logan is everything that she believes is appealing: wealth, landowner, protection and the social status that Nanny finds desirable. Janie moves in with Logan and keeps waiting for the feeling of love that she felt under the pear tree, but it never comes. Janie confides her feelings in Nanny, "Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo’ bawn days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks, and you come worryin’ me ‘bout love (Hurston, 23)." It is difficult for Nanny to understand how Janie could not be satisfied with a relationship like this, something she would have killed for when she was Janie's age. Nonetheless, Janie longs to feel the way she felt under the pear tree, "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think. Ah…(Hurston, 24)." Janie soon begins to flirt with Joe "Jody" Sparks, and within weeks she thinks that she loves him, and they run off and get married. Jody as she calls him, is wealthy and able to give Janie the social status that Nanny is after. After a few weeks of marriage, Janie realizes that Jody is not as attentive to her feelings as she originally thought. It turns out that he was only a little more romantic than Logan was. Jody does not treat her the way that she wants and asks her to do more and more work as time goes on, "It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things (Hurston, 35)." Jody constantly insults her and uses her only as a trophy of his own wealth, often not allowing her to go to social events. He constantly manipulates her, but when he goes after her appearance, Janie finally snaps and asserts herself. Their marriage is falling apart and Jody subsequently becomes quite ill. Jody and Janie do not talk for months, but Janie does come to his death bed where she berates him for the way he treated her.
Janie is now coming to terms with the fact that Nanny's idea of freedom is not part of her identity. After the jaw dropping events of Jody's death, Janie meets Tea Cake. He's twelve years younger than her and poor; all the things that Nanny considered undesirable. Janie falls in love with him and gets the same feeling that she has not felt since under the pear tree, "He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place (Hurston,128). " Tea Cake makes Janie feel as though she has finally found herself. He does not have the money of her previous husbands, but he makes her feel like gold. In her past two relationships, Janie was frustrated by her spouse trying to make her do more work. Tea Cake never tries to get Janie to work harder. Janie notices that Tea Cake comes in from work during the middle of the day, and when she asks him why, he says, "Janie, Ah gits lonesome out dere all day ‘thout yuh. After dis, you betta come git uh job uh work out dere lak de rest uh de women – so Ah won’t be losin’ time comin’ home (Hurston, 132-133). " Nanny is touched by this and decides that she wants to come work with Tea Cake. The next day, she is out picking beans with him. When she first gets out there, people whisper negative things about her. This most likely affects her social standing, but Janie does not care; she has finally found her identity and what makes her happy.
In search of her identity and ultimately her happiness, Janie considers what Nanny thought would bring her happiness, but unfortunately, it does not work for her. She realizes that Nanny's values are not the same as hers. In order to find her true identity, Janie has to stray from Nanny's ideas.