Gender Roles In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Brandon Walker Willis American Literature 5/17/2013 Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay In Zora Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God the motif of gender differences highlights the disparity between male and female gender roles through Janies attempts to overcome the expectation of her husbands her grandmother and the people of Eatonville. At the end of her journey Janie is her own person having overcome the need to fulfill expectations of others in her life. This is both a physical journey and an emotional one. Janie experiences happiness gains wealth, deals with loss and struggles with balancing the expectations of other and her own happiness. Janie begins her journey young and easily influenced by others. This is shown when…show more content…
“Everybody was surprised at Janie playing checkers but they liked it. Three or four stood behind her and coached her moves and generally made merry with her in a restrained way.” (101) While people at first like that Janie is breaking out of the normal mold they quickly change their mind. ”It was after the picnic that the town began to notice things and got mad.” Finally she comes to the point where she just does not care even though she know that the people of Eatonville do not approve of her relationship she just does what makes her happy. She goes with Tea Cake and marries him. When he leaves her out of a party because he fears to let her see the “commoness” in him and does not expect her to enjoy the part. Even Tea Cake the one person who has treated her like and equal has a moment when he doubts her and treats her differently because of the expectation of a woman in her position. After Tea Cake dies and she return home to Eatonville she returns to, ironically, the life of luxury and laziness on a high porch just like her grandmother wanted for her. “Ah been waitin’ a long time, Janie, but nothin’ Ah been through ain’t too much if you just take a stand on high ground like Ah dreamed.” The motif of gender differences in Zora Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is used to show the struggle women had to go through to overcome expectations of gender roles. Janie's journey

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