The Death Of Janie Crawford Tragedy And The American Dream

The American Psychological Institute states that the current divorce rate is around forty to fifty percent for first marriages and even higher for second and third marriages. The upward trend of divorce rates in America has many Americans concerned about the decreasing emphasis on commitment and family values that often results from divorce. In Zora Neale Hurstons’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist, Janie, experiences three marriages, one of which ends in divorce and the other two in death. Many readers may question the values of Janie and her seemingly ‘gold- digger’ Nanny as they both seem to be chasing the unattainable, a perfect marriage with a rich husband. As the novel plays out, the reader goes deeper into Nanny and Janie’s values and how they affect Janie’s three marriages. In the article â€Å"The Death of Janie Crawford: Tragedy and the American Dream in Their Eyes Were Watching God,† Darryl Hattenhauer correctly id entifies Nanny as someone who would want Janie to follow her dreams in Zora Neale Hurston s Their Eyes Were Watching God; meanwhile, Hattenhauer incorrectly believes that Nanny would not want Janie to marry Jody. In Darryl Hattenhauer’s literary criticism article â€Å"The Death of Janie Crawford: Tragedy and the American Dream in Their Eyes Were Watching God†, Hattenhauer explains that Janie leaving Logan Killicks for Joe, Jody, Starks â€Å"affirms Nanny’s advice that Janie have a dream and follow it† (Hattenhauer 7). When Hattenhauer uses theShow MoreRelatedTheir Eyes Were Watching God2014 Words   |  9 Pagesturns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by time.† For women, â€Å"the dream is the truth† (Houston 1), then they act and do things accordingly. Jay Gatsby in F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby and Janie Crawford in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God both have a cherished aspiration unfulfilled that caused a void in their life when that dream was not realized.   Indeed, despite the strong human yearning to fulfill a dream, not everyone can achieve what is hopedRead More â€Å"Ships a t a Distance†: Dreams in Their Eyes Were Watching God1945 Words   |  8 PagesWatching God with an eloquent metaphor regarding dreams: â€Å"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others, they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time (Hurston 1).† Hurston describes here how some dreams are achieved with time while others lurk out of reach until the dreamer gives up. Janie Crawford, protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching GodRead More Contrasting Native Son and Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay4128 Words   |  17 Pages  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   This paper examines the drastic differences in literary themes and styles of Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston, two African--American writers from the early 1900s. The portrayals of African-American women by each author are contrasted based on s pecific examples from their two most prominent novels, Native Son by Wright, and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston. With the intent to explain this divergence, the autobiographies of both authors (Black Boy and Dust Tracks on a Road) areRead MoreEssay about The Growth of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God2970 Words   |  12 PagesThe Growth of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Human beings love inertia. It is human nature to fear the unknown and to desire stability in life. This need for stability leads to the concept of possessing things, because possession is a measurable and definite idea that all society has agreed upon. Of course, when people begin to rely on what they know to be true, they stop moving forward and simply stand still. Zora Neal Hurston addresses these general human problems in her novelRead More Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay2416 Words   |  10 Pagessolution is simple: quot;Yuh got tuh go there tuh know there.quot; Janie sets out on a quest to make sense of her inner questionings- a void she knew she possessed from the moment she sat under the pear tree. quot;She found an answer seeking her, but where?...where were the shining bees for her (11)?quot; Though tragedy invades her life, it does not cripple her, but strengthens her. Alone at novels end, having loved and lost, Janie sits in her home, banished of the quot;feeling of absence and nothingnessRead More Finding Hope in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay3095 Words   |  13 Pagessolution is simple: Yuh got tuh go there tuh know there. Janie, like characters in earlier novels, sets out on a quest to make sense of her inner questionings--a void she knew she possessed from the moment she sat under the pear tree. She found an answer seeking her, but where?...where were the shining bees for her (11)? Though tragedy invades her life, it does not cripple her, but strengthens her. Alone at novels end, having loved and lost, Janie sits in her home, banished of the feeling of absence