There was so much to discover in the first 5 chapters of "Their eyes were watching God." I felt that the book was definetely a feminist book so far. The opening quote "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 unitl the watcher turns his eyes awayin resgination, his dreams mocked to death by time. That is the Life of men. Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everthing that they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth." Zora Neale Hurston, i believe establishes a fundamental difference between men and women, with just the opening statement.
Throughout Chapters 1-5 you kind of get an idea of the relationships that are being made. There are a few relationships with Janie and Men, but also the relationship with Janie and her Greandmother and also her best Friend, Pheoby. I think that realtionships developed in the story, helps to establish a theme. When thinking about the relationships between Janie and men, it seems as though she is searching for the right man to marry, but she strikes out a few times. Since she was pushed into marrying Logan Killicks by her grandmother, Janie can't develop a relationship in which she really loves him. Nanny, keeps telling Her that eventually the love will come but it never does. So then Janie leaves Logan for Joe Starks. Even after she thought that she loved him, the love seemed to fade to quickly. Joe (Jody) was obsessed with changing the town of Eatonville, and he didn't put much effort into the realtionship with Janie. One more relationship that is evident is the one betweeen Janie and her best friend, Pheoby. Janie puts much of her trust in Pheoby, by telling her whole story to her. But i beleive that as we continue reading the novel we will discover more themes and also different relationships that become evident to us.
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I agree that relationships play a major role in these first few chapters. It's interesting that Janie didn't have a relationship with her mother or father, but had a strong connection to her grandmother. But her relationship with her grandmother wasn't what it seemed. Although her grandmother was trying to protect her, Janie resented her grandmothers actions.
I think Janie being forced to marry so early tarnished her relationships with other men. She always seemed to find something wrong in each man she married. And although all relationships have problems, these flaws were intolerable to Janie. In a way, I think this was her way of getting revenge on her grandmother. Even though she was dead, Janie wasn't going to settle with one man, as her grandmother had wanted.
As you mentioned, Janie did have a strong relationship with her friend, Pheoby. I think this was a true relationship, unlike the one between Janie and her grandmother. Janie could confide in Pheoby without being judged or forced into something she wasn't ready for, like marriage.
I have to agree with you. The book touches upon the ideas of Janie being very independant person. Even thought it is not shown form the begginning, it is evident towards the end that she is. it shows that her relationships with the different men, shaped her into the person that you meet at the beginning of the novel.
It was surprising to me at first that you said this book seems feminist in tone because it seems to me that there are many cases where Janie, the female protagonist, goes along submissively with aspects of her life that are displeasing to her. For example, Janie works in the store as Joe orders her to do and covers her hair for him. She cannot speak in public, as he deems himself the speaker of the family. He acts as though she is his possession and not capable of intelligent thought. Although she explains her loneliness to him, he disregards her feelings, and she goes back to being the submissive woman that he likes.
Also, the comment is made in the narration that “Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25) when she does not fall in love with her first husband, Logan. The sentiment expressed here is that females have to give up their dreams. Thus, I at first thought that there are not many examples of strong womanhood in this novel.
However, I think that you are ultimately right that this book has a feminist undercurrent because I can sense some rising tension in Janie’s relationship with Joe. She left Logan and will probably leave Joe for his mistreatment, a feminist move. Also, the Janie that returns home at the beginning of the story seems very strong, disinterested in the town’s opinions and wearing men’s overalls. I think that Janie’s strength is emerging in the flashback. It’s a work in progress as the story unfolds.
Janie was a trophy wife to Jody. Their relationship was not one of love either as you said. Jody was a man who wanted and dreamed of power and reached it. Then had to struggle to keep it so that was his focus. I think he was a very controlling man, he made Janie dress a certain way, wear her hair cover, etc. I think Janie married him because she had no choice it was either marry Jody or stay with Logan. I would probably done the same thing.
With the relationship between the grandmother and Janie I don't like that the Grandmother hits her a lot whenever Janie disagrees. Also I don't like that her grandmother forces her to get married to someone who Janie doesn't want to get married to. She should let her make her own decision and find someone that she really wants.
I also noticed that there was so much to discover in the first five chapters, and I can't wait to continue reading so I can find out about whats going to happen to
Janie and Joe's marraige. It seems that all Janie wants to do is find a husband that she can love and that would love her back, and I think that she thought she found what she was looking for with Joe. But now she's finding out that he cares more about work than he does about her. I hope by the end of the book she finds what shes looking for.
This is defenitly a feminist book and as a female i liked this. It was different and interesting to read. I liked the fact the a women was a strong character in the reading. You mentioned her looking for that right man to marry, and its funny you mention that because every race and every women looks for the same thing. I this this was important because it dipict the fact that just because you are a ack women or white women doesnt mean you dont want the same things in life.
I agree that this is a very feminist novel. It is evident that Hurston sees a marked difference in men and women and she uses this as a starting point for the novel. I think relationships and the effect they have one people, especially Janie, is one of the key themes in this book. In the beginning of the book, Janie's relationships all seem quite superficial but it is obvious that she is looking for something deeper and more meaningful. We see this when she talks about wanting a husband that she loves. As she develops different relationships she gets closer to finding this until she finally does with Tea Cake. I thought it was interesting how in the beginning Janie and Phoebe's relationship did not seem very deeper or close but at the end when she's talking about Tea Cake we see that it is. It just follows the pattern of how much Janie has developed.
I agree that relationships played a big role in the first few chapters of the story. You get to meet Janie as a charachter and her relationship with her best friend Pheoby and her grandmother. I think her relationship with her grandmother shows their family values and the ways of the old south with the granmother believing that love is what you need to be looking for. It's hard for Janie though because she just can't seem to find love in any of her relationships and when she does think she finds it something goes wrong. But i think your deffinitely right when you say that relationships are what keeps the story going.
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