Skip to main content

What is the significance of the opening scene in Their Eyes Were Watching God?

The opening scene of Their Eyes Were Watching God provides the lens through which the narrative of the novel is viewed.


The opening scene introduces us to Janie, an independent woman who has defied all that has been expected of her. With such a powerful, self-reliant, and markedly different female character, Zora Neale Hurston may have wished to alert readers to the direction in which the main character would develop. With Janie's return to her...

The opening scene of Their Eyes Were Watching God provides the lens through which the narrative of the novel is viewed.


The opening scene introduces us to Janie, an independent woman who has defied all that has been expected of her. With such a powerful, self-reliant, and markedly different female character, Zora Neale Hurston may have wished to alert readers to the direction in which the main character would develop. With Janie's return to her hometown, we witness her defiance of the traditional notions of love and living—and as a result, we recognize that the rest of the story will explain to us how Janie became such a woman. Our understanding of Janie's ultimate success colors the way we perceive her struggles.


In Chapter 1 as Janie passes down the street, the onlookers of the town criticize this independent woman:



Where's all dat money her husband took and died and left her? ...why she don't stay in her class?


Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off her wid?--Thought she was going to marry?--Where he left her?



Later, in the final chapter of Hurston's work of mythic realism, Janie concludes,



Love ain't somethin' lak uh grindstone dat's de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch. Love is lak de sea. It's uh movin' thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it's different with every shore." (Ch. 20)



Thus, the opening scene and much of the first chapter prepare the reader for an unorthodox story of the development of a young woman and her unique experience of love that is fulfilling and enriching.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is the meaning of "juggling fiends" in Macbeth?

Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a... Macbeth is beginning to realize that the three witches have been deceiving him since he first encountered them. Like jugglers, they have kept changing their forecasts in order create confusion. This is particularly apparent when the Second Apparition they raise in Act IV,   Scene 1 tells him that no man of woman born can overcome him in hand-to-hand battle--and then Macbeth finds himself confronted by the one man he has been avoiding out of a sense of guilt, and that man tells him: Despair thy charm. And let the angel whom thou still hast serve...
Post a Comment
Read more

What are some external and internal conflicts that Montag has in Fahrenheit 451?

 Montag, the protagonist of Fahrenheit 451, faces both external and internal conflicts throughout the novel. Some examples of these conflicts are: External Conflicts: Conflict with the society: Montag lives in a society that prohibits books and critical thinking. He faces opposition from the government and the people who enforce this law. Montag struggles to come to terms with the fact that his society is based on censorship and control. Conflict with his wife: Montag's wife, Mildred, is completely absorbed in the shallow and meaningless entertainment provided by the government. Montag's growing dissatisfaction with his marriage adds to his external conflict. Conflict with the fire captain: Montag's superior, Captain Beatty, is the personification of the oppressive regime that Montag is fighting against. Montag's struggle against Beatty represents his external conflict with the government. Internal Conflicts: Conflict with his own beliefs: Montag, at the beginning of th...
Post a Comment
Read more

In A People's History of the United States, why does Howard Zinn feel that Wilson made a flimsy argument for entering World War I?

"War is the health of the state," the radical writer Randolph Bourne said, in the midst of the First World War. Indeed, as the nations of Europe went to war in 1914, the governments flourished, patriotism bloomed, class struggle was stilled, and young men died in frightful numbers on the battlefields-often for a hundred yards of land, a line of trenches. -- Chapter 14, Page 350, A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn outlines his arguments for why World War I was fought in the opening paragraph of Chapter 14 (referenced above). The nationalism that was created by the Great War benefited the elite political and financial leadership of the various countries involved. Socialism, which was gaining momentum in Europe, as was class struggle, took a backseat to mobilizing for war. Zinn believes that World War I was fought for the gain of the industrial capitalists of Europe in a competition for capital and resources. He states that humanity itself was punished by t...
Post a Comment
Read more