Their Eyes Were Watching God Movement Analysis

Words: 1271
Pages: 6

The Motif of Movement In Their Eyes Were Watching God ::Rough Draft::
Zora Neale Hurston is one of the most well known African-American authors, she has written many famous novels with one of her most successful being Their Eyes Were Watching God. Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel centered around fictional character Janie’s life. the novel follows her through her childhood, three marriages, and at both the beginning and end of the novel her return to her hometown Eatonville. Something that is often repeated throughout the novel is how people often mask their emotions with their face but show it through how they move. the motif of movement through the novel is sometimes the most important part of setting the scene that the characters interact
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Most importantly the movements made by Janie and Tea Cake highlight the difficulties of the hurricane both emotionally and physically. “The cow was approaching Janie. A few strokes would bring her there… Tea Cake split the water like an otter opening his knife as he dived” (165-166) If Tea Cake hadn’t risked his life to save Janie Janie would have either drowned or gotten sick from the dog. because of his risk taking for Janie he allowed their relationship to blossom even further by keeping her by his side and living with her through and after the hurricane. “Tea Cake in this framework occupies a subordinate position which is also spatially expressed, even if his position can be seen as ambivalent: he never settles, so socially he is placeless and marginalized, but his freedom derives exactly from his social exclusion and his consequent physical mobility. In a systematic practice of thirding, Janie, by associating with him, transgresses, but, at the same time, transcends the boundaries of social space, especially its class and gender constraints” (Gaal Szabo). Without Tea Cake’s heroic and unrestrained movement out of love for himself and for Janie she would not have gotten into the relationship she had with him and even more importantly she wouldn't have survived her encounter with the dog during the hurricane or even the hurricane