Entry 46

Here is the beginnning of an essay I wrote on Ann Petry's "The Street"...

When Zora Neale Hurston released her novel Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1937, her writing faced widespread criticism, especially among black males, for its honest depiction of gender roles within the African American community. After being an only child abandoned by her mother, Janie Crawford was raised by her grandmother, Nanny. In order to ensure Janie had a better life than her, Nanny taught Janie to seek a husband that could provide her with shelter, protect her and care for her. After failing to be satisfied with her first husband, Logan, and being engaged in a meaningless relationship with him, Janie embarks on a life-long journey to break traditional gender roles and community standards in search of her own identity and independence. As her life experiences begin to unravel, Janie continues to discover her true identity and appreciates this newfound independence. Yet Janie does not undertake this quest alone; along her path towards liberation, Janie gains useful knowledge about herself from each relationship she engaged in. Logan, as indicated by his massive potato farm, represented security for Janie, but when she realized she was miserable, Janie gained the courage to leave Logan in pursuit of true love. After originally wooing her with his charisma and charm, Jody Starks ends up treating Janie like property, attempting to posses and control every aspect of her life. Near Jody’s death, we witness Janie begin to express her inner strength, signified by her removing her hair covering and revealing her straight, unbound hair. Finally, Janie encounters true love when she meets Tea Cake; it is in this relationship where she experiences equality and develops necessary skills to be independent.
Zora Neale Hurston incorporates a few various literary terms to reiterate Janie’s desire to become a freed woman. First, Hurston includes a few symbols, none more significant than the pear tree, to emphasize what Janie is striving to find: blissful harmony while discovering the mysteries of the world. Second, Hurston structures her novel so that Janie is casually conversing with a friend. The gossip effect made Janie effect revealed a confident, comfortable tone in Janie’s voice, indicating her strong understanding of her own identity after her three marriages. Third, Hurston skips almost nearly fifteen years of Janie’s life while she lived with Jody and focuses extensively on her short life with Tea Cake. This change of pace is intentional to illustrate how Janie was merely consumed by Jody’s control while she experienced spiritual enlightenment during her time married to Tea Cake.