Symbols
and Metaphors
Zora Neale Hurston’s
writing is rich with symbols and metaphors. Throughout Their Eyes Were
Watching God, objects and themes appear again and again. These recurrent
motifs serve to illustrate abstract concepts that are important in the novel. Hurston's powerful use of imagery clarifies and intensifies
the telling of Janie's story.
Wishes/Dreams
Their Eyes Were
Watching God opens with the motif of
wishing or dreaming. “Now women forget all those things they don’t want to
remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the
truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” (p 1) From the moment of revelation under the pear
tree, to the book’s lyrical conclusion, Their Eyes Were Watching God tells the
story of the progression of Janie’s dreams of love and freedom.
On another level, Janie
herself represents the dreams of many of the book’s other characters. The porch
sitters who exult when Janie acts “common” and Mrs. Turner who almost worships
her all see in Janie a concrete example of their impossible dream. It is
significant that, without exception, the characters of Their Eyes Were Watching
God see Janie as socially superior to them, not because of any difference in
education or manners, but because of her Caucasian characteristics. While at first glance race is not a major
issue in Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is nevertheless an important part of
the novel. At the time when Zora Neale
Hurston was writing African-Americans were still
largely considered second class citizens, inferior members of the human
race—especially in the South. Janie, black but with Caucasian beauty, becomes a
symbol of the social equality or power that black Americans lacked.
Janie’s
Hair
Janie’s hair is a
recurrent and powerful motif. It has a potent effect on almost every character
that Hurston introduces. In texture and appearance,
Janie’s hair is Caucasian: it reflects her white father and grandfather.
Janie’s hair is a concrete representation of several ideas or themes, all interrelated.
The dominant impression that the hair gives is that of power or possession. Connected to this, Janie's hair figures largely in depictions of
sexual relationships or even sexual attraction. Descriptions of Janie's
hair illustrate her relationships with each of her husbands. Joe Starks, who is
jealous and possessive, cannot bear the thought of other men enjoying the sight
of her long, beautiful hair. He forces her to keep it tied up in a kerchief.
Janie's reluctance to do so indicates her desire to be loved and accepted by
the community as who she is--all aspects of her
personality included--rather than as who different individuals want her to be.
Janie's hair makes an appearance both in the opening scene and in the
conclusion of the novel. It is the distinguishing characteristic that helps the
porch sitters to recognize her as she returns to the city. And after Janie
reaches the end of her story--and the end of the novel--she goes upstairs to
bed. "She closed in and sat down. Combing road-dust out
of her hair. Thinking..." (p 192)
The
Pear Tree
One of the most obvious
symbols used in the novel, and charged with sexuality, the pear tree motif is
introduced early in Janie's story. As a sixteen-year-old girl, lying beneath a
pear tree in the spring, she watches a bee gathering
pollen from a pear blossom. The experience becomes a symbol to Janie of the
ideal relationship, one in which passion does not result in possession or
domination, but rather in an effortless union of individuals. As the story progresses,
the blossom/pollen motif reappears frequently, illustrating the development of
Janie's dream:
Three months after Janie's
marriage to Logan Killicks, she returns to Nanny in
tears. "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage, lak when you sit
under a pear tree and think." (p 24) Her relationship with
The
Horizon; The Road
Closely related to the
theme of dreams and wishes, and often mentioned in conjunction with the pear
tree symbol, is the horizon. The horizon represents better things--the
possibility of change and perhaps improvement. The horizon is mentioned in the
opening paragraph of Their Eyes Were Watching God: "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.
That is the life of men." (p 1)
Janie's dream remains on
the horizon for most of her life. She can wish and hope for better things, but
she lives in reality that is very different. From the beginning, Janie's dreams
are limited by her circumstances. Early in her life, "Nanny had taken the
biggest thing God ever made, the horizon--for no matter how far a person can go
the horizon is still way beyond you--and pinched it in to such a little bit of
a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to
choke her." (p 89) At the end of the book, however, Janie has realized her
dream. Her wish has "come in with the tide". Hurston
writes that Janie "pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it
from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of
life in its meshes! She called her soul to come in and see." (p 193)
Closely related to the
horizon symbol is the road symbol. The two are frequently mentioned together.
The road functions as a bridge between Janie's present circumstances and the horizon.
The different stages of Janie's life--the different stages in the realization
of her dream--are marked by travel from one place to another.
The
Hurricane
The hurricane's
devastation is beyond the control of the book's characters. Capricious but impersonal,
it is a concrete example of the destructive power found in nature. Janie, Tea
Cake, and their friends can only look on in terror as the hurricane destroys
the structure of their lives and leaves them to rebuild as best they can. A
pivotal event in the novel, the hurricane marks an abrupt transition from
Janie's idyllic life with Tea Cake. After the storm strikes, events rush
rapidly to Tea Cake's death and the novel's conclusion.
"Wind" or
"whirlwind" is also used as a metaphor in other parts of the book,
always in reference to power, often in conjunction with destructiveness.
"Wind" represents power that effects change--but is not always in
control of the results. For example, Joe is described as "uh whirlwind
among breezes...We bend which ever way he blows." (p 42)
Death
Death--both
as the actual, physical death of people, and as Hurston's
personification of Death in the abstract--is a significant presence in the
book. Hurston
often uses the death of characters to mark the death of phases of Janie's
life--and consequently, transitions to new phases. The two most important
incidents are the deaths of two of her husbands. Joe's death frees Janie not
only from the restrictions that he put on her, but of the self-imposed
submission of her own thoughts and dreams. Janie's relationship with Tea Cake
fulfills her "pear-tree" dream. Their time together helps her learn
to enjoy being herself again. After Tea Cake's death, Janie is truly
independent.
The
Mule
The incident of the “town
mule”, when Jody “rescues” Matt Bonner’s mule (p 55-62), is more than just a
humorous moment in the book. The mule story serves to illustrate the strained
relationship between Janie and Joe Starks. More than that, however, the figure
of the mule can refer not only to Janie herself but to any black woman
struggling for independence. At the beginning of the novel Nanny tells Janie,
“Honey, white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out…So de white man throw down de load and tell de
nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick
it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule of de world so fur
as Ah can see. Ah been prayin’ fuh
it tuh be different wid
you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!” (p 14) Janie identifies with the mule, which remains
stubbornly independent despite its master’s efforts to beat it down.
Ironically, while Jody’s position in the city gives him the power to free the
mule, his pride and ambition cause him to virtually enslave his wife. He can
free Janie only by his death.
Chair
or Stool
Although not immediately
apparent, class or position in society is an important theme in the novel. Hurston uses the symbol of a chair or stool many times in
Their Eyes Were Watching God to represent high class or an exalted position.
These references are all found in the Jody/Janie part of the story, and
appropriately: nothing is more important to Joe than prestige. Joe thinks that
the place for Janie is up on "a high chair" beside him. Janie,
however, is uncomfortable with her exalted position in the town and wants to be
a part of the community like everyone else.
The
Sun
While the sun apparently
does not represent any major theme in the book, it is mentioned repeatedly. Hurston's lyrical descriptions of the sun and the sky
around it seem to be transitional, marking the passage of time or of change.
Interestingly, while Janie's narrative takes place from sunset to full dark,
the book ends with a vision of Tea Cake "with the sun for a shawl".
Symbols and Metaphors by Emily
Kendall, 2005