Theme of Voice in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay

Breaking Through In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie the protagonist is seen by critics as having no voice. For all women silence knows no boundaries of race or culture, and Janie is no exception. Hurston characterizes Janie with the same silence that women at that time period were forced into, (complete submission.) Women were to be seen and not heard. Janie spends forty years of her life, learning to achieve/find, her voice against the over-ruling and dominate men in her life. But in the end Janie comes out the victor, breaking the silence. In her essay What do Feminist Critics Want? Gilbert states, Like Wagners master singers....men had the power of speech,[but]....women†¦show more content†¦Janies actions are stronger than words, Janies trial at the end of the novel, proves, Janies silence to be more powerful than articulation. Hurston uses the narrative consciousness in Their Eyes, to characterize those who are silent and lack their own voice, by doing this Hurston gives depth, to those whose voices, are heard. Throughout the entire novel, the development of the male voice seems to parallel the development of Janies. The men in Janies life have voices, and it is by her relationships with these men, that Janies voice gets stronger. Janie becomes more self confident with each relationship she endures. Hurston, by using the consciousness narrative, is actually speaking for Janie; the narrator and Janie are like one. This might be the reason that Hurston gives little voice to Janies character. Janie is not silenced in the novel, she is expressed through the narrative. Which if the reader does not close read, the reader will not comprehend this aspect of Hurstons novel. Passion and control correspond to voice and silence, as expressed by the three relationships in Janies life. Hurston brings together the men and women in her novel, comparing Janies personal growth to the three significant men in her life ( Logan, Starks, Tea Cake, which all three were her husband.)Show MoreRelatedThe Life of American Women in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God895 Words   |  4 PagesZora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel illustrating the life of an African American woman that finds her voice through many trials and tribulations. At the heart of the story, Hurston portrays a protagonist who moves from a passive state to independence, from passive woman with no voice who is dominated by her husband to a woman who can think and act for herself. Hurston achieves the greater theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God, of self-expression and independence throughRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God893 Words   |  4 Pag esdesire for answers throughout her three relationships, displaying what she is longingly seeking for in life. 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