In 1937, upon the first publication of Their Eyes Were Watching God, the most influential black writer of his day, Richard Wright, declared that the novel has no theme, no message, [and] no thought. » Wright's powerful review embodied a nation's attitude toward Zora Neale Hurston's second novel. African American critics read a book that they believed satisfied the "white man" stereotype of African American culture and the humor that Caucasians saw in this prejudice. However, these critics and most of America have overlooked the wonderful use of imagery, symbolism, and thematic application of an African American woman's journey toward womanhood and self-identification in a society dominated by men. Hurston introduced Janie Crawford, a strong, articulate, dramatic character whose life was best understood by women or by residents of migrant farms and rural black towns. Their Eyes Were Watching God is infused with recurring symbols, such as a pear tree, a gate, and Janie's hair, which illuminate a young girl's quest for fulfillment, as she discovers the true meaning of love and happiness through two failures. marriages and a third successful but tragic. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The strongest symbol in their eyes looked at God is the pear tree. The pear blossom is a representation of Janie, as she is a young girl blossoming into a woman on a spring afternoon. Hurston explains this symbolism at the beginning of the chapter, describing Janie as "a great leafy tree with things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone." Dawn and doom were in the branches” (Hurston 8). Janie then lies under the tree, watches bees pollinate a flower, and experiences an epiphany of sexual awakening: “the thousand sister-chalices arch to meet the loving embrace and ecstatic thrill of love.” the tree, from the root to the smallest branch, creaming each flower and foaming with delight” (10-11). Apparently, she understands and appreciates fertilization and procreation in nature and the beauty of the process. Immediately after this episode, Janie satisfies her sexual need by kissing Johnny Taylor over the fence. Nanny catches Janie in the act and forces Janie to become a woman by arranging her marriage to unattractive landowner Logan Killicks. Throughout the novel, Janie refers to the flowering pear tree as a symbol of her ideal relationship and compares her husbands to the harmony she witnessed. between the bees and the flowers of the pear tree. Janie sees Logan's vision as "desecrating the pear tree", because she does not like the man at all (13). Rather, she finds her true love in her marriage to Tea Cake, who “could be a flowering bee… crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took” (102). While the handstand symbolizes Janie's sexual epiphany and her ideal relationship, it also coincides with her search for her true love. Her pear blossom withers with her marriage to Logan Killicks, but it blooms again in another cycle with Tea Cake. Additionally, the reappearance of a door before a critical life change is also symbolic of Janie's quest for identity. In general, doors tend to be associated with new stages or episodes in life, and in Their Eyes Were Watching God Hurston, Janie often acts near a door or contemplates it deeply during crucial plot events . Her journey to womanhood requires several steps, or realizations, as she moves from relationshipto another. For example, Janie kissed Johnny Taylor at Nanny's door, ending her childhood at a very young age. Additionally, at this time, Janie never ventured outside the door and was therefore symbolically forced into womanhood because she never willingly left childhood behind. Two months after her marriage to Logan, Janie asks Nanny about love and marriage, but Nanny tells her that marriage does not mean defining love. Then, Janie “leaned over the gate and looked out toward the road…Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (24). Because she realizes that marriage cannot create love, Janie looks to the future in search of a new opportunity or a new dream. Therefore, the door foreshadows a new beginning or path in Janie's journey toward womanhood. Later that year, Logan threatens to kill Janie when she refuses to shovel manure, and she runs out the front gate of the estate to meet her new love interest, Joe Starks. Her second marriage fails terribly, but then she finds another door in Tea Cake, who is the only man to walk through the door and into Janie's life, rather than letting Janie run away from hers. Therefore, the door is a prominent symbol associated with the various chapters of the girl's journey, representing or foreshadowing a crucial stage in Janie's life. Additionally, the transformations in the appearance of Janie's beautiful flowing hair and the way it is worn are symbolic of her constraint or freedom involved in her current marriage. As a young child, Janie wears ribbons in her hair and is viewed by others with respect and dignity. In her youth, she is innocent and unblemished until she loses that innocence by kissing Johnny Taylor. Additionally, during his first marriage, Logan Killicks appreciated and complimented the beauty of Janie's hair in the first few months, but when "he stopped marveling at and fingering her long black hair", respect and Logan's admiration for Janie is obviously lost. 25). Logan then begins to criticize, insult and overwork Janie, eventually threatening to kill her during an argument. Additionally, during her marriage to Joe Starks, Janie is forced by her husband to tie her hair up with rags and she must never let it down when she is in the store. Thus, Starks confines and restricts Janie as much as her hair, showing his possessive and jealous attitude. After Joe's death, she looks in the mirror and examines herself: "the girl was gone, but a beautiful young woman had taken her place. She tore off the Ö scarf and untied her hair. The weight, the length, the glory were there” (83). With Jody's death, Janie feels free and relieved, noticing that she has finally become a woman. In chapter ten, Janie burns the rag as a declaration of her freedom. Janie then finds true love in Tea Cake, who differs from her predecessors by allowing Janie to be a part of her life. He admires her hair as he affectionately combs Janie's hair, "wishing so badly that I had my hands in your hair." It's so pretty. We feel jusí lak under the wing of the dove next to the face of mah (99). Therefore, because her hair is a symbol of her character, Tea Cake appreciates Janie for who she is and shows her affection by grooming her. Finally, the novel begins when Janie returns from her experiences with Tea Cake, and Hurston shows that Janie has found herself and regained her autonomy as her hair is described as "a great rope of black hair swinging down to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a feather (2) in search of its identity and its..