Similarities Between The Color Purple And Their Eyes Were Watching God

During one of Joe and Janie’s arguments, Joe says, “ T’aint no use in getting mad, Janie, ‘cause Ah mention you ain’t no young gal no more’. Nobody in heah ain’t lookin’ for no wife outa yuh. Old as you is.” (pg.79. ). Joe was alway putting Janie down for her age. He didn’t want anyone to be looking at her and he wanted to be in control. Once they argued, Janie stood up to him and “ Joe Starks didn’t know the words for all of this, but he knew the feeling. So he struck Janie with all his might and drove her from the store.” Hitting Janie made him feel in control, but she was in plenty of pain. Janie tried to stand up, but she ended up being in more

page 95- “He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice.”

Of Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Alice Walker says "it speaks to me as no novel, past or present, has ever done."  Though 45 years separate Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Color Purple, the two novels embody many similar concerns and methods. Hurston and Walker write of the experience of uneducated rural southern black women. They find a wisdom that can transform our communal relations and our spiritual lives. As Celie in The Color Purple says, referring to God: "If he ever listened to poor colored women the world would be a different place, I can tell you."

Hurston uses diction, imagery, and tone to sum up the changed nature of the marriage between Joe and Janie and makes the reader feel angry concerning Joe, and pity concerning Janie.

 Overtime, no matter what kind of circumstance set up towards the term superiority, the meaning of it being expressed has not changed. It has not been expressed differently between any kind of man, even during the early 1900s era where they claimed their dominance over women. Women were put through the same overwhelming motive of repression that man (regardless of the race) had attempted to suffocate them with. It is in the hands of a women on how they take the repression that has been brought upon them by man. Portrayed in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is an African American women who endures the superiority of man. As an African American women she is brought up to know when she is allowed to do as she wants and when she is not. She exemplifies the standard view that society has set up for a male to have the last word in the way a female must live their life. Unlike a women who has been pampered her whole life to do as she wants whenever she wants as brought to us by Edna in The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The two must try to coexist within the superiority brought by man.

In Hurston’s novel, Joe is portrayed as a very wealthy man who is the mayor of a town known as Eatonville. Though Janie is very well off financially, her personal desires are, once again, disregarded. Janie is overlooked and demeaned by Joe while she is asked to speak, Joe interrupts, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ bout no speech-makin” (43). Janie is simply overlooked in her marriage with Joe, and he doesn’t have the decency to let his own wife speak, which foreshadows the failure in their marriage and that Joe does not possess the qualities that a good husband should have. Later on in their marriage, Joe grows ill, he eventually dies and the townspeople of Eatonville mourn over his death. Ironically, Janie does not acquire sadness over his death, yet she feels rather free. As Janie talks to her friend Pheoby after the funeral, she states, “Tain’t dat Ah worries over Joe’s death, Pheoby. Ah jus’ loves dis freedom” (93). The textual evidence provides reasoning as to how Janie is not mournful over her husband’s death, yet she is feeling a sense of freedom and independence. Thus giving that Joe Starks did not have a strong marriage with Janie, therefore he is not a good

These chapters show Janie's initial happiness with Joe, followed by her dissatisfaction with Joe as he starts to treat her like his property, because of her gender. Janie feels defeated by her search for love as she is trapped in a loveless relationship. Joe's control over Janie actually makes her a stronger and more independent woman.

Janie's attraction to Joe Starks' charisma quickly diminishes when his overdose of ambition and controlling personality get the best of him. Although he is a big voice in the town, Janie only sees him as a big voice. All his money and power have no effect on her when all he does is ridicule and control her. He makes it clear where Janie belongs: "Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home" (Hurston 43). This is ironic because when she is with Logan, she wants to be in the house doing her own thing, but Joe is making it sound like confinement. It's as if she has no choice in the matter and Joe intends to make his power over her known. People have different desires and sometimes when we get caught up in our success, we can end up hurting others. Joe's reply to Janie is a great example of the insensitivity that can form from the pride we can possibly inherit when we achieve success: "Ah told you in de first beginnin' dat Ah aimed tuh be uh big voice.

“‘Nothing much,’ he said. ‘She told me that men came in and the women there were nice to them.’”(63)

In hopes for a better relationship, Janie moves away with a person who was encompassed with a more idealistic marriage. Joe encountered Janie, telling her that he was on his way to success, a higher social status. These words sparked Janie, and reasured her that she did want a more “peach tree” like marriage. A marriage that was perfect, that was full of love. Consequently, Janie and Joe cultivated a love for each other, yet this was not exactly what she imagined. Janie was glued to Joe, she was treated as if she was an object. A key attribute of Joe’s is jealousy, he is persistently perturbed that other men are glancing at Janie. Joe makes this clear as he informs,” “Naw, Jody, it wasn’t because Ah didn’t have no sympathy. Ah had uh lavish

Instead of treating Janie like the beautiful woman that she is, he uses her as an object. Joe was a man who “treasured [Janie] as a posession” (Berridge). Joe’s demanding nature suppresses Janie’s urge to grow and develop, thus causing her journey to self-realization to take steps backward rather than forward. In Janie’s opinion, “he needs to “have [his] way all [his] life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let [him]self heah 'bout it” (Hurston 122). It is almost as if Janie loses sense of her own self-consciousness due to the fact that she becomes like a puppy being told what to do by her master. The death of Jody is actually a positive thing. Joe’s controlling nature stifles Janie’s inner voice. While married to Jody, Janie became closer to others, however, she did not become closer to herself. Being on her own again gave her another chance to embark on her journey and realize who Janie Crawford really is.

Hurston uses small symbols such as the store to display how Janie has gained some independence. After Janie marries Joe they open up a store together. Being the only general store in the town they experience a lot of customers. Often Janie is found managing

to stand up to Joe when they get into arguments, although Joe continues to refuse to see or speak with her. As Joe grows ill, and close to death, Janie forces him to listen to what she has to say:

Though it is true that Logan has 60 acres of land, cattles and houses and can certainly offer protection to Janie, Janie cannot love him indeed. She thinks once she got married she will live her husband. She complains that Logan is ugly and even does not touch her when lying on the bed; later Logan even asks her to begin working on the farm. Nanny is surprised at her consideration of love “ ...and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killicks, and you come worryin’ me ‘bout love.” However, Janie does not want this life. She feels confined and lack of both emotional and physical fulfillment. Until one day she meets Joe.

Instead, however, Joe walks up and says, “Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.” Here we see Joe take an initiative to make a decision for Janie without giving her a chance to even consider the prospect. It shows early on that he doesn’t care to give Janie a chance to express herself verbally. I can’t help but think of the times I’ve heard the comment “women belong in the kitchen”. Both, in a similar manner, are used to restrict a woman to what she is thought to be rather than who she truly is. It forces them into a type of mold of what is desirable rather than allowing her to express herself. In order to attain to independence, for any person, one must disregard the mold that a person, or society in general places on them. Something I think that I myself am just now coming to terms with; to push aside what others expect of you and realize your own