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Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

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The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston presents the theme of typical gender boundaries and their impact in African American culture during the 1930’s. Women at that time were thought to be inferior to men and considered to be the property of them, they had no voice. Realistic gender issues are shown through the main character, Janie’s and her struggling love life. Janie has to face many limitations as a result of being a black women in the 1930s. In order for Janie to have the life she wants to have, she has to face the obstacles of gender inequality. Hurston portrays typical gender boundaries by using Janie as a victim and showing what she went through.

Hurston writes a novel that is steeped in African American culture and tradition, however she also shows the gender roles that are happening during the time. The novel first introduces the gender roles at the beginning of the book. The narrator starts off by saying “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever…Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget” (Hurston 1). This compares the desires of men and women in a very intriguing way. Hurston using the phrases “have every man’s wish on board” and "women forget all those things they don’t want to remember” shows how men are more focused on their dreams than women are. It shows how men have more control of

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