“Ships at a Distance” Dreams in Their Eyes Were Watching...

Zora Neale Hurston opens Their Eyes Were Watching God with an eloquent metaphor regarding dreams: â€Å"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 (Hurston 1).† Hurston describes here how some dreams are achieved with time while others lurk out of reach until the dreamer gives up. Janie Crawford, protagonist of Their Eyes Were Watching God, encounters numerous ambitions throughout her life, mainly concerning a desire to somehow achieve something in life, and to not just go through the motions. While Janie’s dreams and my own do not†¦show more content†¦The pear tree is her inspiration and her first true desire. She longs to bud and blossom, like the tree, and cannot wait to discover herself and all the wonders of the world. Another desire of young Janie is to find true, passionate love in a relationship. Returning to the metaphor of the pear tree, Janie says to her Grandma, â€Å"‘Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think’† (Hurston 24). Janie dreams of a peaceful, pleasant, and comfortable love in her marriage, similar to the quiet bliss of sitting in the shade of a blossoming pear tree. In her article, Kubitschek also points out Darwin Turner’s understanding that â€Å"‘All Janie wants is to love, be loved, and to share the life of her man. But . . . she must first find a man wise enough to let her be whatever kind of woman she wants to be’† (qtd. in Kubitschek 109). Unfortunately, this love and freedom was not acquired in Janie’s first marriage. Despite her hope that feelings of true love would develop with her first husband Logan Killicks, â€Å"she knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’ s first dream was dead, so she became a woman† (Hurston 25). Discontent with lack of passion in her first marriage, Janie decides to abandon her dream of finding love with Logan and does not hesitate to run away with Jody Starks when the situation presents itself. Deborah Clarke comments on this change in heart, writing, â€Å"Janie thus gives up aShow MoreRelatedTheir Eyes Were Watching By Zora Hurston1172 Words   |  5 PagesThe book their eyes were watching was written by Zora Hurston, and she tells the life story of a girl named Janie. It starts off with a metaphor explaining that women are the type to chase their dreams and even when it seems they can never accomplish it they never lose sight of it. Men on the other type to have dreams but instead of chasing like how Zora says women do they want their dream to come to them. The book is a frame narrative being and told by Zora but switches from Janie s point of viewRead MoreA Womens Search for Identity in Zora Neale H urston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God729 Words   |  3 Pagesâ€Å"It’s uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuh go there tuh know there†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Hurston 192). The theme of identity can be seen throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, of a story of a women’s journey for self-identification. Through symbolic imagery, such as the pear tree, Janie’s hair, and the horizon, Hurston ultimately shows a women’s quest for her identity. As a young teenager, Janie becomes infatuated with the idea of an idealistic romance: â€Å"She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into theRead MoreGender Roles in Their Eyes Were Watching God1087 Words   |  5 Pagesï » ¿Gender Roles in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God During the 1900’s, women, specifically black women, were considered to be property of men in the United States, especially down south, in states such as Florida and Georgia. Legally, women had no voice. For example, if a woman was abused by her husband, the court system would not acknowledge it even if it did really happen. In the article â€Å"Sexism in the Early 1900’s†, Becca Woltemath states that â€Å"†¦a woman’s job is to take care of the houseRead MoreHow One Fulfills A Dream?1570 Words   |  7 PagesHow one fulfills a dream is a contested and unsettled concept. Is it based on luck, skill, chance, or something else entirely? Attributing a dream’s success to outside forces, such as luck and chance, creates unambitious tendencies. On the other hand, when a person has an internal locus of control, a belief that he or she can influence their success themselves, they take their life into their own hands and control their own destiny. In multiple studies, it has been shown that those with an internalRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God Summer Assignment1071 Words   |  5 Pages Their Eyes Were Watching God Summer Assignment Passage: â€Å"Listen, Sam, if it was nature, nobody wouldn’t have tuh look out for babies touchin’ stoves, would they? ’Cause dey just naturally wouldn’t touch it. But dey sho will. So it’s caution.† â€Å"Naw it ain’t, it’s nature, cause nature makes caution. It’s de strongest thing dat God ever made, now. Fact is it’s de onliest thing God every made. He made nature and nature made everything else.†(Hurston 64-65) Journal Entry: (R) This is a passageRead MoreThe Horizon of Possibility in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston 595 Words   |  3 PagesTheir Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston describes the horizon as possibilities and opportunities. When the story starts out Janie’s perception of the horizon changes first from desire for love to the need of love, and ultimately the feeling of contentment towards love to show Janie maturing throughout the novel. Firstly, Janie views the horizon as an opportunity for something great to happen in her life. For example, in the beginning paragraph in the novel, it illustrates how harboring ships give peopleRead MoreThe Great Gatsby By F. Scott B. Fitzgerald1635 Words   |  7 Pagesprotagonist in Their Eyes Were Watching God to the use of first person narration of a secondary character in The Great Gatsby. What is the effect of having Nick tell Gatsby’s story versus Janie telling her own? Is Nick a reliable narrator? Is Janie? a While Janie tells her own perspective of her American Dream, Nick is under the impression of admiration towards Gatsby’s American Dream. 3. How are women able to express power in each novel? a The women in both novels were able to express powerRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God : Gender Differences1584 Words   |  7 PagesKhealsea Elkins Professor Katherine Chiles ENG AFST 233: Major Black Writers 14 October 2014 Their Eyes Were Watching God: Gender Differences Zora Neale Hurston is considered one of the most unsurpassed writers of twentieth-century African-American literature. Published in 1937, Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God depicts the life of Janie Crawford, an African-American woman, who is in search of true love and ultimately her true self. In the novel, Janie shows us that love comesRead MoreNot All Dreams Come True in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston601 Words   |  3 Pages At one point in every persons life, they have a dream. However, not all hopes and dreams come true. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist, Janie Crawford, experiences the deaths of some of her dreams, but she also experiences the success of one. The deaths of these dreams change her opinion of men and caused her to become unsure of love. â€Å"Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide...Then they act and do thingsRead MoreTheir Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston1459 Words   |  6 Pages 1. In â€Å"Their Eyes Were Watching God† by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie Crawford experiences many different kinds of love. Throughout her childhood, Janie experienced protective love from her grandmother. When Janie reached the ripe age of 16, her grandmother wanted her to get married. Because of this, she ended up marrying her first husband, Logan Killicks. Just like she did when she was with her grandmother, Janie was the receiver of protective love from her husband. The next type