Their Eyes Were Watching God Group

Question:


starprincess
Student
High School - 12th Grade

Do you believe a person can only fall in love once? Show textual evidence from the book, "Their Eyes Were Watching God."

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Posted by starprincess on Friday May 9, 2008 at 5:23 PM and tagged with janie, love, their eyes were watching god.

Answers:


  1. podunc Teacher
    College - Sophomore

    eNotes Editor

    I can't answer this question in general, but I do believe that Hurston only creates one love match for Janie: Tea-Cake. Janie marries her first love to please her Nanny, marries Joe Starks for money and escape, and finally marries Tea-Cake for love. We know that Janie learns from her first husband that "marriage did not make love." We also know that later, Jody does not allow her to be herself, and that she feels imprisoned by her marriage to him. It is not until she finds Tea-Cake that she feels a "self crushing love" and that her "soul" is able to "[crawl] out from its hiding place" at the end of Chapter 13.

    Although Hurston does put a lot of emphasis on romantic love, Janie's journey is ultimately about self-love. At the end of the novel, she tells Phoeby that "everybody's got tuh . . . find out about livin' fuh theyselves."

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/their-eyes

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    Posted by podunc on Friday May 9, 2008 at 5:44 PM