Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is a novel about the life of a black woman, Janie. The story weaves through Janie’s three marriages; the first two are unhappy while the last one is the best. Hurston uses many literary devices in this novel in order to convey its themes and messages and make the language richer and deeper. She employs metaphors, similes, irony, and foreshadowing, as well as symbolism. The symbolism used in this novel guides the reader through the plot and allows the reader to see more deeply into various actions and occasions. Five of the main symbols used are the horizon, the blossoming pear tree, Janie’s hair, Tea Cake’s guitar, and buzzards. These symbols indicate the significance of certain events and foreshadow future plot developments.
One overarching symbol in this novel is the horizon, which is often referred to along with ships sailing far away. The horizon is mentioned in the very first and very last sentences of this novel, along with several times in the middle. In this novel, the horizon symbolizes life with all of its developments and possibilities. The opening paragraph introduces the reader to this symbol, "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). Through the book, it seems that Janie’s life is like that of those whose ship never lands with their dream. Her first two husbands do not fulfill her wish of true love. However, she finds love with Tea Cake. At the end of the book, it says that Janie brought in "her horizon like a great fish-net" (193). She pulls in her horizon in order to view her life with all of her accomplishments and failures. The symbolic value of the horizon helps to inform the reader about Janie’s view of life, a view that can be seen all through her story.
Another symbol that is seen throughout the book is a blossoming pear tree. This image symbolizes Janie’s ideal view of love and marriage and is first mentioned while Janie is still young and full of life. She sees love in nature, through the bees, sun, wind, and the blossoms of the pear tree. During these reflections she thinks, "So this is marriage!" (11). As Janie takes this view of marriage through her life, she finds that her first two husbands do not match up to the high expectations she held. However, when she meets Tea Cake, she begins to think of him also like a pear blossom (106). Here, the symbol of the pear blossoms serves as foreshadowing as it points to a happy marriage between Janie and Tea Cake.
Janie’s hair serves as an important symbol, along with the kerchief she wears while married to Joe Starks. Janie’s hair symbolizes her individuality and power, things that Joe tries to oppress. From early on, Joe will not let Janie show her hair around town; she always has to wear a kerchief and hide it (55). In a similar way, Janie has to hide her true identity and become Joe’s quiet, docile wife. Upon Joe’s death, Janie "tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there" (87). This act illustrates Janie ridding herself of Joe’s influence and allowing her true self to show. Later, Tea Cake compliments Janie’s hair, showing that he likes that she is an individual. The symbol of Janie’s hair helps the reader see how her different husbands deal with her strong, independent personality.
The guitar is a symbol that is used in conjunction with Tea Cake. Tea Cake’s guitar symbolizes his free spirit and life. From one of the first times he sees Janie, until right before the hurricane, Tea Cake often has a guitar. Tea Cake entertains many with his guitar. He is forced to throw away his guitar while he, Janie, and Motor Boat flee the hurricane. After the hurricane, Tea Cake never has a chance to be his old, carefree self. He and Janie are busy setting up a new home and dealing with the hurricane’s aftermath right until the time he becomes sick. Nevertheless, once he dies, "Janie buried Tea Cake in Palm Beach...Janie brought him a brand new guitar and put it in his hands. He would be thinking up new songs to play to her when she got there" (189). This act symbolizes that even though Tea Cake is dead, his spirit will live on. Indeed, at the end of the novel, as Janie sits in her own home, she realizes that Tea Cake was still alive since she is not "finished feeling and thinking" (193). The guitar allows the reader to obtain a better view of Tea Cake’s personality and the manner in which his legacy can live beyond his death.
One more symbol is the buzzards that appear at certain times. Buzzards symbolize death in this novel as they often do in other literary works. The buzzards are first present at the funeral that the townspeople of Eatonville had for the town mule. They descend to eat the carcass soon after the people leave (61, 62). Then, the buzzards reappear shortly before the hurricane. "A thousand buzzards held a flying meet and then went above the clouds and stayed" (155). The buzzards foreshadow the disasters that the hurricane would cause, as well as the many deaths. Thus, the symbolism behind the buzzards prepares the reader for deaths in the novel.
The horizon, blossoming pear tree, Janie’s hair, Tea Cake’s guitar, and the buzzards are all symbols that guide the reader through the plot and enlighten the reader on the importance of certain occurrences. These symbols add a depth to the novel’s plot by attaching addition significance to multiple events that might have only been skimmed over otherwise. Moreover, they help unify the book by connecting different passages, allowing the book to stand as more of a unified whole.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.
