The theme of love versus independence in Their Eyes Were Watching God of a character towards the discovery of love. Janie Crawford, the protagonist, deciphers through experience what love really is. Through her text, Hurston discusses love versus independence and speech versus silence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The theme of love versus independence emerges from the beginning of the novel. Janie Crawford, an attractive and dreamy child then a confident woman, first lives with her grandmother, Nanny. Due to her upbringing in slavery, Nanny's view of love is skewed and focused on security, particularly financial security. After experiencing slavery and poverty, Nanny wants Janie to find a partner who can take care of her and provide for her needs. Janie sees love differently when she looks at a handstand one day. She saw a “bee laden with dust sinking into the sanctuary of a flower; the thousand sister chalices arch to meet the loving embrace and ecstatic thrill of the tree, from root to smallest branch, creaming in each flower and sparkling with delight. So it was a wedding! (Hurston 11). The tree needed the bee and the bee needed the tree. Both elements of the relationship had a purpose and helped to strengthen the other. One without the other, neither would prosper. Janie saw love and marriage as a bond between people who strengthen each other and bring out the best in each other. Each person would care for the other and ensure what they needed and wanted. Without each other, neither couple could survive. Throughout the text, the importance of the image of the bee and the pear tree is seen as Janie goes through several husbands. Understanding what love is Nanny realizes the need to organize Janie's first wedding when she sees her kiss Johnny Taylor under the pear. TREE. Afterwards, “it was the end of her childhood” (12) because Nanny had her first husband, Logan Killicks, in mind. Kissing under the pear tree, Janie felt innocent, like a child. However, she quickly had to become a woman and entered into her first marriage. The man could offer Janie money and protection, the most important qualities in a marriage according to her grandmother. Even though Janie begged her not to have to do it, Janie was obedient. She did as she was told and married Logan. Janie visits Nanny for advice, worried that she will never like Logan. Nanny claims that marriage will create love. She says that Janie should appreciate Logan's wealth and status, and that by living together, she would learn to love and be grateful to him. A year passes and Janie still feels no love for Logan. “She knew now that marriage did not make love” (24). Disillusioned, Janie gives up all hope of ever loving Logan. Additionally, her husband stops “talking to her in rhymes” (25) and tries to make her do manual labor, claiming that she is spoiled. Logan starts ordering her to help with the farm work, and Janie says he expects her to adore him but she never will. She believes that a romantic relationship should put both people on an equal footing, both helping each other to bring out the best in the other. Here she moves on to her next husband, initially thinking how different he is, but ironically he won't really respect her, claiming ownership of her and placing her on a lower level than him. THEJanie's second husband, Joe Starks, has big dreams that excite him and Janie's hopes for love come back to life. However, the second marriage becomes the basis of Hurston's theme: speech versus silence. Joe became mayor and expected his wife to act a certain way. He didn't want her to talk to the townspeople, have a social life, or even express herself because he wanted her to act like a mayor's wife. When Joe became mayor, Janie was called to make a speech, but Joe "spoke without giving her a chance to say anything" (41). From the beginning of the marriage, Janie clearly remained silent. She loves hearing stories, but Joe won't even let her sit down with the community to hear them. Her husband tries to control Janie, and this control will soon end their marriage and their love. Love is not created through control. Joe thinks that by silencing his wife, she will appear as the appropriate mayor's wife. However, he simply drives Janie away by suppressing her individuality. She no longer had “flower openings sprinkling pollen on her man, nor bright young fruits where the petals once were” (68). The same image used at the beginning of the text applies here. The image shows how one thing, or in this case, a person, needs another in order to flourish and be who they are. Joe doesn't let Janie's individuality shine. However, she is still a good wife, keeping her feelings to herself and obeying her husband. However, one day Janie makes a clumsy mistake while cutting a tobacco cap for a customer and Joe calls her out, insulting her. Janie finally made herself heard and stopped herself from remaining silent, insulting her husband in return: Ah, she's not a young girl either, but hey, Ah, she's not an old woman no more. Ah, I think Ah looks old too. But I am every inch a woman, and I know it. It's much more than what you say. You big bellies around here brag a lot, but there's nothing else except your big voice. Hum! I'm talking about me looking old! When you drop your pants, you look like you're not changing your life. (75)Janie finally finds her voice and fights back. She shows her strength, freeing herself from her stereotype. She is no longer controlled by someone who loves her and is no longer silenced. Janie's third husband, Tea Cake, is not like the others. He actually treats her as an equal, caring about her wants and needs. Tea Cake engages in her speech, conversing with her and putting himself on an equal footing with her. His love for him comes from his respect for him as an individual. The first time they meet, Tea Cake invites him to play checkers; someone “actually thought it was natural for her to play” (92). She respected him for treating her with dignity. She felt “like she had known him all her life… She had been able to talk to him right away” (94). From the start, she felt comfortable with him. She admits that she has tried to live the way her grandmother did, but now she is ready to experience something new. While Jody wanted her to act pretentious and upscale, Tea Cake treats her the way she wants to be treated. Through the experience, she began to understand love more clearly and knows that Tea Cake is right for her. Between Joe Starks and Tea Cake, Janie made the most of her six-month period of freedom. She embraced her independence. At the end of the novel, Janie is alone. However, she seems happy, proud of everything she has experienced. She frees herself from her unpleasant and unsatisfying relationships with Logan and Jody, which hinder her personal growth. Thanks to her relationship with Tea Cake, Janie experiences true fulfillment and, 31(2), 47-61.

Essay / The theme of love versus independence in Their Eyes Were Watching God of a character towards the discovery of love. Janie Crawford, the protagonist, deciphers through experience what love really is. Through her text, Hurston discusses love versus independence and speech versus silence. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The theme of love versus independence emerges from the beginning of the novel. Janie Crawford, an attractive and dreamy child then a confident woman, first lives with her grandmother, Nanny. Due to her upbringing in slavery, Nanny's view of love is skewed and focused on security, particularly financial security. After experiencing slavery and poverty, Nanny wants Janie to find a partner who can take care of her and provide for her needs. Janie sees love differently when she looks at a handstand one day. She saw a “bee laden with dust sinking into the sanctuary of a flower; the thousand sister chalices arch to meet the loving embrace and ecstatic thrill of the tree, from root to smallest branch, creaming in each flower and sparkling with delight. So it was a wedding! (Hurston 11). The tree needed the bee and the bee needed the tree. Both elements of the relationship had a purpose and helped to strengthen the other. One without the other, neither would prosper. Janie saw love and marriage as a bond between people who strengthen each other and bring out the best in each other. Each person would care for the other and ensure what they needed and wanted. Without each other, neither couple could survive. Throughout the text, the importance of the image of the bee and the pear tree is seen as Janie goes through several husbands. Understanding what love is Nanny realizes the need to organize Janie's first wedding when she sees her kiss Johnny Taylor under the pear. TREE. Afterwards, “it was the end of her childhood” (12) because Nanny had her first husband, Logan Killicks, in mind. Kissing under the pear tree, Janie felt innocent, like a child. However, she quickly had to become a woman and entered into her first marriage. The man could offer Janie money and protection, the most important qualities in a marriage according to her grandmother. Even though Janie begged her not to have to do it, Janie was obedient. She did as she was told and married Logan. Janie visits Nanny for advice, worried that she will never like Logan. Nanny claims that marriage will create love. She says that Janie should appreciate Logan's wealth and status, and that by living together, she would learn to love and be grateful to him. A year passes and Janie still feels no love for Logan. “She knew now that marriage did not make love” (24). Disillusioned, Janie gives up all hope of ever loving Logan. Additionally, her husband stops “talking to her in rhymes” (25) and tries to make her do manual labor, claiming that she is spoiled. Logan starts ordering her to help with the farm work, and Janie says he expects her to adore him but she never will. She believes that a romantic relationship should put both people on an equal footing, both helping each other to bring out the best in the other. Here she moves on to her next husband, initially thinking how different he is, but ironically he won't really respect her, claiming ownership of her and placing her on a lower level than him. THEJanie's second husband, Joe Starks, has big dreams that excite him and Janie's hopes for love come back to life. However, the second marriage becomes the basis of Hurston's theme: speech versus silence. Joe became mayor and expected his wife to act a certain way. He didn't want her to talk to the townspeople, have a social life, or even express herself because he wanted her to act like a mayor's wife. When Joe became mayor, Janie was called to make a speech, but Joe "spoke without giving her a chance to say anything" (41). From the beginning of the marriage, Janie clearly remained silent. She loves hearing stories, but Joe won't even let her sit down with the community to hear them. Her husband tries to control Janie, and this control will soon end their marriage and their love. Love is not created through control. Joe thinks that by silencing his wife, she will appear as the appropriate mayor's wife. However, he simply drives Janie away by suppressing her individuality. She no longer had “flower openings sprinkling pollen on her man, nor bright young fruits where the petals once were” (68). The same image used at the beginning of the text applies here. The image shows how one thing, or in this case, a person, needs another in order to flourish and be who they are. Joe doesn't let Janie's individuality shine. However, she is still a good wife, keeping her feelings to herself and obeying her husband. However, one day Janie makes a clumsy mistake while cutting a tobacco cap for a customer and Joe calls her out, insulting her. Janie finally made herself heard and stopped herself from remaining silent, insulting her husband in return: Ah, she's not a young girl either, but hey, Ah, she's not an old woman no more. Ah, I think Ah looks old too. But I am every inch a woman, and I know it. It's much more than what you say. You big bellies around here brag a lot, but there's nothing else except your big voice. Hum! I'm talking about me looking old! When you drop your pants, you look like you're not changing your life. (75)Janie finally finds her voice and fights back. She shows her strength, freeing herself from her stereotype. She is no longer controlled by someone who loves her and is no longer silenced. Janie's third husband, Tea Cake, is not like the others. He actually treats her as an equal, caring about her wants and needs. Tea Cake engages in her speech, conversing with her and putting himself on an equal footing with her. His love for him comes from his respect for him as an individual. The first time they meet, Tea Cake invites him to play checkers; someone “actually thought it was natural for her to play” (92). She respected him for treating her with dignity. She felt “like she had known him all her life… She had been able to talk to him right away” (94). From the start, she felt comfortable with him. She admits that she has tried to live the way her grandmother did, but now she is ready to experience something new. While Jody wanted her to act pretentious and upscale, Tea Cake treats her the way she wants to be treated. Through the experience, she began to understand love more clearly and knows that Tea Cake is right for her. Between Joe Starks and Tea Cake, Janie made the most of her six-month period of freedom. She embraced her independence. At the end of the novel, Janie is alone. However, she seems happy, proud of everything she has experienced. She frees herself from her unpleasant and unsatisfying relationships with Logan and Jody, which hinder her personal growth. Thanks to her relationship with Tea Cake, Janie experiences true fulfillment and, 31(2), 47-61.

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