Their Eyes Were Watching God - Seminar llgh PDF

Preview

Summary

Paragraph on Their Eyes Were Watching God....

Description

Mitchell Sallis 10/15/2013

Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie Mae Crawford, the protagonist in Hurston’s novel, represents an especially intriguing character in my personal interest. She is a defiant character who maintains many contrarian beliefs and character attributes. She defies the stereotype, the societal conformity, and throughout the novel, progresses the development of her self despite the obvious oppressive figures. George Grant, a Canadian philosopher and intellect, proposes that philosophy – seeking knowledge for the sake of knowledge – begins with wonder. Janie, likewise, possesses an innate curiosity to experience the world and become conscious of her surroundings. This notion of wonder is something I realized in Janie in retrospect. Similarly, her desire to pursue the development of her identity by methodical life decisions becomes even more prevalent. As an existentialist (amongst other identities I label myself) I found Janie’s decision to prepare a counter-attack against Tea Cake profound. Her identity, freedom, and potential life is at stake, and yet, she decides to prepare herself. What kind of impact and her reasoning behind it affects her identity – her “self”. I do not know what type of character is built upon this particular decision, or if it even impacted her idea of her self. However, her decision to choose her life over Tea Cakes demonstrates a strong sense of self – even in a time of racism and sexism. Essentially, what I found interesting was the development of Janie’s character, and specifically, her decision to withhold her life over Tea Cake’s....