Idioms and Symbolism in Their Eyes Were Watching God Literature Essay Sample

Their Eyes Are Watching God is a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston, first published in 1937. The novel mainly revolves around Janie Crawford, who is in search of love, identity, and purpose in life. Hurston explores what a loving, trusting relationship looks like and sacrifices one, Janie or another character, is willing to make for true love. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses figurative language along with the motif of nature to illustrate Janie’s beliefs of true love existing, the power of god, and how her experiences have shaped her.

Through the use of idioms and symbolism, Hurston shows that Janie believes that god plays a role in the events in her life. Towards the end of the book, there are Native Americans who leave the ’Glades after noticing signs of a hurricane approaching. However Janie, Tea Cake, and a couple of other characters don’t believe them and decide to stay. That night, the rattling winds arrive. The narrator frequently mentions God while describing the terrible weather of the hurricane. The characters look at the trampling lightning and thunder and deem them as the work of God. While the storm is getting stronger, Tea Cake questions if Janie regrets her decision to leave her big house in Orange County. In response, Janie tells Tea Cake, “If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk. It’s so many people never seen de light at all. Ah wuz fumblin’ round and God opened de door (159).” The phrase “seen de light” can be connected with the idiom “to see the light”, which means to realize or understand something. The light Janie mentions might symbolize her true love, Tea Cake. Additionally, Janie saying that God opened the door for her means that she thinks God helped her find the right person she’s satisfied with. Her “fumblin’ round” refers to her constant search for true love, and she feels she can die without regrets after having seen “de light”.

Hurston uses the motif of nature to paint the love Janie had dreamt of, in contrast with reality. In the beginning of the book, Janie follows her Nanny’s wishes and marries Logan Killicks. However, Logan is focused on earning money and marriage didn’t bring love as she had thought it would. She expressed her initial desire with love, “Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think (52).” Her describing things in marriage as sweet, means that Janie wanted a pleasant and delightful love. The pear tree has been regarded as a symbol of comfort and future happiness, which represent Janie’s dreams about love. When Janie envisioned Logan desecrating the pear tree before their marriage, it foreshadowed how her relationship would let her have the first taste of the reality of love. Her last relationship happened not long after the death of the partner of her second relationship. Janie was still in Eatonville and took interest in Tea Cake after their occasional chats. She considered that “He could be a bee to a blossom—a pear tree blossom in spring (111).” She compares Tea Cake to a bee that pollinates flowers, and both living things are in harmony with each other. Her comparison meant that she felt they were meant to be, or complemented each other.

Overall, Zora Neale Hurston explores Janie’s thoughts on love, god, and nature in Their Eyes Are Watching God. She uses idioms and symbolism to demonstrate Janie’s belief in the help of god, and her beliefs of a dreamlike true love existing. Hurston also uses the motif of nature to help further develop Janie’s dreams of love. Zora Neale Hurston uses figurative language along with the motif of nature to illustrate Janie’s beliefs of true love existing, the power of god, and how her experiences have shaped her.