Paradoxes in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Example

Throughout life we encounter different aspects of relationships that are difficult to understand. They may contradict each other however are very true. In life there are a lot of paradoxes that are encountered and are going to continue to encounter all around our life. Even though we may not always realize that a great deal of the life lessons we experience are paradoxes, they are. A paradox is a figure of speech where a self-contradictory statement or proposition when explained may be true or false. However, most of the time when a paradox is used it is fact because one of the many things it is used for is to show a life lesson. Many authors will have paradoxes in their writings that may or may not have been on purpose. Authors may put in a paradox on purpose in their writing to show a theme, have the reader think more critically and just think more into what the author is writing or trying to say, or to show a contradiction that is a life lesson. In fact, Zora Neale Hurston is one of many authors who includes paradoxes in her novel that may or may not have been on purpose. In Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, there are many paradoxes presented throughout the novel that Hurston may or may not have intentionally put into the novel. Thus, one of the many paradoxes that Hurston included in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God is that the more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed. 

As mentioned above, one of the many paradoxes that is found in Hurston's novel is the more you fail, the more likely you are to succeed. This paradox has to do with Janie and all of her past and current relationships. Janie has had two previous relationships and is currently with Tea Cake. The first relationship that Janie has is with a guy named Logan Hicks. Logan Hicks was the first guy Janie was with and he’s the one that Janies grandma wants her to be with. Janie's grandmother, Nanny Crawford, wants Janie to marry him however Janie did not want to marry him and in fact wanted nothing to do with him. Janie thought that she would start to love Logan Hicks after she marries him however she never ended up being in love with Logan Hicks. Janie's grandmother wants a lot for Janie and her future and thought that this was the best thing for her. Janie was uncomfortable with Logan Hicks and their marriage because as mentioned before she never fell in love with Hicks. Janie's grandmother was disappointed seeing that she thought that Janie should not feel the discomfort. However, Janie only married Logan for the sake of her grandmother pressuring her to marry him and Janie says,  “At de same time Ah ain’t takin’ dat ole land tuh heart neither. Ah could throw ten acres of it over the fence everyday and never look back to see where it fell. Ah feel de same way ‘bout Mr. Killicks too. Some folks never was meant to be loved and he’s one of ‘em” (Hurston 24). This was the first relationship that had failed since it was not real love and she was pressured to marry Logan Hicks for her grandmother however this was a step closer to finding someone good for her and having a relationship that is successful.

Even though it is beginning to seem like Janie has lost hope with love she meets a guy named Jody Sparks. After meeting Sparks it is seeming like Janie is slowly gaining her hope for relationships and love back. Janie and Jodys relationship had an imbalance of power with Jody being the one with most of the power. Jody had been trying to become the mayor of Eatonville which happened. Jody was very jealous and would make Janie put her hair up due to him not wanting other men to look at her hair. Many of the townspeople had been talking about her saying, “‘Whut makes her keep her head tied up lak some ole ‘oman round de store? Nobody couldn’t git me tuh tie no rag on mah head if Ah had hair lak dat.’ ‘Maybe he make her do it. Maybe he skeered some de rest of us mens might touch it round dat store. It sho is uh hidden mystery tuh me’” (Hurston 49-50) It is clearly shown that Jody makes Janie put her hair up and the townspeople even wonder why she does. The townspeople have conclusions as to why he makes her do it but they are not entirely sure. Janie loved to have conversations and “sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge. He didn’t want her talking after such trashy people” (Hurstom 53-54). From making Janie tie up her hair to not letting her have conversations with the townspeople which she loved to do shows how controlling and how much power Jody had on Janie. Throughout their relationship Janie starts to stand up for herself. She would speak up for herself. Jody says to Janie how she doesn’t understand anything and when “Time and scenes like that out Janie to thinking about the inside state of her marriage. Time came when she fought back with her tongue as best she could,...” (Hurston 71). As it is shown Janie starts speaking up for herself however, “...it didn’t do her any good” (Hurston 71). As mentioned Janie starts to speak up for herself which is helping her in succeeding and stand up for herself but then it doesn’t work and it fails. Jody then got sick and was on bed rest and Janie thought it would be a good idea to go have a talk with him. Janie goes to see Jody and tell hims “‘Naw, Jody, Ah come in heah tuh talk widja and Ah’m going tuh do it too. It’s for both of our sakes Ah’m talkin’.’...’Jody, maybe Ah ain’t been sich uh good wife tuh you, but Jody-’/ ‘Dat’s ‘cause you ain’t got de right feelin’ for nobody. You oughta have some sympathy ‘bout yo’self. You ain’t no hog.’ ‘But, Jody, Ah meant tuh be awful nice.’/ ‘Much as Ah done fuh you. Holdin’ me up tuh scorn. No sympathy!’/ ‘Naw, Jody, it wasn’t because Ah didn’t have no sympathy. Ah had uh lavish uh dat. Ah just didn’t never git no chance tuh use none of it. You wouldn’t let me’” (Hurston 85). Janie is finally speaking up and telling Jody how she feels and how he made her feel. Even though it was a little bit late considering he was dying, she did end up speaking up for herself. This was yet another failed relationship however she is starting to speak up which is helping her be a step closer to succeeding in her relationships. 

In fact a couple months after Jody Sparks had passed away Janie meets a guy named Tea Cake. Janie had gotten her life straightened out and was independent however she still had not obtained love and a healthy relationship. One day a guy named Tea Cake walks into the store. Tea Cake stood out to Janie since he treated her equal and was not like other guys because he asked her to play checkers with him. Him asking Janie made her feel good and “she found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked over him and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 95-96). Janie had felt like she was being treated equally and it felt different to her by cause of having no other guy that has treated her like this. She felt that it was magical and like a fairytale. However, Janie was warned by her friends about Tea Cake and him being so young. They mentioned to Janie that Tea Cake might just be using her for her money since he's so young but she did not listen to them, however was still unsure about having a relationship hence he was so young. Even so she started to fall for him after a while. As Tea Cake was falling asleep “Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love” (Hurston 128). After being together for a while they run off to Everglades to get married. While they were there Janie said that she wanted to work with Tea Cake in the field for extra money and saw a girl flirting with Tea Cake and she “learned what it felt like to be jealous” (Hurston 126). She had found them wrestling one day and was angry so she released her anger on Tea Cake but Tea Cake talked to her and reassured her saying that he would not get with a girl like that. They had worked this problem out and they seemed closer than they were before their ‘argument’. Clearly, Janie has had many failed relationships but the more she failed she had then had a relationship that was starting to turn out and be successful. 

Ultimately, Janie started to succeed with her relationships after having failed multiple times with her relationships. It is clearly shown that all through Janie's relationships she slowly starts to speak up and stands up for herself which will help with her future relationships going forward. This is going to help her relationships quite a bit being relationships aren't one sided and they are two sided. Also communication is key especially when there is something wrong or if one feels uncomfortable. It needs to be two sided in order for it to work considering if it's one sided it's going to end eventually because one person is going to feel how Janie feels which is not being able to speak what's on her mind and how she truly feels. Janie might feel that it was difficult to understand why her relationships were working and why so many relationships had to fail before they succeeded which contradicts given that they are opposites.