The Use of Symbolism and Metaphors in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Sample

“‘Tain’t dat Ah worries over Joe’s death, Pheoby. Ah jus’ loves dis freedom” (Hurston 93), expressed Janie, the main character in Their Eyes were watching God, after she got out of an abusive marriage and is now able to be herself. Janie Crawford was subjected to submissiveness her whole life by both her grandmother and her husbands. After these people left her life, she was liberated from their control and was able to choose her own actions. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, the use of metaphors and symbolism in the scene of Janie letting her hair down, reveals Janie’s self growth and freedom to support the idea that only oneself can reveal their true self. 

Janie letting her hair down after her husband used it to control her was her first step towards self love and freedom. Janie was married to her husband Joe Starks, a wealthy mayor who would mistreat Janie. Joe was an old fashioned person who believed in gender roles, these beliefs negatively impacted Janie as she was not allowed to express her personality in a true manner. Joe was very controlling, especially towards Janie and he would regularly control her appearance so she would stay loyal to only him. To show Joe’s governing ways, the author gives insight to his thoughts over Janie’s appearance by writing, “He [Joe] never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it [her hair] as she went about things in the store… That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store… She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others” (Hurston, 55). Readers learn from this excerpt that Joe would use looks to possess power over Janie. Joe was jealous and wanted Janie's attention on only him, that way she would not develop any ideas to leave him. Joe did not want to lose control over Janie so he covered up any self dignity she had so she would stay under his dominance. 

Later on after Joe dies, Janie is now able to be free from Joe’s authority. As a marking for her personal freedom, Janie lets down her hair to represent the invisible shackles she was now able to take off that were put onto her by Joe. Janie’s new hair serves as a symbol for her new beginnings. The author writes Janie’s life changing moment as, "Years ago, she had told her girl self to wait for her in the looking glass. It had been a long time since she had remembered… The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair” (87). Janie reflects on her past self and realizes how much she has grown as a person that she had not noticed before. She was able to look into the mirror and realize her self worth. Being able to comprehend who she was now, Janie released herself from the last thing that was holding her back from moving on and starting her new independent life. Janie liberating herself from her ex-husband’s control by reversing what he had done to control her shows how she has grown as a woman. Her own actions also endorse the idea that self growth comes from reflection on one’s past.

After unlocking this new view on life, Janie being able to move on and express her worth was a result of self growth and was important on her journey to discover her dream of true love. Going back to when Janie was younger, her Nanny had controlled her adolescent life to protect her. Nanny wanted Janie to live a secure life, something she was not able to experience. Janie did not want to marry for security, but to marry for love. Since Nanny held authority over Janie, she overruled her beliefs and married Janie off to someone more financially secure. Janie having her emotions invalidated at a young age suppressed her ability to stand up for herself. After her grandmother and her husband passed, Janie was finally able to make her own choices without having to be scolded by those superior to her. Hurston describes Janie’s reflection on the way Nanny treated her by writing, “She [Janie] hated her grandmother and had hidden it from herself all these years under a cloak of pity. Here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon… and pinched it in to such a little bit of a thing that she could tie it about her granddaughter’s neck tight enough to choke her” (89). Janie reflects on her Nanny and realizes that her kind hearted ways led her to be treated this way. Janie felt pity for her Nanny and devalued herself to make her Nanny proud. She allowed herself to be used by Nanny so that Nanny could live through her. After reflecting on her past, she accepted what she was too afraid to admit when she was younger, the idea that Nanny limited her exploration of the real world and did not let her live her true life. Being able to accept this truth meant that Janie was now able to stand up for herself against those who had wronged her, something she was not able to do before. Now being able to defend herself and express her true thoughts means that she was able to move on and grow mentally. Janie talks about her dream of finding true love but the only love she truly was desperate of finding was self love. Janie’s act of achieving her dream stemmed from her growth into accepting herself and her past. That first act of letting her hair down led her down the path of self-observation, which in return allowed her to truly be free and confident. 

As a result of her self-observation, Janie now has this sense of self worth. Following this period of self-reflection, Janie was able to move on and lead her new life the way she wanted to. She brought her inner self that was pushed down by others out for everyone to see on display. The self-love that she found guided her throughout her journey of expressing her real self to the world. To show Janie’s new perspective on her worth, the author writes: 

She had found a jewel down inside herself and she had wanted to walk where people could see her and gleam it around… When God had made The Man, he made him out of stuff that sung all the time and glittered all over. Then after that some angels got jealous and chopped him into millions of pieces, but still he glittered and hummed. So they beat him down to nothing but sparks but each little spark had a shine and a song. So they covered each one over with mud… Like all the other tumbling mud-balls, Janie had tried to show her shine. (90)

The jewel Janie found represents her new identity that she uncovered. The author describes this jewel as something that was deep down inside of her, just like how her true personality was. Her personality is something she now wants to flaunt to those around her. The discussion over God and the way he made mankind this great entity represents Janie and the way she was made as this bright person. The jealous angels who tore down the man act as those in Janie’s life who tried to make her inferior. The same way the angels tore down the man, is the same way those who were superior to Janie tore her down. When the author wrote that the man still overcame the angels’ abuse, they were talking about Janie and the way she overcame the authority many people held over her. Janie was able to move on and redefine her life even after she had been subjected to abuse her entire life. When Janie was compared to mud-balls, the author was writing about how resilient Janie was. No matter what Janie went through, she always fought to show her true self and now that she was free she could do just that. The change Janie went through from her childhood well into adulthood shows her self-growth as a new woman. Janie comes to show that age does not matter when it comes to finding your inner self, but your own willingness to open up does. 

In closing, Zora Neale Hurston uses metaphors and symbolism in Their Eyes Were Watching God, to illustrate Janie’s self growth in the scene where she takes down her hair to convey the message that no one else can reveal one’s own true self. Janie’s passage through life is changed when she liberates herself from her abusers’ control to live out her true life, proving one’s truth is only revealed by one’s self.