Preview

Figurative Language In Their Eyes Are Watching God

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
351 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Figurative Language In Their Eyes Are Watching God
In "Their Eyes Are Watching God", Zora Neale Hurston uses figurative language in the passage on pages 158-159 to foreshadow events to come as well as add life to the story. Metaphors, similes, and personification are used together collaboratively to create a specific mood and image to represent the theme of this passage with still leaving room for the true meaning which is to be revealed later on in the story.

Hurston's use of personification and metaphors together create a mysterious gloomy mood. In the line "drifting mists gathered in the west...to arm them selves with thunders to march forth against the world...mounting, sinking, darking" on page 158, the mists are being personified and this gives an image of power from the mists arming

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Richard Wright believed that Hurston failed to convey any type of message, thought or theme. He believed her original audience and motive for writing the book was to entertain the white readers with a story that would make them laugh. All of Wright’s reflections are inaccurate, because the title of the book itself hints at a religious theme. The title, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” means the creation of a new form of humanity, that is no longer based on the master and slave society.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Summary: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston narrates the story of the confident Caucasian and African American Janie Crawford and her -to say the least- eventful life. The book begins with Janie arriving back at her home in Eatonville, Florida; she quickly becomes the talk of town with neighbors gossiping and speculating incessantly about the girl’s past. In the midst of all, Phoeby Watson stands up for her, appearing as her only friend. Phoeby pays Janie a visit where she learns her story. She mentions her grandma, better known as Nanny. Subsequent to the departure of Janie’s mother, her grandma devotes her life to raising Janie and inculcating morals in her; however, slavery impacts Nanny’s life…

    • 1144 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is the story of one black woman’s attempt to realize her dreams and to achieve happiness in her life. Throughout the book, the reader follows Janie Woods as she travels from one man to the next and from one town to the next in search of happiness, freedom, and love. Janie abandons her first husband and the oppressive, conventional life that she lives with him in order to pursue a more stimulating, adventurous, and exciting one with Jody Sparks. With his big dreams for the future and his plans to build an “all-colored” town, Jody seems at first to…

    • 1762 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The power of speech plays an important part in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Each character starts off with their own unique voice. The strength and control of a caharacers’ voice changes throughout the novel determining their place in society and relationship with others.…

    • 403 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The female view in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes were Watching God suggests a changing sense of attitudes in American culture in many ways. Firstly, the story is told in third-person point of view from Janie, the main character’s, perspective through her narration to her friend Phoeby. She’s not only a woman, but African-American. The story is about Janie’s trials and tribulations in her life, including her three marriages. The novel is a celebration of African-American characters and is formulated around its female point of view. It showed a change in the attitude in American culture because of the way it portrays its characters. Hurston gives context as to why the major characters do what they do. Janie is searching for both love yet independence, Logan was looking for a wife, Joe wanted to be powerful, and Tea Cake’s need to travel. All in all, these characters help project Janie’s growth into finding herself by the end of the novel. It shows a change of attitude because of how all these characters help Janie develop as a character. It shows a in-depth story of a woman who faces many trying times but overcomes them in the…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One message in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes are Watching God is that gossip and rumours can be derived from jealousy and envy. This is show through the hyperbole, “Betcha he off wid some gal so young she ain’t even got no hairs” (Hurston 2). The exaggeration shows that the ladies are gossiping about her and saying Tea Cake left her for somebody much younger. The hyperbole demonstrates the extremity of the rumors. THey hyperbole presents Jaime as not worthy of having a husband, but in actuality, one can infer her husband died. This language depicts a cruel tone.…

    • 99 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    2. Metaphors are an effective way in creating depth and adding creativity within stories. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Neale Hurston used motifs of the horizon numerous times to illustrate a symbol of Janie’s crusade to find contentment. The horizon was the strongest metaphor presented in the novel, for it had many effects. Janie often stared toward the horizon in search of hope and justification. Her horizon changed continuously as she set out for something bigger. One example was when Janie referred to the horizon while she was discussing her life with Phoebe. She stated, “Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store” Page 55…

    • 1289 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is chock-full of metaphors. Through metaphors, the author can create a link between different parts of the book, pointing out changes over time that the characters experience. These metaphors showcase the character development and refining of personality which the characters, especially Janie, go through in this book. Although she must suffer hardships in life to reach it, Janie ultimately attains happiness and good character, as is evident in the signature nature-focused Romantic metaphors [HUH?!?Try rewording it] that Hurston uses. [Try to make the thesis in one sentence with the “why” portion after a semicolon]…

    • 943 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As t he sun begins to set, and the evening nears closer and closer, you can hear the screeching of dining room chairs making their way onto the front porch. The boiling pot of secrets just about to spill over from the loose lips of the porch’s gazers, which are salivating over the thought of discussing the news of the town; that of which spread like quick fire . Not stationary to their porches the gazers are like investigate reporters, just waiting, to find a new story to talk about. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God , the importance of group discussion and bond forming bonds between women was essential to make it through the struggles and battles that the women faced. The concept of a “Strong Black Woman” was proven to be true in , but it also proves that even being a strong black woman, having another woman to talk to is a powerful force all in itself.…

    • 777 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God There are many themes. The one that stood out the most was Janie’s silence. Once Janie discovers her ability to define herself by her speech and interactions with others, she learns that silence can be used as a power. She then learns how to control her silence. The author places great emphasis on the control of language as the source of identity and power. Janie uses silence as both a tool of oppression and power during her marriages.…

    • 971 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the story illustrates a biracial African American woman, Janie, who is returning to her home in Eatonville. The novel is told in the form of a flashback and gives an account of her early teenage years all the way through her mature adulthood when she returns to her home. During her journey through life Janie is confronted with many different conflicts. She fights both internal and external conflicts, such as her search for true love, gender roles, and racism. When Janie is a young girl she sits under a pear tree which is where she finds her ideal image of love and marriage. Janie undergoes three different marriages with each having their own conflicts that in the end would be beneficial…

    • 1516 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    There are many different allusions that define what something or someone is being compared to. An allusion is a reference to a well known person, event, object, or work. In the story, Their Eyes Are Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character, Janie, found out what love is and the true meanings of it through many relationships. There were numerous amounts of allusions that related to other novels or bible verses. Janie was put through bad, been jealous of, and told what was best for her.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    A lot of the content in Their Eyes is taken from Zora's own life. Hurston's familiarity of southern life allows her to accurately depict the unique dialect that makes Their Eyes Were Watching God so special. Throughout the novel, she uses an interesting narrative structure. Almost as if she split the presentation of the novel right down the middle, between high literary narrations using proper, refined speech and the southern drawl, the improper grammar and misspellings. Initial…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Delia and Sykes

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Scott, Cynthia. Zora Neale Hurston’s Sweat. Character and Metaphor in the Short Story. 10 July 2007. Associated Content, Inc. Academic Search Complete. Web. 12 Oct. 2010.…

    • 1306 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays