Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Coggle Diagram
Their Eyes Were Watching God
Themes
Control of language
Janie's quest to find her voice
Joe's silencing of Janie
Tea cake's equal footing with speech, allowing her to do so
Empowerment and identity that is able to occur because of the ability to control language and speech
Social class and Gender
Womened are claimed as the weaker sex and are mostly valued by society solely by their husband
Power and identity is only given by choice of husband
Men must be dominant and any sign of women showing traits that are masculine are deemed unattractive - women are meant to be objects that are seen, domestic and whose opinions are not heard
Tea cake shows a more equal relationship but still beats Janie
Janie's almost unheard of opinion that moving up the social heirarchy has no correlation to happiness
Relationships and independence
Janie's view of love as a part of her spirituality which can only be fulfilled in which there is mutual respect (Pear tree)
Joe/Logan seeing Janie as defined by them while with Tea Cake he is more focused on his physical strength/power over Janie, that is what proves his place as a man
Janie's needs as a seperate person are realised throughout the novel, she can only reach her needs once she is able to have some form of independence (away from any husbands/partners) - finally able to speak her mind
Humanity vs Fate
Characters believe they are able to control their fate
Joe after being appointed to mayor
Tea Cake's hubris with the impending hurricane
Janie's quick marriages in order to try and find her childlike love as fast as possible
Power/Judgement
Joe exerts his power as a means of fulfilment as a man - he attempts to control everything and everyone around him through purchases and 'objects'
Joe loses his illusion of power
Janies tries to ignore people's judgments of her throughout the whole book - she doesn't wan't power or money as much as the fulfilment of having a love that is equal.
Objects/Setting
The Hurricane
The Pear Tree and the Horizon
Hair
The everglades
Jacksonville
The general store
Eatonville
Main Characters
Janie Crawford
Tea Cake
Jody (Joe) Starks
Logan Killicks
Nanny Crawford
Phoeby Watson
Secondary Characters
Porch Sitters
Mr and Mrs Turner
Sam Watson
Nunkie
Leafy Crawford
Amos Hicks
Dr Simmons