Their Eyes Were Watching God Literary Analysis

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Humans are guaranteed two things on this world; birth and death. Man has pondered at the existence and meaning of life. With so many questions left unanswered and life being as short as it is, anyone can take a guess and attempt to make sense of it all. In the novels Native Son and Their Eyes Were Watching God, Richard Wright and Zora Hurston do exactly that. Wright and Hurston both base their novels on a genre called Buildungsroman, or coming of age, in which the moral growth of the protagonist changes from adolescent to adulthood throughout the plot of the story. Both Wright and Hurston depict what the life of an African-American person might be during the 1940's when racism was at one of its strongest points due to the failure of reconstruction…show more content…
In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Hurston gives a foreword explaining that one of her abilities is to render a world complete and places her visions of her people of her own creation to triumph and survive (Foreword i). This introduction gives a religious feel to the novel as Hurston is somewhat calling herself the creator. Hurston's first paragraph in the novel can be seen as an introduction to her theme of Buildungsroman which then sets the stage for Janie, the main character. “Ships have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon... never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes…show more content…
When he realizes she is not breathing, Bigger instantly wonders if “Fear was in him again” (223). The way he killed Bessie is similar to the way he killed the mouse in the beginning of the novel. However it is obvious Bigger lacks social support and tried to get Bessie to escape with him. When he saw she would not work with him, he realizes that the culture and society he is in influence his emotions and actions. As a result he cannot communicate with those around him through love but through hatred driven by fear. This murder however was different then the ones before. The ones before were natural and driven by emotions. Bessie's murder was intentional and marks his spiritual reviving since the murder was committed to balance his peace of mind. He then begins to pursuit his place in society while being conscious of his actions, mind and motive. This is evident as he then escapes from home to Chicago where he finds himself on a roof top. This is where Bigger's mind state changes. He spots a black family living in a single room, just as he use to. He rethinks his past and realizes that he is looking at his past situation from a outsiders perspective. It is at this point that Bigger realizes how bad Blacks have it in America. He cannot blame himself for his past and cannot change his present situation. As policemen circle him, he realizes that he is no longer a beast who fears, but a reborn Black man who thinks and acts for
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