Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas
explored in a literary work.
Language: Speech and Silence
Their Eyes Were Watching God is most
often celebrated for Hurston’s unique use of language, particularly
her mastery of rural Southern black dialect. Throughout the novel,
she utilizes an interesting narrative structure, splitting the presentation
of the story between high literary narration and idiomatic discourse.
The long passages of discourse celebrate the culturally rich voices
of Janie’s world; these characters speak as do few others in American
literature, and their distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and tone
mark their individuality.
Hurston’s use of language parallels Janie’s quest to find
her voice. As Henry Louis Gates Jr. writes in the afterword to most
modern editions of the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God is
primarily concerned “with the project of finding a voice, with language
as an instrument of injury and salvation, of selfhood and empowerment.” Jody
stifles Janie’s speech, as when he prevents her from talking after he
is named mayor; her hatred of him stems from this suppression of her
individuality. Tea Cake, on the other hand, engages her speech, conversing
with her and putting himself on equal terms with her; her love for
him stems from his respect for her individuality.
After Janie discovers her ability to define herself by
her speech interactions with others, she learns that silence too
can be a source of empowerment; having found her voice, she learns
to control it. Similarly, the narrator is silent in conspicuous
places, neither revealing why Janie isn’t upset with Tea Cake’s
beating nor disclosing her words at the trial. In terms of both
the form of the novel and its thematic content, Hurston places great
emphasis on the control of language as the source of identity and
empowerment.
Power and Conquest as Means to Fulfillment
Whereas Janie struggles to assert a place for herself
by undertaking a spiritual journey toward love and self-awareness,
Jody attempts to achieve fulfillment through the exertion of power.
He tries to purchase and control everyone and everything around
him; he exercises his authority hoping to subordinate his environment
to his will. He labors under the illusion that he can control the
world around him and that, by doing so, he will achieve some sense
of profound fulfillment. Others exhibit a similar attitude toward
power and control; even Tea Cake, for example, is filled with hubris
as the hurricane whips up, certain that he can survive the storm
through his mastery of the muck. For both Jody and Tea Cake, the
natural world reveals the limits of human power. In Jody’s case,
as disease sets in, he begins to lose the illusion that he can control
his world; the loss of authority over Janie as she talks back to
him furthers this disillusionment. In Tea Cake’s case, he is forced
to flee the hurricane and struggles to survive the ensuing floods.
This limit to the scope of one’s power proves the central problem
with Jody’s power-oriented approach toward achieving fulfillment:
ultimately, Jody can neither stop his deterioration nor silence
Janie’s strong will.
Love and Relationships versus Independence
Their Eyes Were Watching God is the story
of how Janie achieves a strong sense of self and comes to appreciate
her independence. But her journey toward enlightenment is not undertaken
alone. The gender differences that Hurston espouses require that
men and women provide each other things that they need but do not
possess. Janie views fulfilling relationships as reciprocal and
based on mutual respect, as demonstrated in her relationship with
Tea Cake, which elevates Janie into an equality noticeably absent
from her marriages to Logan and Jody.
Although relationships are implied to be necessary to
a fulfilling life, Janie’s quest for spiritual fulfillment is fundamentally
a self-centered one. She is alone at the end yet seems content.
She liberates herself from her unpleasant and unfulfilling relationships
with Logan and Jody, who hinder her personal journey. Through her relationship
with Tea Cake, Janie experiences true fulfillment and enlightenment
and becomes secure in her independence. She feels a deep connection
to the world around her and even feels that the spirit of Tea Cake
is with her. Thus, even though she is alone, she doesn’t feel alone.
