Symbol Evaluation
Mark Bobrovnikov
In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hawthorn
uses symbolism to convey his ideas. Throughout the book Hawthorn uses the pear
tree, Janie’s hair, the mule, Tea Cake, and the sun to express the characters, setting,
and mood.
The most
important symbol – the pear tree, symbolizes Janie’s view of love and romance. “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the
sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace
and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in
every blossom and frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!” (11). Janie believed
that romance would come just as effortlessly—as a bee pollinates a flower. The
phrase “bee sink into the sanctum…” shows that romance is not to be forceful
because it might destroy true love. As the story progresses, Janie is on the
lookout for this true love. Her first marriage with Logan did not end well,
because their marriage lacked passion and excitement. Eventually, Janie runs
away from Logan to marry Jody. However, with Jody she was constantly oppressed.
For example, Jody would not allow Janie to let her hair down; she had to have
it covered. However, all of this changes with Tea Cake, her first true love. With
Tea Cake, she felt loved and appreciated. “He could be a bee to a blossom-a
pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the
world with his footsteps. Crushing
aromatic herbs with every step he took” (106).
Another powerful symbol was
Janie’s hair which symbolized power and beauty. However, Jody suppressed her
power and beauty, “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. It didn't seem sensible
at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was” (51). Jody did not wish for
other men to enjoy Janie’s hair. He grew very jealous, when men from the town
would come into the store, where she worked with Jody, just to have a glance at
her hair. This made him very angry, so he ordered Janie to cover her hair with
a rag. “Her hair is not what you might call straight. It's negro hair, but it's
got a kind of white flavor. Like the piece of string out of a ham. It's not ham
at all, but it's been around ham and got the flavor. It was spread down thick
and heavy over her shoulders and looked just right under a big white hat” (67,
68). This illustration shows just how
extremely rare and beautiful her hair was.
The mule
symbolized the strained relationship between Jody and Janie. The mule was the laughing
stock of the town. "Yeah, Matt, dat mule so skinny till de women is usin'
his rib bones fuh uh rub-board, and hangin' things out on his hock-bones tuh
dry" (52). Janie enjoyed the
conversation about this mule. Seeing Janie’s taking delight in the conversation,
Jody became very jealous and forbid Janie to listen. On the other hand, Janie was
upset over the fact that Jody would listen to the talk himself and laugh about
it. Soon after the mule died, they help a mock funeral for him. Sadly, Jody forbids
Janie to attend it. At the funeral a few good words were said about the mule, “He
spoke of the joys of mule- heaven to which the dear brother had departed
this valley of sorrow;
the mule-angels flying around; the miles of green corn and
cool water, a pasture of pure bran with a river of molasses running through it…
(60-61)” The whole situation was comical, but Janie suffered a lot from being
repressed and held back from conversations.
Another
essential symbol was Tea Cake who symbolized Janie’s lost youth. Tea Cake was a
very happy man whom Janie loved to be around with. “Tea Cake's house was a magnet, the unauthorized center of the "job." The way he would sit in the doorway and play his guitar made people stop and listen and maybe disappoint the jook for that night. He was always
laughing and full of fun too. He kept everybody laughing in the bean field”
(132). Tea Cake’s cheerful attitude to life brought Janie happiness and
joy. It also helped her to forget her sad, oppressed years with Logan and Jody.
The sun symbolized change in
Janie life. “The song of the sigh flew out of the window and lit in the top of
the pine trees. Tea Cake, with the sun for a shawl. Of course he wasn't dead.
He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking”
(193). These words were playing in Janie
mind while she was coming back from Tea Cakes funeral. For Janie, the sun meant
that life kept on going despite its losses and grief. The sun never disappears,
so likewise Janie’s happy memories of Tea Cake will never vanish, but be deep
in her heart.
In conclusion, Hawthorn’s use of
the pear tree, Janie’s hair, the mule, Tea Cake, and the sun helped him to
illustrate the story. Hawthorn’s strongest symbol was the pear tree because it
symbolized her true love and the driving force behind her actions.
References
Hurtson, Zora. (2006). Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
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