Essay on "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

The road to maturity is blazed by experience. Only by interaction and the realization that something is missing can one reach enlightenment. In the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston, the main character Janie embarks on a journey that is very similar to the man in the Oxherder's tale. Unhappily forced to marry a well-off black man named Logan, Janie decides to run off and hopes to find happiness with the sharply dressed and confident Joe Starks. However, Joe's personality is too big and ends up pushing Janie away. Thus, she runs off again, but this time with the youthful and dashing Tea Cake, who provides her with the love she has been seeking. Through interaction with these tree men, Janie changes as she goes through the steps of the Oxherder and reaches maturity.

The beginning of the novel finds Janie a young and naïve girl. She witnesses the "dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom," and remarks, "So this was a marriage!" (Page 11). She envisions marriage as an institution of passion and carnal desire. However, after being married to Logan, she is disappointed to discover "marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (Page 25). Though she is provided with financial security, food to eat, and a place to sleep, she is not satisfied. She longs for the physical passion and emotional connection with Logan, calling him ugly and criticizing him for his rough manner of speech (Page 24). At this point, she begins the journey of the Oxherder. She realizes that she is not completely satisfied, but cannot determine exactly what she wants. Often, "she began to stand around the gate and expect things. What things? She didn't know exactly" (Page 25). When Joe Starks arrives and dazzles Janie with his "citiyfied" charm, she willing goes with him, thus entering the second stage of the Oxherder.

Janie leaves with Joe because she sees traces of qualities she desires in a man. At this stage, she is merely following the tracks. After her marriage with Joe, Janie learns that marriage requires work and does not run away from Joe's oppression. Even when "Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything," she does not respond in the same way as she did to Logan (Page 43). She keeps her feelings bottled up inside and does not confront Joe about his actions. Eventually, "she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush" (Page 71). Rather than run away again, she lives with Joe and endures his treatment. Forcing herself into silence, Janie has moved to the fourth stage. Though she "wanted to fight about it" with Joe, she keeps it inside (Page 57). The Oxherder has caught the Ox at this stage but it is obstinate and uncontrolled. Since Janie's basic nature is the Ox, the fact that she had to "press her teeth together" is a sign that she is struggling with herself to be silent (Page 71). Also, "She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly, she knew how not to mix them" (Page 72). This is a direct reference to the Oxherder's tale and what Janie does not know at this point is that it is counterproductive to keep the two parts separated. Janie changes during her relationship with Joe. She stays with Joe until he dies and follows his orders. She learns when it is more appropriate to remain silent, even if she must force herself to do so. However, after Joe dies, Janie decides to run off with Tea Cake.

Smitten with Tea Cake's romantic words and actions, Janie falls completely into love with Tea Cake. When Janie is discussing the possibility of eloping with Tea Cake with Pheoby, she says "Tea Cake ain't draggin' me off nowhere Ah don't want tuh go" (Page 112). Demonstrating independent thought, Janie has moved on to the fifth stage towards enlightenment. In the fifth stage, the Oxherder leads the Ox and the Ox follows. Pursuing her own goals instead helping Joe pursue his, Janie is finally in control. She holds the reins to the Ox. In the same discussion with Pheoby, she says, "He done taught me de maiden language all over" (Page 115). The act of teaching Janie to speak really implies that she was mute in her previous relationships. She had no say and the men continually pushed her to submission by menial tasks. Being able to speak liberates her from the reins that kept her silent and transcends to the next stage. In this stage, the Oxherder rides the Ox home and has no needs for reins since the Ox knows where to go. Even though Tea Cake beats Janie in a show to demonstrate his control over Janie, she does not protest (Page 147). In fact, she thinks very little of it. Learning to sacrifice for her love, she accepts the beating without complaint. This silence is not the same as the silence in her previous relationships. Now that she has learned the language, she is voluntarily controlling herself voice rather than forced into silence against her will. After Tea Cake is infected with rabies, Janie must kill him to live. Though she loves him, she has the willpower to pull the trigger. Overcoming her love for Tea Cake, which is part of her animal instinct or "Ox," she kills him and moves on to the seventh stage. Tea Cake needed to die in order for Janie to progress towards enlightenment. Through her experiences with Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake, Janie has progressed very far towards enlightenment. However, she is not completely finished. As Janie walks into town and ensnares the attention of men and women alike, she inches closer. Finally, when Janie finishes recounting her story to Pheoby and Pheoby exclaims, "Lawd! Ah done growed ten feet higher from jus' listenin' tuh you, Janie," her journey is over (Page 192). Janie has completed all ten steps of the Oxherder and has gained enlightenment.