psychoanalytic theory analysis

[john petree]

in the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, a yellow mule was mentioned. this mule is full of spirit and refuses to be tamed, to be controlled. this reminded me a lot of Janie, in a way where Janie is starting to be controlled by Joe and she doesn't like it, such as the mule refuses to be tamed.
yet even though Janie succumbed to Joe, there's still a part of her that wants to be free. the mule represents Janie's inner struggle to be herself.
applying to the psychoanalytic theory, Janie is succumbed to obey Joe, whose true colors have been shown while he abuses Janie, and this obviously is not good for her mind and her spirit, she eventually just learns to bury her thoughts inside of herself and show herself to be Joe's perspective of a perfect wife.

[Megan Carazolez]

Janie's husband made her cover up her hair because he felt that no one else should have the privilege of seeing such beautiful hair like hers. He would get jealous of all the men that would pay any attention to her beautiful locks. He felt that since she was his wife, that only he should be the one to enjoy it. This relates to feminist theory, he had ownership of her, because she was his wife. He could make her tie up her hair because he was in control of her and for the times this was not out of the norm for men, and somewhat accepted by women.

[mayrapuente]

Symbol: Checkers
Theory: Feminist Criticism

In chapter six of the novel, Jody tells Janie to be quiet and orders her to fetch him a checkerboard. Jody did not politely ask for the board game, but demanded for it. Thus, Janie was compelled to cater to his wish. This is typical, as women are expected to provide their husbands with whatever it is that they command at any given moment. Jody could have easily gotten the checkerboard himself, but instead he had his wife fetch it for him. By treating her like an animal, he undermined her credibility as a human.

In chapter ten of the novel, Tea Cake invites Janie to play checkers with him. She was thrilled, for no man had ever asked her to play checkers, as it is a game which requires intelligence and clearly, women have none. However, the connotation in this chapter is different from that of chapter six because now Janie was asked to engage in the game. Here, men and women are portrayed as equivalent humans as checkers is a game that grants equal status to both of the participants.

[berenicecontreras]

In Their Eyes Where Watching God , I found Janie's hair-rags to be very symbolic. Like Megan's observation , I agree that Janie's hair is very precious and Joe did not have plans to share it's beauty. I felt that the hair-rags Janie wore represented constrained and male dominance. Joe forced Janie to wear these rags to shield the beauty of her hair , but also to maintain control over his lover. In a time where men fear to be looked at as inferior, Joe wanted to maintain power and make it evident he controls Janie. The constraint of freedom is very clear with the hair-rags Janie is forced to wear. Like any anti-feminism portrayal , Janie is obedient to her mate.

[Crystal Ruiz]

In Chapter 6, feminist theory is shown through out the actions of Janie. In page 71, we see that Joe is in control of her because not only is it expressed that Joe "...wanted her submission and he'd keep on fighting until he felt he had it,'' but also through Janie's acceptance in letting him have control over her. Even though she tries to fight back, her words are no use against Joe's eagerness in being in demand of her. Like always, Janie learns to hush and accept his demands and has to carry the anger in her because in this novel, ''the wife belongs in the kitchen'' and she has no right to speak or complain to Joe.

In Chapter 9, page 90 starts to speak of how Janie started to feel this jewel inside her when she wanted to walk where people could see her. Now that Joe is dead, she starts to feel a sense of freedom. But soon after, it is said that her place was to be in the market-place to sell. Even though Joe is gone from her life, he still holds her down and she lets him do so because she still does the demands Joe had given her but now its in spirit. Janie still doesn't have a full control of her actions.

[isaiah cotez]

in the book there eyes were watching god, janie's hair has been mentioned throughout the course of the book. it is described as long and free flowing and youthful and beautiful many traits and characteristics we give to females. Janie and her hair exeplify one another and mirror sechother in traits like her free, unbound hair janie is also uncontrolled and free and youthful.

[Janelle Castillo]

Symbol: pear tree

in an earlier chapter jaine is sitting under a pear tree and witnesses a bee interacting with a flower. she is enchanted by this sight because it is a spark of passion. she chases this view of love and passion hoping to one day experience this with another human. growing up she had never seen such a love because neither her grandmother or mother we ever married. witnessing this left jaine with a remorseful sweetness that she hopes to one day fill with the love of someone else.

[Carina Felix]

Symbol: the color blue

At the beginning of chapter 12, Hurston describes the town's thoughts about the new romance between Janie & Tea Cake. Janie is first described sashaying and wearing a pink linen to a picnic, which is obviously a very lady-like depiction but then she is said to be wearing the color blue, which everyone seems to find as an atrocity.
Blue is generally a masculine color, therefore it is symbolizing Janie's newly found strength and masculinity, as she is no longer bound to saunter around in the girly colors that Joe forced upon her.
She says she wears it often because Tea Cake loves her in blue; this symbolizes the fact that Tea Cake likes her to be her own person that embodies masculine qualities as well.

[jmahurien]

Symbol: Age
Theory: Feminist

In this story we see as women become older, they seem to be less valued. As Janie is younger, her beautiful long hair seems to bring much attention to the people around her. Many men are attracted to her and want her. As Janie grows older however, we see that she is basically being told that since she's older now, she doesn't necessarily need to worry about her appearance. Such as in Chapter 7 when Jody tells her that she's an old woman so she does not need to worry about her looks. She's even scorned for the way she attempts to look in the first chapter, with tight clothing and her long hair.
On the other hand though, it is possible to see that as the men become older, they are more sought after. The young boy that Janie kisses is put down by Nanny, but conversely, Nanny upholds the elder, important, caring Logan as a more suitable suitor for Janie. This could be inferring, from a feminist point of view, that in society females are primarily married for their looks, while men are married for important reasons such as class or someone that could provide for a family.

[Maria Corona]

Symbol: Blue

When you think of sexes, generally blue is for a male, pink is for a female. When Janie appears wearing blue like Carina said, it shows a sense of masculinity. Her newly found freedom with Tea Cake is expressed through her appearance. She no longer is wearing the feminine colors Joe had once imposed on her. Because Tea Cake doesn't mind sharing the male roles with her.

[Juan Jaimez]

Symbol: Flower blossom and the bee

Throughout the story, a flower blossom and a bee are recurrently referenced whenever Janie thinks about love. The only flower that can blossom is a feminine flower, which starts off as a little bud and opens it petals, allowing for a bee to pollinate it with pollen from a male flower (sperm). Very scientific, but the blossom symbolizes Janie's desire for happiness through love. She is a flower that has blossomed and is waiting for a bee to pollinate it in order to produce a fruit, and that fruit is Janie's ultimate goal: happiness through love.