Their Eyes Were Watching God

How far can you see? Way, way off in the distance? But there is one sight always at the end of your vision: the horizon. Doesn’t matter how far North, South, East, or West you go you are never going to get past the horizon. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, a lady named Janie searches for self and her place in the world. Throughout the book the concept of the horizon comes up, both figuratively and metaphorically. The horizon represents the ultimate goal, never to be reached, it contains everything we ever wanted, only some of which we can receive.

The horizon symbolizes what people want and the ships on it symbolize our individual hopes and dreams. Hurston opens her book with the following paragraphs:

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sale forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.

Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly. (p.1)

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The women can live without the fulfillment of their dreams as long as they gained something trying to get there. Women, however, know that it is not where you end up, but what you gain from the journey, that counts. The horizon is there to be reached, not to be forbidden. instance of the horizon in the text. This voice seems to be the ultimate voice of reason and only pops up periodically in the story. Janie reels from society’s ideas and instead decides to go on her own instincts.

Bibliography

"Their Eyes Were Watching God", Zora Neale Hurston

. " Janie tells us that she has reached her horizon, she was there and back and can tell us the tale.

The horizon represents dreams, goals and hopes, but how does one reach it? Janie decides that the only way for her to reach her goals is to go out and experience life. Waving what we want in front of our faces and sticking it’s tongue out in a grin. " Men concentrate solely on the dreams themselves, never satisfied until they have accomplished whatever it is the goal which they have set out to reach. Janie became a woman, a person willing to except the loss of a dream and move on, knowing that something was gained in the process. 24) This quote goes along with the previous one.

Approximate Word count = 814
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

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