Modern times Essay

Janie Crawford, a free spirited individual, is the main character in the book â€Å"Their Eye’s Were Watching God† which was written by Zora Neale Hurston. It should also be noted that Hurston was an anthropologist because of the book’s historically accurate perception of the expectations black women lived up to during that time. The story unfolds around Janie’s life and how she fought against the male oppression she endured in her two marriages all the while trying to define herself as her own person. This oppression she endured with her marriages shows the influences and ideas that men had over women during that time period. If someone was to look at this novel in the perspective of an anthropologist you would have to say that it is a fictional novel with historical merit of how life was for women in the South during the 1920’s. The story scenes centers on a town and its citizens that was created as a black community. Not only was there oppression but also exploitation that Janie had to endure. In her first marriage to Killicks this was shown when he intended to put his wife in the field working the plows. Janie is powerless and without free will. â€Å"Ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever† (31), Killicks claims. Killicks always was able to shut her up when he felt she was trying to assert herself. A good example was when he used derogatory threats against her family when she tried to talk about their marriage while shoveling manure. Then when the scorn wasn’t enough to keep her quiet the threat of physical violence began to be used. â€Å"Don’t you change too many words wid me dis mawnin’, Janie, do Ah’ll take and change ends wid yuh†¦Ah’ll take holt uh dat ax and come in dere and kill yuh! † (31). Joe Starks, her second husband, also exploited Janie by working her in his store. He seemed to silence her voice all too often. There were many times he would point out that she was just a trophy wife of someone in authority. Janie seems to be bothered by the high stool that Joe insists she sit on and when I first read that part I envisioned a child being punished. For this marriage silence is golden, on the part of the wife. The first time Joe quieted her, Janie said it left her feeling cold. When he refused to allow her to speak at his election for mayor she felt that it took, â€Å"the bloom off of things†. At the elections Tony Taylor wanted Janie to speak, â€Å"uh few words uh encouragement from Mrs. Mayor Starks,† that is when Joe takes the floor and says, â€Å"mah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s un woman and her place is in de home† (42). A belief that held true for sometime even in today’s world. It was interesting that Stark used verbal cues to make Janie shut up and be obedience using her looks or intelligence as tools for his oppression. If you were to ask any battered woman today they too would say how insults and put downs helped in breaking their self esteem in order for their oppressor to gain control. In Janie’s first marriage violence was always just a threat; in her marriage to Stark it became real. Stark beat her over a poorly cooked dinner once (68) and for insulting his sexual abilities he struck â€Å"Janie with all his might† driving â€Å"her from the store† (77). Killicks on his last day with Janie threatens to kill her, Stark when bedridden and helpless wishes â€Å"thunder and lightnin’ would kill her! † (83). Violence goes hand and hand with oppression and exploitation. The threat of violence physical or verbal has consequences that follow the victim throughout their lives. Janie was basically just property in the eyes of her men. To do whatever their bidding and was often thought of as no better than a mule. There was one part of the book where it talked of a man that did not like to beat his wife because he felt it was just like stepping on baby chicks. He used empathy instead of moral rights as to why men shouldn’t beat their women. Are women thought of as just baby chicks or mules? The answer is yes and still can be applied in modern times.