Skip to main content

Themes in TEWWG

1. TEWWG explores the theme of love and independence through Janie's various relationships including her journey for self-awareness and discovery. Janie's first relationships are indicative for recognizing what she truly desires for herself and in Jody's death, she understands the possession she now has of herself. Tea Cake is able to offer Janie the equality similar to her ideology of the perfect union from the pear tree analogy, however, this relationship's other flaws introduce to her the need for her own independence. Within Tea Cake's death, Janie is able to recognize the values from this relationship in their equality and her own self-awareness, enabling her to continue on this journey whilst the memories of Tea Cake continue to push her. The revelation she comes across is the possibility for independence and love to coexist which was thought originally unplausible.

2. Although racism is not of the biggest significance of this novel, Hurston does incorporate race into certain aspects of the novel, however, avoids showcasing Janie's life as an African-American but rather chooses to display her experiences as a human being instead. Janie is more light skinned due to being a quarter white which does provide her with the unusual attention which is often mentioned throughout the novel and we also see racism with characters such as Mrs Turner. Through this character, the often overlooked sides of prejudice are demonstrated as Mrs Turner is African American herself and discriminates heavily against darker skinned individuals.

3. TEWWG focuses on the search for individual fulfilment as Janie along with other characters struggle often to deal and prosper within their immediate surroundings and the natural world. The theme of power and judgement can be intertwined with the novel's overarching ideas as Janie is searching for power within herself and the ability to avoid judgement. Janie's beginning relationships controlled and possessed her and in Tea Cake's ability to treat her as an equal, Janie is able to find the self-awareness she is looking for. Hurston, therefore, indicates that when an individual is able to overlook impending judgement, that this is where freedom arises.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

The Thief and the Dogs Passage Analysis Ch. 4

Chapter Four Passage: "You made me and now you reject me: Your ideas create their embodiment in my person and then you simply change them, leaving me lost –rootless, worthless, without hope—a betrayal so vile that if the whole Muqattam hill toppled over and buried it, I still would not be satisfied. I wonder if you ever admit, even to yourself, that you betrayed me. Maybe you’ve deceived yourself as much as you try to deceive others. Hasn’t your conscience bothered you even in the dark? I wish I could penetrate your soul as easily as I’ve penetrated your house, that house of mirrors and object d’art, but I suppose I’d find nothing but betrayal there: Nabawiyya disguised as Rauf, Rauf disguised as Nabawiyya, or Ilish Sidra in place of both—and betrayal would cry out to me that it was the lowest crime on earth. Their eyes behind my back must have traded anxious looks throbbing with lust, which carried them in a current crawling like death, like a cat creeping on ...

Paper 2 Outline: TATD + TFA

Prompt --> Pride can lead to failure and self-destruction or to accomplishment and self-fulfilment. Discuss the presentation of pride and its consequences in at least two of the works you have studied.  Thesis statement: In the Thief and the Dogs, Naguib Mahfouz allegorically represents the marxist ideology through the protagonist, Said Mahran who’s hubris leads him to self-destruction. Similarly, in TFA, Chinua Achebe utilises the tragic hero archetype to represent the danger of being rigid and inflexible, in a dynamic world, which reveal Achebe’s assertion of the need for duality to successfully navigate an ever-changing world. Topic sentence 1: In both novels, the protagonist’s overwhelming pride leads them to inevitable destruction at their own hands, seen with Okonkwo’s fatalistic suicide, and Said got assassinated. Topic sentence 2: In TATD and TFA, their pride catalyses their conflict, as their moral values aren’t heavily influenced by opposition, such as the...