God's Will Vs. Human Will

God's Will Vs. Human Will

The will of God and the will of humans are two themes in Zora Neale Hurston's amazing work of art, Their Eyes Were Watching God. Not only do both themes play an essential part in the tone of the novel, but they also play into every other major theme of the book. Among these themes are: self-discovery, love, independence, and nature's power in one's life. Both Janie's personal will, and the will of God in this story are used to show the strengths and weakness of Janie as well the rest of the characters. The will of God is seen frequently throughout the novel in order to test Janie and her will. God's will is also seen leading other major and minor characters in the book. The wills of both God and Janie are the guiding forces within the novel and conflict with each other throughout the story to create the backbone of this tale.

With Janie, there is an overwhelming conflict between her own will and the will of God. On one side of her reasoning, she feels the need to find and experience true love but on the other side, is God pulling the strings in her life. Janie's Nanny pushes her in the direction of marriage, even if there is no love between her and the man she marries. Janie desperately longs for love but is still unsure in her young womanhood if all it takes is a simple marriage to a man who will take care of her. This can be seen when Janie asks herself, "Did marriage end the cosmic loneliness of the unmated? Did marriage compel love like the sun the day?"(pg 21) Janie soon realizes that being taken care of is not the same as true love. Marriage is not what Janie wants. She wants love and her desire to get out of the marriage is clearly seen in all the references to animals. "She feels like a mule while she's with Logan. She knows she has the spirit of a stallion inside her but she is literally surrounded by a gate and can only stare towards her impossible dreams of love down the road" (pg 25-27). Logan puts a tremendous amount of un-needed stress on Janie with his demands as well as his verbal and physical abuse often seen through their marriage. Still in shock and confusion of the whole process, Janie gathers her courage and decides to run away with a man she barley knows, Joe Starks. This exemplifies an excellent example of her strong will. Janie knew what she desired out of life and it certainly was not a life of verbal and physical beatings. She saw Jody as a man that would treat her unbelievably well. Her determination to find love however, led her on the wrong path. Although at first she applauded herself and her will for the good choice she had made in leaving Killicks for Jody, she soon regretted the decision and had to live like a slave once again for almost two decades. Yet another instance where Janie's will, and the ignorance of God's will ended up taking her where she did not want to go.

Being with Joe Starks showed Janie that love was not always a fairy tale. It wasn't like the "bees suckling on the sweet nectar blooms of the peach tree" (page 11). Being the mayor's wife taught Janie that her will and heart's desire did not mean anything when a man was involved. This is where her struggles with self-discovery and freedom versus marriage come into play. These struggles are an internal test of Janie's will and her character. Hurston was very creative in using them to piece together Janie's flamboyant and unconventional personality. Janie becomes much more independent and seems to have control over her own will after Joe's death. Her life at one time belonged to Logan and then it was Joe's but when Tea Cake came along, he let her have her own life. Tea Cake loved Janie for who she was on the inside and not who she was supposed to be. Tea Cake is Janie's dream, that ship that had been on the horizon for forty years of her life. Tea Cake was the prince on the white horse that she had been desperately searching for.

One question that arises upon completing this book, is what does Janie's will really want? What