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Ending Analysis of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Hurston

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Abstract

This paper examines the ending of Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel Their Eyes Were Watching God and argues that it appropriately concludes Janie's progressive journey toward self-discovery. The analysis traces how Hurston uses the motif of vision throughout the narrative — from Janie's childhood confusion about racial identity, through her marriages to Joe and Tea Cake, to her final ownership of the horizon as a symbol of self-fulfillment. The paper also highlights the novel's central theme of empowerment, as expressed in Janie's own concluding words, and evaluates why the unconventional ending successfully resolves the work's central concerns.

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What makes this paper effective

The paper stays focused on a single, specific analytical question — whether the novel's ending appropriately concludes the work — and answers it directly with textual evidence.
It traces a clear character arc, connecting Janie's childhood confusion about identity to her eventual self-fulfillment, giving the argument a logical progression.
The use of a direct quotation from the novel to anchor the theme of empowerment grounds the analysis in the primary text.

Key academic technique demonstrated

The paper demonstrates close reading by identifying a recurring motif — vision — and tracking how it evolves across the narrative. By connecting specific plot moments (Janie's childhood, her marriages, the horizon imagery) to the novel's thematic resolution, the writer shows how textual details support a broader interpretive claim about the ending's appropriateness.

Structure breakdown

The paper opens with a contextual introduction identifying the novel and its central concern. It then moves through Janie's experiences chronologically — racial identity, marriage, and self-discovery — before arriving at the symbolic significance of the horizon. It closes by quoting Janie directly to summarize the novel's empowerment theme, tying the ending analysis back to the work as a whole.

Introduction

Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, first published in 1937, uses the motif of vision to trace Janie's journey toward self-discovery. The ending of the novel is quite unusual compared to conventional narratives — it is not exactly a happy ending — yet it appropriately concludes Hurston's work. This paper examines precisely how and why that ending succeeds in resolving the novel's central concerns.

Vision and Racial Identity in Janie's Journey

Throughout the novel, Hurston uses vision as a guiding motif along Janie's path to self-understanding. In the final chapter, Janie's perception of Black and white identity — long distorted — is at last clarified. This distortion begins in childhood: as a young girl, Janie did not even know she was African American. Her early confusion about racial identity becomes one of the foundational tensions that the novel gradually works to resolve.

Marriage, Power, and the Search for Self

When Janie first meets Joe Starks, she is drawn to him because he was "kind of portly, like rich white folks." Her marriage to Joe reinforces this dynamic, granting her the image of whiteness and placing her symbolically in a "high chair" — a position of elevation that is, in reality, a form of confinement. It is only in her third marriage, to Tea Cake, that Janie can finally begin to fulfill her vision of self. Each marriage represents a stage in her evolving understanding of who she is and what she needs in order to live authentically.

The Horizon as Symbol of Fulfillment

After enduring the hardships of her three marriages and the struggles that accompany them, Janie has made sense of her life. She has seen the horizon and taken control of it. No longer is the horizon some strange, far-away source of aspiration — it is hers. As the novel's closing imagery suggests, Janie owns the horizon; she can wrap it around herself and rejoice in the memories it holds, like fish caught in a net. This transformation of the horizon from an object of longing into a possession marks the emotional and thematic resolution of the novel.

1 Locked Section · 65 words remaining

The Novel's Theme of Empowerment · 65 words

"Janie's words summarize the novel's theme"

Conclusion

Because the entire novel has focused on Janie's progressive journey toward self-discovery, the ending appropriately brings that journey to completion. Even though life was not as easy as Janie had imagined, the experiences she endured ultimately helped her find her true self. The unconventional, non-triumphant ending does not diminish the work; rather, it honestly reflects the complexity of self-actualization and confirms that Janie has, at last, arrived.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937.

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Key Concepts in This Paper

Self-Discovery Horizon Symbolism Vision Motif Racial Identity Female Empowerment Marriage Critique Janie Crawford African American Literature Personal Agency Novel's Ending