The theme of the novel is summarized by Janie in three sentences: "you got tuh go there tuh know there...Two things everybody got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves." These sentences empower direct action by all people, women and men alike. Janie has discovered that she must live for herself in order to be self-fulfilled.
More difficult to understand, perhaps, is the theme of "going to God" or "watching God." Why would Janie recommend that all people find God? Janie "finds God" in the hurricane. The might and fury of the storm causes Janie and her friends to seek a larger meaning behind the storm. They watch God to try to glimpse a meaning behind nature's fury, nature's creation, and their own destinies.
That is a good quote to summarize the novel. This novel has flown on the wings of Janie's experience under the pear tree and her Nanny's idealizations of her. Through experience Janie realized that Nanny's advice was unsuitable and through experience Janie realized her pursuit of a perfect man is unreasonable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I love that quote in the novel which brought the whole story full circle. Through Janie's journey she realized that, like you said, that she has to live for herself and draw knowledge from her own experiences to to happy. I love how you came to the conclusion of the importance of the characters' eyes on God gaining a meaning behind "nature's fury, nature's creation, and their own destinies." That's beautiful.
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