While reading the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, I perceived several strong messages and symbols imbedded within the story. One of the most significant recurring symbols that I noticed throughout the novel was the mule. Looking at the bigger picture, I believe that the image of the mule was used to symbolize how black women were treated in the past and their long and difficult struggle for independence. In addition to this, Hurston effectively uses the mule as a metaphor for the role that Janie plays, or refuses to play, during her journey and within her marriages.
When Janie was just sixteen years old, Nanny told her that the black woman is the mule of the world, but she expressed her personal hopes for Janie, telling her, “‘Ah been prayin’ fuh it tuh be different wid you. Lawd, Lawd, Lawd!’” (Hurston 14). Nanny was born during the times of slavery and was not able to fulfill her own dreams, but she wanted to make sure that Janie was able to live a better life. To her, this meant making sure that Janie got married to a man who would support and care for her before she passed away and no longer had the chance to help her, so she set Janie up with Logan Killicks. At this time, Janie knew nothing about marriage or love, and she did not have any feelings for Logan. I picked up on the fact that Janie had no choice but to marry Logan, much like a mule has no ability to choose its owner. Janie noticed the absence of intimacy and love in the marriage and waited for it to come, but months went by and it never did.
One morning while Janie was in the kitchen, Logan called her to the barn where he had the mule saddled up at the gate and told her to cut up the potato seeds for him because he was going to Lake City to buy another mule for Janie to use while working behind a plow (Hurston 26). The way in which Logan tried to force Janie to work made Janie feel as if he intended to use her like the mule, and she ultimately refused to play this part by leaving him. To me, it is interesting how it happened that Nanny set Janie up with Logan to protect her from being used like a mule to work, but Logan ended up making her feel exactly that way.
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Soon, Janie met Joe Starks, and he offered her an alternative to her life and marriage with Logan. When Janie told Joe that Logan went off to buy a mule for her to plow and left her cutting up potato seeds for him, he was instantly shocked. He exclaimed that she had no business whatsoever with a plow nor with cutting up potato seeds and told her, “‘A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you.’” (Hurston 29). I can certainly see what Janie initially saw in Joe. He was a stylish smooth-talker who had big dreams and a vision of change, and he convinced her that he was going to show her what it was like to be treated as well as she deserved to be treated; to be treated the way that Nanny wanted her to be treated.
However, soon after Janie left Logan to run off with and marry Joe, it became evident that Joe would not fully keep his word to her. Janie moved with Joe to a new black town in Eatonville, Florida, where Joe quickly became the mayor and leader of the town. After Joe made his speech as the newly appointed mayor, Janie was asked to make a speech as the mayor’s wife, but Joe does now allow this and instead announces to the people of the town, “‘Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ bout no speech-makin’ . . . She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.’” (Hurston 43).
I thought that was very rude and insulting to Janie as well as to all women everywhere. Joe spoke for Janie, not allowing her to speak for herself, and his behavior did not change at any time during their marriage. I felt bad for Janie because Joe was always criticizing her, not including her in any conversations or activities, and putting her down. He seldom took her feelings into consideration and focused mainly on the town and the people of the town, his job as the mayor, and his shop, while neglecting Janie’s needs and emotionally abusing her with words. This emotional abuse toward Janie can also be compared with the physical abuse that mules experience at the hands of their owners.
The townspeople loved to sit on the porch and entertain themselves with conversation and gossip. They often talked about and made fun of a man named Matt Bonner because of his clearly tired and mistreated mule. When Joe bought the mule to set him free from his poor conditions and to be cared for by the townspeople until he passed away, Janie praised his action and compared him to Abraham Lincoln ruling the United States and freeing the slaves, telling him, “’You got uh town so you freed uh mule. You have tuh have power tuh free things and dat makes you lak uh king uh something.’” (Hurston 58).
This reminds me of when Janie first met Joe and he promised to free her from being forced to work and to give her the life that she deserved, but it also reminds me of how Joe broke this promise to her and instead was focused on his image in the town more than he was focused on his own wife. I also noticed that Joe put more effort into setting Matt Bonner’s mule free than he did into setting Janie free from the pressure to work and making her happy. I find it ironic that while Joe’s high position in the town gave him the power to free the mule, his ego and ambition caused him to practically enslave Janie in a sense, and he could only free her by his own death.
Overall, Janie’s struggle to find herself while also struggling to find true love and becoming involved in relationships in which she was forced to work and treated unequally is reminiscent of the mule’s struggle to find peace and freedom from being overworked and mistreated. The mule finally being retired and at peace represents when Janie meets her third husband, Tea Cake, with whom she finally experiences true love and is freed from inferior treatment, loveless marriages, and loneliness. Tea Cake is the first of Janie’s husbands to truly see her and treat her as a human being and not as a possession or a mule made for working; he was the first to find it natural for her to play checkers and be involved in fun activities and conversations. With Tea Cake, Janie finally breaks free.
Works Cited
- Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. HarperCollins e-books, 2013.
