Divine Lessons from The Novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Introduction

Jesus preaches that Man does not live by bread alone. From Maslow's five-tiered hierarchy of needs to the Freudian notion of unconscious motivation, man is naturally driven by many varying desires. Physiological needs are only the most basic and represent only one step on the pyramid. Security, love, ego, and finally self-actualization are all other significant human motivations. External influences also add another factor in determining man's motivation. Zora Neale Hurston wrote of the strong protagonist Janie Crawford and her quest for self-actualization and fulfillment. Mordecai Richler wrote of an incorrigibly ambitious, conniving, and sly protagonist Duddy Kravitz and his dreams of wealth and recognition. These two characters, although very different in their motives, are held back to different degrees by external influences that warp their wants and, in the process, impede their happiness. Bowing to external pressures and using others' expectations to fuel one's motivation often come at an inordinately high cost. Generational differences encumber the success and satisfaction of the protagonists by altering their motivations and dreams in Zora Neale Hurston's novel of self-discovery Their Eyes Were Watching God (Hurston, 1937), and Mordecai Richler's account of growing up in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Richler, 1959).

Divine Lessons from Their Eyes Were Watching God

Janie leaves her grandmother and now that she is alone, she starts to appreciate and recognize her own feelings. Janie comes to the realization that she harbors deep resentment towards Nanny. Once alone in the real world, she is able to realize and detest the values that her grandmother had ingrained within her since childhood. "Honey, de white man is de ruler of everything as fur as Ah been able tuh find out. So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks" (Hurston, p. 14). Nanny had didactically taught her granddaughter to seek prizes of a superficial nature; wealth, security, and status. This concern for only basic and superficial necessities occupied the scope of Nanny's belief. Nanny's slave mentality and dreams were imposed on her granddaughter; however, Janie was not emancipated or liberated by the dreams and wants of an older generation. The young woman never experienced the terrors of slavery and her childhood and adolescence were in sharp contrast to the one that her grandmother had known. This imposition of foreign and antiquated beliefs prevents Janie from chasing her own dream and realizing her own success.

In marrying Logan, a relatively wealthy middle-aged black man, Janie submits to the dreams and advice of her grandmother. "Tain't Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it's protection" (Hurston, p. 15). This marriage was destined to fail as the relationship was not built on a foundation of love or trust, but rather it was nothing but a function of necessity and practicality. Janie, while pursuing her grandmother's dreams, is never able to blossom and achieve the balance and sexual fulfillment that the pear tree of her youth had offered. The pear tree was a manifestation of the symbiotic vision of love that Janie had; however, her grandmother saw this love as a vice and an obstacle. "Dat's de very prong all us black women gits hung on. Dis love!" (Hurston, p. 23). Janie sees men and women as fundamentally different, and out of this difference is born her quest. An ideal love for Janie is found when a man could give her things that she does not have, and when she could reciprocate and offer men things that they do not possess. This idea of a mutual codependence is one of Janie's dreams. However, thoughts and wants such as these are diametrically opposed to those of Nanny. When Janie leaves Logan for Jody, she successfully breaks away from the grip of her grandmother's slave mentality, dreams, and ambitions. Janie overcomes her difficulty; however, up until this point, her potential for fulfillment and happiness are encumbered by the influence and dreams of Nanny. This is such because Janie is not allowed to live her own life and make her own decisions, but rather she is trapped in the dreams of her grandmother. Only when Janie discards her grandmother's legacy of conventional wisdom can she appreciate her envisioned ideal relationship similar to that of the buzzing bees and the pear tree forever present in her heart and mind.

Generational Conflict in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz

The story of Duddy Kravitz presents a very similar situation of generational conflict. The values instilled within Duddy since childhood by his grandfather produce a dream that is not his own. Duddy is constantly striving, searching, and starving for an end that will not elicit feelings of fulfillment, but rather set up disappointment and anguish. "A man without a land is no one." This phrase becomes a mantra for the young boy. While the realization of his dreams alleviates his indigence, it causes nothing but pain and comes at the price of respect and friendship. In the end, Duddy has acres of land surrounding a large Laurentien lake; however, he has no one to share this land with. Despite the fact that Duddy has land, he remains a loser. The quest to acquire the land surrounding a beautiful lake north of Montreal forced the young protagonist to scheme and act at times immorally in order to succeed. Duddy's most contemptible act was forging Virgil's signature on a check to buy the last parcel of his coveted land.

"Duddy took a quick look at Virgil's bank balance, whistled, noted his account number, and ripped out two cheques. He forged the signature by holding the cheque and a letter Virgil had signed up to the window and tracing slowly" (Richler, p. 296).

This despicable act is the climax of Duddy's descent into total dissolution. Duddy has isolated himself and now faces his relegation from all those that he previously had loved and who had loved him back. Although this young protagonist is utterly loathsome, he somehow educes a certain sense of pity and tragedy. The tragic element is that Duddy is steered awry by pursuing his grandfather's lifelong dream at all costs. Following the advice of his grandfather as gospel proved to be Duddy's undoing and constituted his demise. The lesson learned is that dreams rarely stand the test of time. Dreams and goals are not to be left for posterity as part of one's estate; rather, dreams, ambitions, desires, goals, these are all inwardly derived.

The Dangers of Living Another's Dream

The Dave Matthews Band wrote about the fruitlessness of pursuing someone else's dreams in their song "The Dreams of our Fathers." The song illustrates the dismal effects that following a parent's, a grandparent's, or a family member's dream can have on someone.

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