"The Great Gatsby" by F. Scott Fitzgerald And "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston

Essay by taggy004High School, 11th gradeA, March 2007

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A successful marriage can be defined as a union consisting of three values: happiness, trust, and sacrifice. These values are illustrated in The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God as they are exemplified by the relationships commented on by the authors. The vows said during the marriage process, mainly “’till death do you part,” relate to these values as a promise between the people about to be wed. In order for the marriage to be successful and contain the values defining a successful union, there must be the presence of a connection between the two people, commonly referred to as love.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston incorporates three marriages into Janie’s life story. The actual process of marriage and the presence of a special union thereafter are not spoken of with the grandeur they should be associated with, usually only being referred to for a mere one or two sentences at a time in the book.

“So they were married there before sundown, just like Joe had said” (Hurston 33). The only references alluding to a marriage in Hurston’s book are subtle and do not call for much consideration. As these unions occur three times in the book, each specific marriage can be evaluated for the presence of love and the values of success.

Janie’s first marriage is to the man Logan Killicks. This marriage is an arranged marriage by her grandmother in order for Janie to have a supporting and stable household, as her grandmother’s time to pass grows nearer. Janie marries this man with no feelings of love toward him, being told that a person would grow to love the one they are married to. Renee Hausman refers to this in the article “Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora...