Regional and Gender Identity

This paper discusses regional and gender identity in Zora Neale Hurston's "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and Kate Chopin "The Awakening".

This paper discusses that both of these stories written by feminists, deal with women who are being oppressed and ultimately become independent not only of the men in their lives but also of the whole of society. The author points out that the vernacular used is very specific to the region: "Their Eyes Were Watching God" takes place in the south and "The Awakening", in the north. The paper relates that, while "The Awakening" does not really focus on race, it does focus on gender and a woman's role in society; in addition, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" focuses on a woman's role in a black miners grade carbide society.

It is interesting that though both Janie and Edna come to awakenings toward the end of their stories, they both think or seem to think that at first, their awakenings are based on the love of men in their lives, and how the men make them feel. Janie's relationship with Tea Cake is a perfect example, Janie is deliberately forgetting some of the truth. She constructs the truth in a way that essay writer fast will maintain and justify her dreams. When Tea Cake hits her, it is the ultimate betrayal, because he has not lived up to her idyllic view of him. She continues to think of him as the perfect man because it is the version of the 'truth' that she likes the best. It is only after he has been killed that her voice finally becomes strong and assertive."