FRQ

Symbols are commonly used in fiction stories. They “take your story beyond simple plot or character development and create depth and meaning.” [www.ehow.com] A symbol helps communicate an idea to the reader that was not introduced clearly within the text. In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston used a variety of symbols to communicate an aspect of the story that led to a greater idea. One example of this symbolism is the use of Janie’s mothers name “Leafy.”
When you think of a leaf, you think of a green leaf on a branch of a beautiful blossoming tree filled with life. But what happens to that leaf when the tree slowly dies? Its leaves begin to fall. In the story, Leafy is characterized as the daughter of a former slave woman and her master. At the young age of seventeen, she became pregnant from the school teacher that raped her. After that, “she took to drinkin’ likker and stayin’ out nights.” [pg 19] Her mother “Couldn’t git her to stay here and nowhere else.” [pg 19] Nobody knew where she was after that. Whether she was dead or alive was an unanswered question. With the name of “Leafy,” Zora Neale Hurston is able to portray the typical fallen woman. That is, the one that became impure. After being raped and having a baby [Janie], society would not look on Leafy as the ideal woman. People would have degraded her for something that she clearly had no control over. Getting back to the top of the feminine social pyramid was made impossible. This acknowledgement of Leafy turned her into the woman that she became; the drunk that roamed the streets and stayed out at nights. After all, she was just another woman that did not care for her baby. The use of the name Leafy brings about this character as just another dry fallen leaf of a tree, roaming through the world and its wonders, with no sense of direction or path. The leaf just continues to be thrown and pushed by the wind that carries it through life. That leaf reflects with its color more death than life. That leaf fights its way to stay alive. Until eventually, that same leaf breaks and tumbles through the dirt, becoming nothing but a forgotten memory.
So what does this symbolism bring to the story? This symbolism helped portray the principles of which society placed on women. These same standards which also, shaped Janie into the woman that she became. It emphasizes the idea that women were all products of a society that held them at the top of the social pyramid, one that idealized “the true woman.” As one can see from this symbolism, society played a major role in the plot and setting of the story, since after all, it transformed the female characters. This symbolism helped portray Janie, who like her mother, was just another victim of society and its sick evils of ideology. This same symbolism stressed the importance of female roles in the story. With this symbolism for “the fallen woman,” visual images of a suppressed, dependant, and beat down black woman are made clearer. The notion of the silenced woman is understood more in depth.
Overall, symbols play a major role in novels. They help to bring about a deeper understanding of an idea. Symbols can tie the whole story closer together to add more meaning to the moral of the plot. In the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” Zora Neale Hurston made a good use of symbols to communicate her ideas to the reader. Having Leafy symbolize the “fallen woman,” brought about the importance of society in the story.