Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is a novel depicting the life of an African American woman who finds her voice through many trials and tribulations. At the heart of the story, Hurston plays a protagonist who moves from a passive state to independence, from a voiceless passive woman dominated by her husband to a woman capable of thinking and acting for herself. Hurston achieves Their Eyes Were Watching God's broader theme of self-expression and independence through his use of three fundamental Southern literary elements: narrative structure, allegory, and symbolism. A brief inspection of these three basic elements will reveal how Their Eyes Were Watching God achieves its inspiring effect. Zora Neale Hurston uses narrative structure to convey the theme and meaning of the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God. Throughout the novel, she uses an interesting narrative structure, splitting the presentation of the story between highly literary narration and idiomatic speech. The extended passages of the speech celebrate the culturally rich voices of Janie's world. These characters speak like few others in American literature, and their distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and tone mark their individuality. Zora Hurston's use of language parallels Janie's quest to find her "voice." Henry Louis Gates Jr. makes a remark about the novel that it is primarily concerned with "the project of finding voice, with language as the instrument of wounding and salvation, of individuality and empowerment" ( Harper). This is demonstrated in the novel when Jody chokes Janie's speech, when he stops her from speaking after being made mayor. Her hatred towards him comes from this conquest of his individuality (Hurston). On the other ...... middle of paper ...... pear tree (Hurston 182). These two symbols that the author gives to the reader illustrate what Janie is pursuing throughout this book. Through many trials and tribulations, Janie finally reaches her horizon. Hurston masterfully uses four fundamental Southern literary elements to illustrate the plight of a woman who achieved self-expression and independence in the 1930s: narrative language, allegory, and symbolism. The combination of the three elements used by Hurston in his novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God" brings out a much larger theme of the story: self-expression and independence. Throughout the book, Janie faces many trials and tribulations on the path to her ideal life. But throughout his journey happened for a reason that allowed him to learn and continue to persevere. She finally had her ideal relationship with Tea Cake.