Kayla Ruthenbeck
Character/Author
Worldview & the Christian Worldview Assessment
In
the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God
by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie plays the main character and the protagonist. What is Janie’s worldview? Is it Christian Theism, Naturalism, or New
Age pantheism? Janie doesn’t seem to
strictly have one worldview. By her
actions throughout the novel, one would be able to conclude that her worldview
lies between Christian Theism and Naturalism, which is odd because they are
opposites of each other. My worldview is
Christian Theism. Comparing Janie’s
worldview and my worldview, one would find a lot of similarities and
differences.
Throughout
the novel there are a few things to allow us they do believe in God. For example, before eating at the barbeque
when Janie was with Jody, everyone prayed and thanked God for the food they
were about to eat. Also, Janie’s
grandmother talked about the prayers she had for Janie to become successful and
independent. With these actions, one
would be able to conclude that they do at least believe in a God or a higher
power. But, they do not live for God.
Janie is focused on living for herself and making herself happy. She doesn’t seek out what God wants for her;
instead she goes from husband to husband, searching for her happiness with
them. These actions show selfishness would then make Janie fall under the
Naturalism worldview a little bit. With
this being said about Janie’s worldview, it is easy to assume that Janie would
say she is a black girl, with long hair because she’s mixed, and very
independent. Janie understands she came from her mother who had ran away and
left. Her grandmother had troubles
raising her mother. She is going to find
happiness and knows what it true or false based off of her feelings about it. With her first two husbands and her grandma,
she acted how they wanted her to act.
For example, her grandma forced her to marry Logan, saying that she will
fall in love with him someday and Jody didn’t allow Janie to wear her hair down
or participate in conversations with the men. She felt she didn’t have much of
a choice. But, with Tea Cake she finally
got the freedom she wanted and got to live happily and act how she wanted to
act. God does exist to Janie, but she doesn’t live her life for Him. There are
many things I would have done the same and differently than Janie if I were
her.
I
live with a Christian Theism worldview.
I believe that God has created the whole entire universe out of
nothing. I believe that man was
originally created good in God’s image, but chose to sin, which has infected of
humanity with a “sin of nature” (Adam and Eve).
I believe that if we accept Jesus as our Lord and savior and proclaim
his name, we will have eternal life with Him after death and if we don’t and we
reject God, we will suffer eternal separation from Him (Heaven and Hell). I determine what is right and wrong by what
God tells me and I know it’s true if it lines up with the Bible, His word. As a Christian, I am not living my life to do
what I think will make me happy. I am
living my life for God; I am his hands and feet. I do believe that in the end, what God has
for us will be something that makes us happy.
I believe that someone should trust God’s plan more than your own
because we do not know everything like He does.
Although, that is much easier said than done. If I were Janie, I would have been hesitant
to marry someone I didn’t love as well.
I wouldn’t want to be pressured into something I didn’t want to do
because someone else wanted it for me because it was in his or her plan. I want to live by God’s plan and what He has
for me. I would not have followed
through with the marriage like Janie did, that is something where we
differ. If I did follow through, I would
certainly not break my commitment I made to him and I would not have left him. Basically, the difference between Janie and I
is I wouldn’t have intentionally been living to satisfy myself and for my own
happiness. I would have been living for
God. Our similarities are we both
believe in God and would go to him for help. This book could impact my life by
allowing me to really think about the influences other people have on me. Janie had many influences in her life that
made her choose certain things and I would not want to be negatively influence
by someone nor do I want to let someone negatively influence me.
In
conclusion, Janie does not have a set worldview. She has a little bit of Christian Theism one
would be able to see; as well as a little bit of naturalism. This was a great novel and allows people to
think twice about who they are letting influence them and who they are really
living their life for!
