Circular Fulfillment

A detailed Summary of Circular Fulfillment

T.S. Elliot writes: "what we call a beginning is often the end/ And to make an end

is to make a beginning./ The end is where we start from." In order to begin self

realization a person must first conquer a hindrance in their path. This idea is used to

portray the nature of Janie's "exploration" in There Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora

Neale Hurston. Through the use of style, setting, and symbolism, the reader can interpret

that the beginning of one's self-fulfillment comes from successfully overcoming one's

Throughout the novel Hurston utilizes the horizon as a symbol representing

Janie's dreams in order to reveal the realizations she comes to which enable her to start

her self fulfillment. At one point while she is married to Logan Killicks, Janie realizes

something about her marriage to Logan Killicks; "She knew that God tore down the old

world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form

with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making. She knew now that marriage

did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman."(25) Janie had

expected marriage to grow into love, but her dream did not come to be. Hu

the beginning of self fulfillment is, in fact, the vanquishment of one's adversities.

feet higher jus' listenin' tuh you, Janie. Ah ain't satisfied wid mahself no mo'."(192) At

The reader can have an understanding of where Janie began and ended her

accomplishment through the "framing" style. Zora Neale Hurston begins her novel at the

understanding of Janie, life's dreams, and Pheoby as she responds; "Ah done growed ten

with Pheoby. Hurston has Janie begin the story of her life as a flashback at the end of her

Janie is slowly coming to an understanding about herself and what her dreams are. She

compares Janie's unfulfilled dream to how the sun rises above the horizon every morning

life's journey, "'Ah know exactly what Ah got to tell yuh, but it's hard to know where to

Approximate Word count = 1212
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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