In Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, she uses an array of symbolism such as color, the store, and her husbands to solidify the overall theme of the independence and individuality. Their Eyes Were Watching God is considered by many to be a classic American feminist article that focuses on the lives of African Americans after the slave era in the early 1900s. One source summarizes the story as follows: 1 "The Quest of fulfillment and liberation of a woman in a society where women are objects to be used for physical labor and pleasure. » This is why the general theme is concurrent with independence and self. The first way the author uses symbolism to show the overall theme is through color. At several points in the novel, Janie conspicuously wears a different color depending on what is happening. Although the message is oblique, most can make sense of it. From the first chapter, the color blue is mentioned. "...Where is the blue satin dress she left here in?" (p. 2) This is the beginning where Janie returns with nothing and the women of the town gossip about her status and appearance. Even later the author shows that she is wearing blue because of Tea Cake, "Wait until you see the new blue satin Tea Cake chosen for me and I will rise with it." (p. 115) Traditionally, the color blue represents depth and stability. It can also symbolize trust, loyalty, wisdom, confidence, intelligence, faith, truth and heaven. Early on, Hurston indicates that Janie will have some of these traits and throughout the novel the reader realizes that Janie is in fact loyal, stable, wise and confident after being introduced to Tea Cake. The next color used by the author is white. . When Janie and Jody are about to build...... middle of paper ...... James Robert Saunders, "Womanism as the Key to Understanding Zora Neale Hurston's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God' and 'The Color "Alice Walker Purple'", in The Hollins Critic, Vol. XXV, No. 4, October 1988, pp. 1-11. Reproduced with permission.1. v. Robert E. Hemenway, in his Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography, University of Illinois Press, 1977, 371 p.2. “Color Wheel Pro: Meaning of Colors.” Color Wheel Pro: See color theory in action! Color Wheel, January 22, 2001. Web. February 13, 2012. .3. Dictionary of Literary Biography, Volume 51: African American Writers from the Harlem Renaissance to 1940. A Secular Book by Bruccoli Clark. Edited by Trudier Harris, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Gale Group, 1987. pp. 133-145.4. Hurston, Zora Neal. Their eyes looked at God. New York: Harper Collins, 1937. Print.