Both Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived in the Castle, are multi-faceted stories with central themes that repeat themselves throughout. The strongest and most repeated theme is that of control, especially when shown through the eyes of each book's main character. ... In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie, the main character, is shown in her middle age returning to her hometown. ... (Hurston 2) They even go as far as making jaded comments about her hair and how she carries her body, as evidenced in this quote, "What dat ...

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• Approx Pages: 8
• Grade Level: High School