In the early 20th century, black men in the southern United States viewed women as property. Women took on the role of slaves in marital relationships, and men generally ruled as masters. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story of such repression and possession in these southern black communities. Set primarily in Etonville, Florida, Hurston's book details the life of one of these young women, Janie. This novel is the story of Janie's escape from this oppression into her own self-awareness and personal identity. However, Janie's path to awakening is fraught with difficulties. He must travel through the wasteland of being a property before he can enter the garden of his self-fulfilled love dreams. Abandoned by her mother and raised by her grandmother, the beginnings of both her bondage and her awakening begin when she is quite young. . While admiring a blooming pear tree in her grandmother's backyard, she experienced a sexual awakening. The tiny flowers on the tree and the pollen-dusted bees buzzing around it move Janie greatly. “Oh, to be a pear tree – any flowering tree! With kissed bees singing the beginning of the world! He was sixteen. It had shiny leaves and burst buds and wanted to fight with life but it seemed to escape it. Where were the singing bees for her?" (Hurston, 11). This is her first step toward self-awareness and a dive into sexual awakening. Janie abandons the prudish advice of her grandmother, Nanny, and kisses a nearby boy Frightened by this act of youthful sexuality, Janie's grandmother decides to get her married as quickly as possible. The nanny believes that Janie needs the support of a man, preferably a rich man. half of the paper ...... and we kiss the bee to the end. Returning to Etonville, Janie tells the story to an old friend. She reaches the final stage of awakening and to keep them still in her heart. Tea Cake's memories would remain alive in her heart, as long as she was alive to remember. "She could never die until she herself had finished feeling and thinking images of love and light against the wall. Here was peace” (Hurston, 193). Janie discovers herself by realizing her dream of love, while also discovering a joy that she can carry with her for the rest of her life. She ultimately found peace knowing who she was and being strong enough to fight for her individuality. Over the course of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie discovers what love truly means to her and how far she's willing to go to get it...