Hurston's Background

I wrote Hurston's backgroung in my paper because I thought that it is important to understand where she came from to better understand the novel. Zora Neale Hurston is one of the most influential writers of her time. Born on January 7, 1891, in Notasulga, Alabama, Hurston moved to Eatonville, Florida, when she was still very young. Hurston was a very talented woman, and she used her talents as a mean to get her way into the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. By 1935, she had published various short stories and articles and a novel. Hurston’s turning point came after she published the novel Their Eyes were Watching God in 1937. Hurston was one of the most important writers in the twentieth century African American literature. Her works influenced writers such as Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison and Alice walker. The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is a great example of African-American women’s role in society, and the personal struggles they had to overcome in their lives.

Title.

God is never mentioned throughout his story. Why the name of the story? Even though he wasn't mentioned, Hurston did mentioned nature a lot. The time she mentioned the sun, or the sky it appeared as if they were divine. It was almost as if nature was playing the role of God. It was as if nature had a mind of its own and it decided what to do with people and it also influenced the way the thought about themselves. Janie, as mentioned before, wanted to find herself, but she also had to find her place in the world in order to be comfortable with who she was. Their Eyes Were Watching God was ultimately about Janie and her quest to find her place in the world, and to be comfortable and happy with who she was.

Security and Independence

Janie married Logan Killicks at first, then she married Joe Starks, and finally she married Tea Cake. It seems like Janie couldn't find fulfillment in any of the men she had, even though she was very happy with Tea Cake, she was still missing something. It is important to understand that Janie had to find herself first in order to be happy. However, the pressure that society put on women, perhaps forced her to marry multiple times. Tea Cake was the one who helped her through all of these and so she becomes secure in herself. When Tea Cake died, she always felt like he was there with her. She was able to be independent and to continue her life focusing on herself. Even though all of these bad things happened, having had three marriages makes this a romantic story because we see how Janie evolves and is set free by love. This novel is a great representation of the life of a black woman whose desires in life motivate her to make the choices that will ultimately define who she is and how society will see her.

Authentic Blackness

This novel is very strong when it comes to “authentic blackness.” Hurston carefully wrote this piece making sure that everything was authentic in the African American culture. For example, the dialect in this novel is a great representation for authentic blackness. Words such as “Lawd” (Lord), “’bout” (about), and “’aint” (isn’t) are some of the words represented in the dialect of the novel. Also, one of the reasons why this novel is so authentic and real is because Hurston, an African American woman, wrote it. It wouldn’t have been the same story if a white person would’ve written this story. This is because Hurston knew the trials, the struggles, and the problem that black women encountered throughout their lives. It makes it so much more authentic because of who writes it and the knowledge the author has about black women.

Binary Themes

Some of the binary themes that emerged throughout the novel were the material versus the spiritual, and also the ideal woman versus the realistic women. One of the ways that this works relates to me as a person of faith is how Janie seemed to have found her freedom in men, but finding freedom in anything besides God it’s not fulfilling. All she wanted, had to do with material stuff when in reality the best way she could’ve fulfilled the holes in her life was by turning to God. Society formed what a woman should be and how she should act. A good example of this would be the British Victorian’s society. Women were expected to be perfect and to live up to the expectations of what the writers such as Patmore were writing. In this novel, Janie, as I mentioned before, was always the topic of conversation around the town. The other women were in a sense “perfect” because they weren’t doing many of the things Janie did—Janie married three times. I feel like Janie was being the realistic woman at that time because of the fact that she didn’t care of what society thought of her, she did what she felt was right for her.

Emancipation

Janie also gets emancipation. Throughout the novel, we see how different her relationship with Tea Cake is. He had something that her previous husbands didn’t. He knew how to treat her right, how to make her feel like a woman. She got the freedom she always wanted with Tea Cake. Death is a symbol extremely important in this novel. Every time someone she knew, her husband or her grandma, died, something inside Janie would change as well. It was as if death was meant to be in her life in order to get her in the position she was in. What I found most ironic was the death of Tea Cake. As I mentioned before, he was the love of her life, the person she really felt comfortable with. At the end of the novel, Tea Cake doesn’t die of natural causes; Janie herself has to take Tea Cake’s life. This is ironic in the sense that the person she loved the most and the person, who helped her feel like a woman, was the person she had to kill. It was as if she killed the little hope of happiness that she had in her heart.

Double Consciousness

Double Consciousness emerges at the moment she married Starks. Janie was being watched now more than ever. She had a role in society and that was something she had to follow. Her role as a black woman was to be a wife, and a politician. As a black woman, she wasn’t supposed to speak with white people because this was just not right at all, people would think of her as wanting to be considered white, and if the women in the town weren’t supposed to speak with white people, neither was Janie. As a wife, she was supposed to do as her husband said. She had to be a housewife and had to have the food ready when her husband came home from work. In other words, she was supposed to be submissive. As a politician’s wife, she was supposed to be perfect in everything she did. She had to dress right and had to be a good role model for the rest of the town people.

Society

Society was always looking at Janie: the way she dressed, her mood, her hair, her makeup, were always the topic of conversation amongst the other women in town. The women would criticize the reason why Janie didn’t love her first husband. The “gazed” woman’s body in this novel is represented in the way Janie had white features, which made others look at her because they thought she was an easy woman. This is also very ironic because she was not supposed to talk with white people. As the story progresses, Janie abandons her husband, Logan, because he was being awfully demanding and was treating her like a slave. She leaves with Joe Starks, a man in whom she sees a future with.

Janie's Nanny

Janie, an African American woman, is the main character of the novel. She is a woman filled with dreams of going somewhere in life. Readers first meet Janie when she is talking with her nanny. Her nanny wants Janie to marry someone, but not just anyone she doesn’t want “no nigger, no breath-and-britches, lak Johnny Taylor usin’ yo’ body to wipe his foots on.” Janie doesn’t want to get married, but her grandma pretty much forces her to get married. From the very beginning of the story, we start to get the hint on how the story will develop. Back in the days, it seems like the African American women did not have a say on whom they wanted to marry. Her grandma was the one telling her who to marry because she wanted someone who could take care of Janie, a person who was old enough to “know” how to treat a woman. The word “know” is in quotations because the women were not always treated respectfully.

Themes, Motifs, and Symbols

This novel has a lot going on: symbolism, themes, and motifs. For example, the very first thing that I noticed about this story is the dialect. The language used here by Hurston gives the novel more authenticity. I have to admit that it took some time until i got used to the language spoken by Janie, but after a couple of pages i grew to understand the language. It brings back the culture of those days and readers can feel like they are part of the story. The characters wanted find fulfillment somewhere besides God, but this lead to confusion and destruction in their lives because God is The source of fulfillment. The hurricane plays a BIG role in the play. These hurricane symbolises the fury of nature. Destructing everything thats on its path, the hurricane brings the question of "What am I doing here" into character's mind. Also, racism is shown throughout the story. Black people are racist towards white people, but even towards black people as well. Janie was always looked down on because of her curves, and her appearance. However, this didn't stop her from continuing her life and finding her true love.

Title

I thought the title was a great line out of the book, and yet somehow I have trouble seeing the correlation between what was going on in the story and what the story was called. Like, were Janie's eyes watching God throughout her life? Was she looking to God for her vindication? It didn't seem like that to me.
I understand that during the storm the people were praying and "watching God" to see what He was doing in that point and time through the storm, that He was their only hope. It is also kind of like an orchestra--who do the musicians look to in the middle of a movement of music? The conductor, just as the people in the storm were looking to God to find safety and direction. That would make sense if Janie had been a woman of prayer but in the book she didn't seem to be. So what does it mean?
Is it that in the book, Janie is the god (with a lower-case "g") and everyone is watching her? That would make more sense because everyone did seem to be watching Janie in the book. Janie did take life in her own hands and do what she wanted. She left Logan, spouted off to Jody, and married Tea Cake even when people advised her against it. In that sense the title would make more sense. However, where in the book does it imply that Janie is a god or that she is trying to be God?
I feel like I'm brainstorming but am not sure of THE correct answer.

random thoughts

One thing I thought was interesting was how the author hardly made any moral comments throughout the book. She didn't seem to disapprove that Janie left Logan; she also didn't seem to look down on Tea Cake's gambling, evidently looking upon it as something that if handled and managed properly, is perfectly okay to dabble in a little.

I also thought it was interesting that Janie hated everyone close to her except Tea Cake--her grandmother, Logan, and Jody. She didn't seem to be happy with anyone unless they were fulfilling her dreams/complying with her interests--she didn't have a lot of unconditional love to spare. It reminds me of the verse that says something like, "before you were in Christ, you hated and were hated, but now that you are in Christ set aside the things that belong to the carnal nature...." It all seemed okay in the book, however, because it was about her finding self-actualization/freedom.

Submission

What if Janie HAD submitted to Jody? Would it have improved their marriage? The Bible says for women to "submit to their husbands as to Christ."
Its a hard question, especially since it involves such a hard man. He was only interested in his own gain and didn't respect Janie at all, expecting her to act in a way contrary to her own interests. Submitting to him would have meant setting aside her own pride and essentially allowing his mandate to form her identity. Janie was not willing to do that. It came to the point where she had to decide which one she valued more--her marriage or her identity. In the book she values her identity. I think that if Janie had submitted with dignity it might have softened his heart, allowing her to reclaim some of her independence, as well as saved their marriage.
How Janie responded in the book was purely natural, however; no one wants to be ordered around like a dog. It would have taken a supernatural change in Janie for her to obey as the Bible requires.
And I think that applies to real life as well. Women need God's supernatural power to submit as He wants them to submit to their husbands, which I believe is in dignity, love, and respect--dignity within themselves and love and respect for God and their husbands. This is especially true in situations where the man is overbearing and unreasonable. In other words, people should be careful before marrying They might be like Jody. A woman should spend a lot of time getting to know the man, praying about her relationship with the man, as well as get a lot of advice from others before marrying him. It would save her a lot of pain.

Janie's Response to Jody

I think I can understand why Janie shut Jody out at the end of their marriage. Jody was unkind and restrictive, never explaining to Janie the reasons behind his actions and expecting her to perform a role that she was not. At least twice in the book it said that Jody did something without being open about his motives. The first one was in regard to Janie's hair. He wanted Janie to tie it up because he was jealous and didn't want other men touching it. However, he never told this to Janie, and instead let her think what she may. The second time was when he took to sleeping downstairs. He didn't really hate Janie but wanted her to think that he did. He was too busy with the work of his own hands that he failed to communicate.
He also belittled Janie and women in general, which caused him to want unconditional submission. I believe a woman should submit to her husband, but forced submission combined with contempt is unbearable. He wasn't interested in what she was saying so in the end, she kept all her thoughts and emotions to herself.
It was her only way of keeping her pride. If she had not done this, then in the end she might have just been a walking doormat for Jody.

Roles of Men and Women According to Huston

The actual roles that were played out in the story were that the man's was to be the breadwinner and the woman's was to either A: work beside the man unwillingly, as with Logan or B: to sit at home looking pretty/help the man out in his pursuits, as with Jody or C: work beside the man willingly, as with Tea Cake.
I think that the ideal that Hurston was attempting to advocate is pretty traditional, only with the woman more involved. The man would still be the primary breadwinner, but the woman would also play an active and independent role in money making, the two living in harmony, enjoying each other's company as they work together as well as separately.