Category: Their Eyes Were Watching God

A Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 classic fiction novel that was written by African-American writer, Zora Neale Hurston (Jan. 7, 1891  Jan. 28, 1960). Hurston was born to John Hurston and Lucy Ann Hurston and was the fifth in a family of eight children. Her mother passed on in 1904 and her father re-married. She was later sent to a boarding school, but dropped out due to non-payment of school fees by her father and stepmother.

She was later employed as a maid in a theatrical band that toured America (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011). She returned to school and graduated from Morgan Academy in 1918. Soon after her high school graduation, Hurston entered Howard University where she went on to co-found the Universitys student newspaper, The Hilltop. She left the University in 1924 and was awarded a scholarship at Barnard University; she obtained her BA in anthropology in 1927 and worked at Columbia University for two years (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011)

By 1930, Hurston had written many short stories, including the much-hyped Mules and Men (1935), a landmark piece of writing that expounded on the African-American tradition. She also collaborated with several well-known African American writers such as Langston Hughes. Most of her novels were published in the 1930s and included Jonahs Gourd Vine (1934), Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), and Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939).

Hurston spent the latter parts of her career writing for magazines and newspapers, before she disappeared from the public eye, and died in 1960 from a hypertensive heart disease (Lester, 1999). Of all her literary and factual works, Their Eyes Were Watching God is her best-known work (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011).

Their Eyes Were Watching God was written in 1937 during which books on racial difference stirred heated public debates. The success of the book is attributed to the financial crisis of the 1930s that brought an end to the cultural openness that had enabled the Harlem Renaissance to thrive.

As the financial crisis worsened, political unease heightened too and writers felt that art should be used as a political tool to reveal social injustices in the world, and dismissed many ideas of the Harlem Renaissance as discriminative, lacked significant political content, and therefore did not deserve any artistic merit. However, this did not prevent the book from generating attention and heated debates, especially for its use of phonetic spellings of the dialect spoken by African Americans.

Janie Crawford, a beautiful, confident woman in her mid 30s returns to Eatonville, Florida, after a long time. The local black community gossip about her and wonder the whereabouts of her young husband, Tea Cake. They read her self-belief to imply loneliness and do not associate with her, but Janies friend, Pheoby Watson, stays close. After much pressing, Janie decides to tell her story to Watson (Hurston, 1937). She explains that her mother, Leafy, ran away and was raised by her grandmother, Nanny.

Nanny transfers all the hopes she had had on Leafy to nanny and when she sees her granddaughter kissing a local boy, she arranges her marriage to Logan Killicks, a much older man. Even though Janie objected to the marriage, Nanny wanted to have all the things she could not have, and it was only through this marriage that she could achieve this (Hurston, 1937). The marriage turns out to be a disaster and Janie runs off with the persuasive Jody Starks, they move to Eatonville.

Upon arriving at Eatonville, Starks observes that the locals do not have any ambition, so he organizes and purchases more land from them and constructs a store, and is later chosen as the mayor. Janie becomes conscious that Starks only wants her as a trophy wife to complement his high-profile position.

Starks passes away and Janie is overwhelmed by the number of admirers, however, she falls in love with a man who named Tea Cake (Hurston, 1937). They sell the store and head to Jacksonville where they get married, and later move to the Everglades where Tea Cake finds work in a farm. Even though their marriage has highs and lows, Janie is happy for she was in a marriage bound by love, like she had always wanted.

The area is hit by a storm and in the confusion, Tea Cake is bitten by a dog and contracts rabies. Due to his mental instability, Tea Cake attempts to shoot Janie, but she shoots him first, in defense. The court charges her with murder, but is later acquitted, and returns to Eatonville (Hurston, 1937).

Their Eyes Were Watching God presents many instances of a woman, Janie Mae Crawford, who is in search of herself. Even though the novel focuses of Janies relationships with other men, it is primarily a search for her inner true self, her own identity. She goes though this mission by first finding her voice, then herself.

Throughout the novel, Janie strives to find her own voice and even though it takes her more than thirty years to do it, she finally succeeds in her mission. Every one of her husbands plays a significant role in her pursuit to finding her own identity. During our first and last encounters with Janie, she is all alone. This view is supported by critics who note that the book is not about her pursuit for love, but rather that of independence.

Janie goes back to Eatonville a confident and strong woman, a large contrast from the moment we first met her, when she was uncertain of who she was or the kind of life she wanted to lead. For example, in her first marriage, she is confused as to whether she is really into the marriage to get love or for the material gains. Her confusion is slightly quelled by Nanny, who assures her that the marriage will enable her to have all that she never had a chance to have, and she will have security, especially Logan owned a 60-acre potato farm.

Her confusion is further evident when Nanny dies a few weeks after her marriage to Logan Killicks, and with no one to guide her, she runs away with another man. Indeed, while still married to Logan, she opts to listen to the words of the trees and the wind (Hurston, 1937). Through this marriage, she finds part of herself, however, she still needs a relationship that is bound by love.

As she narrates her story to Phoeby, she commences with her revelation under the flowering pear tree, the revelation that kicks off the pursuit in search for her true inner self. It is under this tree that she encounters an ideal unification of harmony and nature. She recognizes the love that she would like to have, a reciprocity that brings unity in the world, but is not sure of how to go about it. At this juncture, she is not even sure of what she wants.

Jodies entry into her life offers a reprieve from the dull and no-nonsense Killicks. With his smooth talk, Jodie convinces Janie that he will help her achieve her dreams. However, Janie realizes that Jodies application of authority only stifles her. When Janie visits the ailing Jodie, her stifled power breaks through in an outburst of verbal reprisal.

Her rather cruel outburst at the dying Jodie portrays the profoundness of Jodies inner self (Kubitschek, 1983). Her encounter with Killicks and Jodie does not kill her will in her journey to find her own identity, in contrast, these experiences strengthen her as seen when she meets Tea Cake (Indiana State University, 1982, Waters, 1978).

Janie blossoms in her relationship with Tea Cake as he teaches her the maiden language all over (Hurston, 1937). She is able to control her speech and remain quiet whenever she decides to.

The notion of silence as strength rather than submissiveness becomes evident during her trial. Dialogue had played a critical role up to this moment, and one might have expected the author to use the court proceedings to highlight Janies mature voice. The lack of dialogue in this section reveals Hurstons unease with rhetoric for its own benefit: Hurston does not want the Janies voice to mistaken for that of a lawyer or politician.

Janies maturity of voice is a direct indicator of her inner growth, and the activities at the courtroom may be plotted too much as to draw the parallels in her inner self. Part of Janies maturity lies in her ability to recognize that other peoples meanness and brutality toward her or their failure to understand her originates not from hatred but from their background or limited viewpoint.

Janie Crawford, who is the main protagonist in Their Eyes Were Watching God, prenets many interesting similarities with the books author, Zora Neale Hurston. This similarity stems from the fact that most of Hurstons woks are a reflection of her own self and her experiences. Similar to Janie, Hurston was married to more than one husband, and died single.

Hurston had two marriages in her life, the first was in 1927 to Herbert Sheen, the couple divorced four years later, Hurston then married Albert Prince III in 1939 and divorced in 1943. Even though little is known about these marriages, reading about Janies search for her inner self can give a hint as to why both marriages lasted only a few years. Even though Prince Albert III was 23 years her senior, the pair married, although they did not stay together for long (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011).

Hurston uses Janie to illustrate how women overcame injustices arising from race, gender roles, and oppression. As a young person herself, Hurston faced numerous challenges herself in her quest to have decent education, including dropping out of school to work as a maid after her biological mother died.

It was only through hard work and determination that she was able to return to school and later get a scholarship to study at Barnard University. She was the only black student at the time. The story is more or less the same with Janie who, after her mother ran away, was raised by her grandmother and overcame numerous challenges in her quest to achieve personal satisfaction and have a decent life.

Racial overtones arise from the fact that Janie was light-skinned and this endeared her to men as opposed to women with darker skin, such as Mrs. Turner. Her skin tone exposed the male preference for light-skinned women. Jordan (1988) and Upshur-Ransome (2000) share the view and mention that Hurstons early life and experiences heavily influenced her works.

The novel is mainly set in the black neighborhood of central and southern Florida, where life is hard, the African American population is suffering from the combined effects of the Great Depression, and the low socio-economic status associated with non-whites.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is very progressive in nature as it illustrates the representation, isolation, and prejudice towards the African American population. Hurston provides a detailed description of the scenes in the novel as it gives a depiction of economic and social situation in real-life black neighborhoods at the time (Bloom, 2008, Bowers 2006).

Their Eyes Were Watching God presents the ordeals on one woman as she attempts to find her own identity. Janie is married three time, the first two marriages fail to live up to her expectations regarding the concept of the reciprocity of love and freedom. As she moves from one marriage to another, her maturity increases and discovers more of herself.

From Logan, she learns of the importance of love and compassion in a marriage, from Jody she learns, among other things, the importance of self expression and from Tea Cake Janie discovers her ability to express herself through verbal communication, and learns that silence too can be a source of strength.

Equally, she is silent in noticeable places, neither revealing why she is not offended with Tea Cakes beating, nor revealing her words at the courtroom. The author puts immense significance on the use of language as a source of identity and strength.

References

Bloom, H. (2008). Zora Neale Hurstons Their eyes were watching God. NY: Infobase Publising.

Bowers, K. (2006). Their Eyes Were Watching God Literature Guide. Victorville, CA: Secondary Solutions.

Gale CEngage Learning. (2011). Zora Neale Hurston. Web.

Hurston, Z. N. (1937). Their eyes were watching God. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.

Indiana State University. (1982). Black American literature forum, Volume 16. Indiana: Indiana State University.

Jordan, J. (1988). Feminist Fantasies: Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God. Tulsa Studies in Womens Literature, Vol. 7, No. 1 pp. 105-117.

Kubitschek, M. D. (1983). Tuh De Horizon and Back: The Female Quest in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 109-115

Lester, N. A. (1999).Understanding Zora Neale Hurstons Their eyes were watching God. Westport, CA: Greenwood Press.

Roberts, J. (1980).Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 93, No. 370, pp. 463-466.

Upshur-Ransome, C. L. (2000). A comparison of the African-American presence in an earlier and later American History Textbook. Oxford: University Press of America, Inc.

Waters, E. (1978). Their eyes were watching God: Janie Starkss search for identity and self-fulfillment. New Jersey: Lippincott.

Zora Neale Hurston was one of the greatest writers of her time. A lot of her literary works received outstanding appreciation from both her readers and other literal writers. In her career as a writer, Zora Hurston wrote a total of seven books. She further wrote innumerable short stories, magazine articles and play scripts. One of her most celebrated works is the book titled Their Eyes Were Watching God. This essay will give a short account of Zora Hurstons life in relation to her career. It will further discuss various aspects of the above book that later led to the creation of a movie.

Zora Neale Hurston was unquestionably the leading black female writer of her time (Jones 23). Her excellent creativity and beautiful description saw the development of her career as a writer from one level to another. She was part of a consortium of African American writers in the first half of the twentieth century. The writers were actively involved in the fight against racism. Most of her magazine articles and plays focused on the issue of discrimination and racial segregation in the United States of America.

Hurstons career underwent a series of transformations. While she started off by predominantly writing short stories, she ended up writing as a folklorist, a novelist and finally as an anthropologist. However, her writing style remained intact and captivating to her readers (Louis 17). In this process, Hurston also collaborated with other African American writers. For instance, she was once a contributor to Charles Johnsons A journal of Negro Life. She also produced other works with the likes of Langston Hughes and George Antheil.

Nevertheless, Hurstons popularity in the literary world declined over time. Her works failed to hold the attention of the literary world for long. Her career life was also interrupted by her prolonged illness that led to her death. Her death further reduced the popularity of her works until the release of her biography in 1977.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston tells the story of a young lady who is caught between love, materialism and male chauvinism. Janie, who is brought up by her grandmother after her mother runs off, is an attractive young black girl with big dreams about life. She aims at living a life full of explorations, freedom and happiness. However, her dreams are almost shattered when Nanny, her grandmother, forces her to marry Logan, a rich middle-aged man.

Nannys action is propelled by her desire to guarantee a good life and a high social status for her granddaughter. However, Janie treasures love above material things and she leaves Logan for Jody, an ambitious young man. Two decades into their marriage, Joddy dies, freeing Janie from his dictatorship. Janie finally finds Tea Cake, marries him and moves to another town. However, through a strange turn of events, Janie is obliged to kill Tea Cake for her own safety. She returns to her previous home where she faces mockery from her neighbors.

Several scenes in the movie portray Janies resolution to make a spiritual journey towards love and self-awareness. The flirting moments between Janie and Jody is an example of such a scene. Having been fed up with staying in a loveless marriage with Logan, Janie decides to take a spiritual journey that enables her to discover the true meaning and feeling of love. The encounter with Jody marks the beginning of this journey. Furthermore, the scene where Janie makes the final decision to leave Logan marks the beginning of her journey to find love. Another scene of a spiritual journey to love is the sweet conversation that Janie has with Tea Cake during their dates. The atmosphere created by Tea Cakes jokes and charms portrays a relationship based on true love. Janie finds Tea Cake to be imaginative and creative which suits her description of an ideal man. The mutual attraction felt by the two creates a scene that depicts real love. The scene where Janie publicly shames Jody by remarking about his ugly nature and his impotence is the beginning of Janies journey to self-awareness. This comes after Janie decides that she is no longer in a position to put up with Jodys domineering and suppressive character traits.

Janies appreciation of her independence is depicted when she refuses to be bound to Logan for the rest of her life because of material things. Since she was never independent at Logans house, Janie longed for a time when she will be able to do what she chooses to do. Her appreciation of independence makes her leave Logan for a man whom she hoped to enjoy freedom with. Secondly, Janie recognizes and appreciates the need for her self-independence when she decides to break loose from the restrictions and dictations stipulated by Jody. She acknowledges the fact that in order to be free, she has to stop giving Jody the opportunity to control her. Lastly, Janie gives an indication that she appreciates her self-independence when she turns down the marriage proposals from numerous suitors after Jodys funeral. After being denied freedom by the two men consecutively, jeopardizing her new found freedom was the last thing on Janies mind. In fact, she only gives marriage a try after she is assured of happy times with Tea Cake.

Janie exhibits women agency throughout the story. The manner in which she reacts to different circumstances and makes decisions presents her as a typical woman. For instance, her refusal to accompany Jody to the farm is expected from a woman. Janie is therefore an epitome of any woman who refuses to let her course of action be influenced by men. Janie rashly gets attracted to Jodys good looks and charm and makes a hasty decision to marry him. This rash decision costs her freedom for twenty years. It is also typical of a majority of women to make impetuous decisions when it comes to love and relationship matters. Janie also depicts the features of women agency when she gets fed up with the unexpected directions of her two marriages. Her decision to leave the marriages is final. Likewise, most women make such decisions when faced with similar circumstances. Janies decisions are therefore a representation of the general agency of women.

In conclusion, the story remains important to the traditions of black women by developing primary features of women agency. The story also gives an insight into how things were done in the first half of the twentieth century. Furthermore, the story emphasizes the strength that a woman can acquire through the process of self-awareness and appreciation of self-independence.

Works Cited

Jones, Sharon. Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston. New York, NY: Facts on File, Inc., 2009. Print.

Louis, Gates. Zora Neale Hurston: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad, 1993. Print.

Introduction

Zora Neale Hurston was a proclaimed novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist whose artistic contribution in the Harlem renaissance was outstandingly evident. She was the fifth-born child to John Hurston, a Baptist preacher and a carpenter, and Lucy Potts Hurston, a schoolteacher. Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama on January 7, 1891.

The family relocated to Eatonville, Florida, which was the first all-Black town to be incorporated in the United States, while she was still a toddler (Ellis, 2009, p.20). They were eight children in the family. As Hurston later glorifies in her literary works, the town was the first to offer African Americans the chance to live freely and independent of the Whites, as they desired.

This assertion is depicted in most of her fictional works, as it is the setting for most of her stories. Her father later on became the mayor of the town. Despite the fact that the actual birth year of Zora Neale Hurston was in 1891, 1901 became the year of her birth throughout her life.

There was a significant happening in her life that year, which is argued as the reason behind her decision. In 1901, some schoolteachers from the north visited her hometown, and she was lucky to get some books that sparked her interest in literature (Baym, 2003, p.11).

In-Depth Look into the Life of Zora Neale Hurston

In an essay she wrote in 1928 titled How It Feels to Be Colored Me, Hurston describes her childhood in Eatonville as easy considering that she grew surrounded by the people who supported her, and the discrimination that was taking place elsewhere was not a reality in her hometown.

This, however, changed in 1904 when her mother died and the father remarried soon afterwards to a young lady named Matte Moge (Ellis, 2009, p.22). There were rumors that Zora Neales father Mr. Hurston had an affair with Moge even before the wife died.

Zora had a rough time living with the father and step- mother and later she was sent to a boarding school in Jacksonville, Florida. Mr. Hurston stopped paying his daughters school fees, and after a while, the school had to send her home. She worked as a barmaid for a while before joining the Gilbert & Sullivan travelling troupe where she worked as a maid to the lead artist (Jones, 2009, p. 12).

Her desire to accomplish her education led her to cut ten years off her actual age in order to qualify for the free public schooling. She then joined the high school division of the Morgan College in Baltimore, Maryland. From that time henceforth, she started claiming 1901 to be her year of birth. Hurston graduated from Morgan Academy in the year 1918.

Hurston joined Howard University in 1918 where she co-founded the University students newspaper named The Hilltop and later on graduated from the University with an Associates degree. While in Howard, Hurston took Spanish, English, Greek, and some courses in public speaking. After successfully applying by writing an essay, Hurston got the chance to join Alaine Lockes literary club named The Stylus.

Hurston left Howard later on in 1924 and the following year she got a scholarship to join the white dominated Barnard College (Hemenway, 1977, p.45). She studied anthropology, and it is here where she met Franz Boas of Columbia University as she assisted him in conducting ethnographic studies.

She graduated in 1927 aged thirty-six with a B.A in anthropology. Hurston lived for extra two years in Columbia after graduating from Barnard (Ellis, 2009, p.20).

As an adult, Hurston married a former schoolmate at Howard named Herbert Sheen. Sheen was a jazz musician and later on became a physician. The marriage, however, did not last long as they separated four years later. Hurston remarried again at the age of thirty-nine while she was working at WPA, this time to a colleague at WPA who happened to be twenty-three years younger than she was (Hemmenway 1977, p.13).

The marriage did not last a year. In the 1930s, Hurston lived in Westfield, New Jersey, where she was a neighbor to the famous Black poet, Langston Hughes. Hurston wrote numerous short stories, folklore books, plays, novels and essays throughout her life.

In 1934, Hurston established a school of dramatic arts that was based on pure negro expression at Bethune- Cookman College now Bethune Cookman University. The English department in the University is consequently committed to preserving her legacy. In her life, Hurston travelled a lot both within the United States and outside (Boyd, 2003, p. 47).

For inside, during her anthropology research, she travelled to the Caribbean and South American and the works that came, as a result, are Mules and Men in 1935 which was a folklore classic and the materials she later used to write the novel Jonahs Gourd Vine which was published in 1934. Later in her life, Hurston worked in the North Carolina College for Negroes, which is now North Carolina Central University College.

In 1948, Hurston was a victim of a character assassination conspiracy. She was falsely accused of molesting a young boy, but she was later cleared when the claims were found as falsehood. The scandal negatively affected her social life afterwards.

The last decade of her life was marked by hardships as she worked as a freelance writer for magazines and newspapers, and later at the Am Technical Library at the Patrick Air Force Base. She later on moved to Fort Pierce where she allegedly worked as a part-time teacher and maid (Ellis, 2009, p. 15).

Hurstons last years were marked by both financial and health difficulties. She was consequently admitted at the St. Lucie County Welfare Home where she died of hypertensive heart disease on January 28, 1960 aged sixty-nine years.

Contributions were conducted to give her a decent burial, but the money raised was not enough; consequently, she ended up being buried in an unmarked grave in the Garden of Heavenly Rest in Fort Pierce (Kaplan, 2003, p.89).

Five years later, Alice Walker, a young African American woman later who acknowledged Hurston as her source of inspiration and a literary scholar, Charlotte Hunt found the grave and marked it in her remembrance (Boyd, 2003, p.12).

Zora Neale Hurstons and the Harlem Renaissance

It was during the 1920s when Hurston began to participate actively in activities that could be regarded as part of the Harlem Renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance is considered the most famous period in the African American culture. It is recorded as having been between the years 1916 and 1940 (Jones, 2009, p. 23). It is during this period when the Negro movement and the age of the black stars developed.

During this period, black artists broke away from the literary and other artistic movements that were shaped by whites in pursuit of a uniquely black culture that sought to bring a sense of pride to the black race (Kraut, 2003, p. 87). Literary works, music, and fine arts were among the sweeping artistic expressions of the period.

By the time Hurston arrived in New York, the Harlem Renaissance had climaxed and she easily integrated into the system. Her charm and talent enabled her to become one of the writers at the center of the Renaissance after only a short while.

Before she entered Barnard College, she wrote a short story titled spunk that was selected for the landmark Anthology The New Negro that was a significant publication during the renaissance (Boyd, 2003, p. 15). As a young writer, Hurston contributed actively to the movement through her writings highlighting the issues of the Negroes.

Her stories about Eatonville were acknowledged as significant forces that shaped the ideals that were being pushed by the Harlem Renaissance. In the year 1926, together with other young black writers and poets such as Langston Hughes and Wallace Thurman who called themselves Niggerati, they produced a literary magazine called Fire which featured almost all popular black artists of the Harlem Renaissance (Kraut, 2003, p. 78).

The Harlem Renaissance was a peculiarly creativity bolstering period for young Black artistes as they sought pride in their work. In addition, during this period, Hurston wrote most of her works that sought to uplift the Black pride and a sense of fight for the rights of the African Americans (Jones, 2009, p. 40).

Together with Langston Hughes, Hurston in 1930 worked on Mule: A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts. The play, which reveals the problems that shape the lives of African Americans, was not finished up until 1991 when it was posthumously published.

In 1937, Hurston got the coveted Guggenheim Fellowship, which enabled to conduct ethnographic research in both Haiti and Jamaica&her text Tell My Horse documents her findings about the rituals of Africans in Jamaica and the Voudon rituals practiced by the Africans in Haiti (Walker, 1975, p.87).

She later interpreted these findings to an artistic viewpoint whereby she came up with plays and short stories and novels such as There Eyes Were Watching God (1937) and Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939). These works are considered as crucial works that characterize the Harlem Renaissance (Hemmenway 1977, p.14).

Hurstons literary works were largely influenced by the fact that she was a folklorist. For instance, she used dialects that were characteristic of the speech patterns of the periods that she documented. This, in a way, led her work to slide into some form of obscurity in that the dialects were related to a racist tradition.

This revelation explains why, despite her many years in artistic work, she did not get enough money to sustain herself. Critics such as Richard Wright termed one of her works, Their Eyes Were Watching God as not being addressed to the African American audience as she claimed but rather to the Whites (Jones, 2009, p. 64).

Hurston later became an opponent to most of her peers in the Harlem renaissance considering her rigid views about civil rights during the time of the Civil Rights Movement. Hurstons views mainly depicted her Eatonville perspective and, as a result, she faced criticism for not considering the bigger picture (Abcarian & Klotz, 2003, p. 67).

At that point in time, most of the African American artists had adopted the theme of racism as a major issue of concern to address in their works (Walker, 1975, p.89). Many of her peers who were close to her earlier started analyzing her works as well as her person life, which they considered as marred with controversies. Even Langston Hughes who was at a time among her closest peers started criticizing her (Kraut, 2003, p. 53).

Her literary works, which once portrayed the black culture as superior and influenced many people in were regarded as irrelevant for a while. As a result, her literary appeal waned over time. In the year 1950, Hurston wrote a controversial article that attacked the right to vote of blacks in the south (Jones, 2009, p. 54). In this article, Hurston claimed that votes were being bought and that the process was not fair in any way.

Later on in 1954, Hurston sunk deep into controversies when she wrote Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka, Ks. In this essay, she railed the segregation ruling claiming that black children did not need to go to the same schools as white children in order to receive education (Abcarian & Klotz, 2003, p. 25).

This angered many of the civil rights activists. The civil rights activists branded Hurston a traitor due to her deeds, which included also writing for the American Legion Magazine, which was regarded as extremely right winged. She even campaigned for Senator Robert Taft of Ohio during the GOP presidential nominations of 1952 (Visweswaran, 1994, p. 34).

Zora Neale Hurstons posthumous recognition

Alice Walkers efforts to mark the grave of Hurston, and the subsequent publication of the article In Search of Zora Neale Hurston in the Ms magazine, in 1975, marked the beginning of the overwhelming posthumous recognition that Zora Neale Hurston received years after her death. Walkers article revived an interest in Hurstons works among the literary scholars and fans in the period (Kaplan, 2003, p.20).

Later on, Robert Hemenway wrote Hurstons biography titled Zora Neale Hurston: A literary Biography. Other Biographies of Hurston include Wrapped in Rainbows written by Valerie Boyd, Zora Neale Hurston: A Biography of the Spirit by Debora G. Plant, and Speak So You Can Speak Again written by her niece, Lucy Anne Hurston.

Some of her unfinished and unpublished works were later published posthumously. These include her 1930 work with Langston Hughes; Mule: A Comedy of Negro Life in Three Acts which was posthumously published in 1991 as well as Every Tongue Got to Confess published in 2001.

The later is a book, which records the field materials the Hurston gathered when she was conducting her research in the 1920s which aided in writing her book Mules and Men (Jones, 2009, p. 28).

Zora Neale Hurstons house in Fort Pierce later on became a National Historic landmark in her commemoration. It is, however, notable that there have been efforts to restore it, and that the house is still privately owned and closed to the public (Kaplan, 2003, p.89). There have been recent efforts to open house to the public.

In Eatonville, there is The Zora Neale Hurston National Museum of Fine Arts, which was constructed in her memory. It is in the town where Hurston developed her interest in the arts and, therefore, she is honored as among the great people of the town (Baym, 2003, p.41).

Eatonville is a twenty-acre historic district, which is the setting for most of Hurstons fictional works. In the Museum, there is the Zora Neale Hurston Trail, which correlates about sixteen historic sites with Hurstons literary works.

In a bid to provide accommodation to visiting African American artists during the time of segregation, Dr. Wells, a black physician, constructed The Orlando Wells Built museum. African Americans who visited Orlando to either do shopping or watch performances at the nearby South Street Casino ended up residing at the facility (Jones, 2009, p. 23).

During her numerous tours, Hurston spent some time in the facility and met other African American celebrities in the Hotel. The Hotel was declared a national Museum in artifacts and literary works produced by black artists of the time are displayed and documented respectively. As a result, the literary works of Zora Neale Hurston are displayed at the Museum.

A number of annual events are organized to honor Hurston in both Eatonville and Fort Pierce. These include events such as Hattitudes, the Zora Fest in Fort Pierce, the Zora Neale Hurston Festival of the Arts, and humanities held in Eatonville.

The events celebrate her life, achievements, and legacy annually. Despite the fact that only a few of Hurstons life artifacts remain in the community, her life lives in the pages of her stories and other literary works from generation to the next.

References

Abcarian, R., & Klotz, M. (2003). Literature: The Human Experience (9^th ed.). New York: Bedford/St. Martins.

Baym, N. (Ed.). (2003). The Norton Anthology of American Literature (6^th ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Co.

Boyd, V. (2003). Wrapped in Rainbows: The Life of Zora Neale Hurston. New York: Scribner.

Ellis, C. (2009) Zora Hurston and the Strange Case of Ruby McCollum. Lutz, FL: Gadfly Publishing.

Hemenway, E. (1977). Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Biography. Urbana, Ill: University Of Illinois Press.

Jones, S. (2009). Critical Companion to Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work. New York: Facts on File.

Kaplan, C. (Ed.). (2003). Zora Neale Hurston: A Life in Letters. New York: Random House.

Kraut, A. (2003). Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham. The Theatre Journal, 55(3), 53-89.

Visweswaran, K. (1994). Fictions of Feminist Ethnography. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Walker, A. (1975). In Search of Zora Neale Hurston. Ms. Magazine, 74, 84-89.

Within the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford, the main protagonist, takes herself through a journey to establish her identity and find herself. The journey that Janie is on is moreso a means for her to find herself, which expertly articulates feminism in a period that does not listen to the voices of women. Zora Hurston, The author, parallels both Janie’s pathway in life along with her desire to have self fulfillment and control. This leads to the overall idea that Their Eyes Were Watching God is moreso of an establishment of Identity rather than a fictional masterpiece by Hurston. Zora Hurston, with the purpose of projecting Janie Crawford’s establishment of identity and control, uses literary elements to seemingly project herself into the story.

The three main aspects of Hurston’s (and Janie’s) lives will be looked at thoroughly through a number of examples. While there can be numerous amounts of claims that can be made, the three that I have chosen are seemingly more important than the rest, and draw forth meaning from Zora Hurston when looked into deeper. The first connection between the two is the comparison between Hurston’s father, John Hurston, and Jody Starks, the mayor of Eatonville in the novel. As for John Hurston, out of twenty-seven African American men that had founded Eatonville to begin with, he was one of the twenty-seven, and ended up “…serving as mayor for three terms” (‘Communities’). This is a clear an obvious parallel with Jody Starks who, as I had mentioned previously, served as mayor of Eatonville in the novel for a short time. The second connection made between Hurston and Janie is that they had both lived through and experienced the tragedies of a hurricane. While Zora Hurston was visiting the Caribbean islands to pursue her dream with anthropology, “She experienced a violent hurricane, which later became the climax to Their Eyes Were Watching God.” (“Communities.”) Lastly, due to her desire for free schooling, “she took off 10 years of her own life– giving her an age of 16 and the year of her actual birth as 1901” (“About Zora.”) This important part of Zora’s life is easily paralleled again in Janie Crawford’s own as in the novel it says, “The worst thing Ah ever knowed her to do was taking a few years offa her age.” (Hurston.) This parallel between both Zora and Janie, in relation with literary elements, displays Hurston’s desires in writing this novel in order to reflect her own lifestyle which was an establishment of identity.

The first major connection between Hurston and Janie is the desire to have their voices be heard. This is seen through both the real and fictional mayor of Eatonville. Juxtaposition is one literary element used that does well to demonstrate this connection throughout the novel. In a quote from Jody Starks, the mayor of Eatonville within the novel itself, he says “Somebody got to think for women and chillum and chickens and cows. I god, they so don’t think none theirselves.” (Hurston.) This main quote is juxtaposition between the ‘women’ and ‘chickens and cows.’ This highlights an obviously sexist narrative that attempts to correlate the minds of farm animals and women, which also implies that women do not have the ability to have subconscious thought and need a man to do this for them. While this is inherently inaccurate, during this time period in the novel that kind of thought process was common and women faced these challenges constantly. The lack of voice that Janie felt she had is clearly demonstrated through this juxtaposition. This can be related back to the real life mayor of Eatonville, Zora Hurston’s father. Whilst in Jacksonville, Florida, where, “not only did her father refuse to pay for her schooling but he asked her school to adopt her. By late 1905, she was out of school and had to make a living on her own or depend on her siblings for housing and food.” (“Communities.”) Hurston had almost no voice of her own, as her father blatantly ignored her after her mother’s death. Through Janie, however, Zora Hurston is able to conquer her feeling through the fictional world she has created.

The second of major connections between both Zora Hurston and Janie Crawford is their desire to control their own lives, which is displayed by the fact that both of them have survived the hurricane and flood mentioned within the novel and in real life. Within the novel, this is displayed through the adaptation of personification. In the examination of Gordon E. Thompson, he determines that Zora’s use of “personification is manifested when a personality of “face” is given to a non sentient object and to an “absent power.” (Thompson, 741.) This definition of the word comes into play with this, “So the beginning of this was a women and se had come back from burying the dead. Not the dead of sick and ailing with friends at the pillow and feet. She had come back from the sodden and the bloated; the sudden dead, their eyes flug wide open in judgment.” (Hurston, 9.) Although this is further explained later within the novel, Thompson introduces this with with the main goal of making the comparison of the flood and the storm found within the novel; this is most specifically found within the personification of the water itself, “…the pursuing waters growled and shouted ahead, ‘Yes, Ah’m coming!” (Hurston, 240.) The personification of the waters puts an emphasis on her own thoughts within this serious and uncontrollable event, highlighting the weakness Hurston felt as she went through the same sort of tragedy. Personifying the uncontrollable storms and floods through Janie is Hurston’s way of signifying her desire to establish her own identity. Hurston’s desire to establish this is similarly displayed through Janie, as they both look to make sure that their voices are heard among a crowd of others.

The final connection between Zora Hurston and Janie Crawford within the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is the ambiguous identity of the both of them, which demonstrates further how the lack of feminism and empowerment affected both the nonfiction and fictional. Hurston’s utilization of age as a motif is extremely important in establishing a connection in the novel. As explained previously on page 2, the actual age of the two are seemingly ambiguous to the reader, especially with Janie as it is revealed that she had lied, along with Hurston lying about it within her own life. The difference of age between both Janie Crawford and Zora Hurston is passed off without much second thought, and this leads to the idea that growing old was never a concern to Hurston’s life, and also with Janie’s. This concept of age not having an effect on the lifestyle of both characters is emphasized even further through when Janie is talking to Jody in response to him bringing up her age. “Naw, Ah ain’t no young gal no mo’ but Ah ain’t no old woman neither. Ah reckon Ah looks mah age too. But Ah’m uh woman every inch of me, and Ah know it. Dat’s uh whole lot more’m you kin say.” (Hurston.) Janie emphasizes the fact that while she is not young anymore, she is still very much so a women and is able to keep in line with the motif of age not being relevant, in regard to feminism and the idea of empowerment. Another example of these age discrepancies is found in Janie’s relationship to Teacake. This is seen when she says, ‘Ah’m older than Tea Cake, yes. But he done showed me where it’s de thought dat makes de difference in ages. If people thinks de same they can make it all right. So in the beginnin’ new thoughts had tuh be thought and new words said. After Ah got used tuh dat, we gits ‘long jus’ fine. He done taught me de maiden language all over’ (Hurston). This example demonstrates that while Teacake is younger than her, it does not matter in the scheme of things, as the important part is that she feels happy within this relationship. This motif of age being a non-factor in Janie’s life is what leads into her now feeling empowered, which is Hurston’s desire in writing this. In conclusion, Hurston exemplifies her desires within Janie, in the form of self projection.

Hurston’s ability to use literary elements in a way that projects herself onto the fictional character of Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God does well to emphasize her own desires. One desire explicitly mentioned is the desire for control over her own life, and the establishment of her own identity which is seen through the literary element of personification. This lack of ability for establishment is easily demonstrated in how Hurston exemplifies what is wanted, in terms of how she is able to control her own life in her own way. This is shown through Janie’s lack of ability to control the uncontrollable, the hurricane. Another obvious desire is shown through Hurston’s need for a voice of her own, which is displayed through the literary element of juxtaposition. Hurston, as mentioned above, was very much so ignored by her own father, the real mayor of Eatonville. This is obviously similar to how Janie was ignored by Jody Starks. Jody demonstrated that Janie, similar to farm animals like cows and chickens, should not have the ability to have sub-conscious thought. This was an allegory to Hurston’s desire for her own voice, which is obvious in how the two are comparable in both real life and fiction. Finally, the ambiguity of age through the novel was displayed by the literary element of motif, (specifically age.) Age is used through Hurston’s and Janie’s personal lives as a means of furthering education (Hurston) or to win over the heart of a man (Janie with Teacake.) This conclusively displayed that age was not a significant factor in Hurston’s point of view, and is also able to demonstrate that from this, it can lead to both characters feeling empowered. All in all, this leads to the overall idea that Their Eyes Were Watching God is moreso of an establishment of Identity rather than a fictional masterpiece by Hurston, as stated earlier. Zora Hurston uses literary elements to seemingly project herself into the story, with the purpose of projecting Janie Crawford’s establishment of identity and control.

Works Cited

1. ‘About Zora Neale Hurston.’ The Official Zora Neale Hurston Website, web.archive.org/web/20090416185654/http://www.zoranealehurston.com/biography.html Accessed 12 Mar. 2019.
2. ‘Communities.’ Zora Neale Hurston Digital Archive, chdr.cah.ucf.edu/hurstonarchive/?p=communities. Accessed 12 Mar. 2019.
3. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. J. B. Lippincott & Co., 1937.
4. Thompson, Gordon E. “Projecting Gender: Personification in the Works of Zora Neale Hurston.” American Literature, vol. 66, no. 4, 1994, pp. 737–763. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/2927696.

Literature reflects the cultural views, political heartbeats, social reforms and failures of a society. The people rejoice in the progress that society makes but cries in the setbacks it experiences; such is the story of the Harlem Renaissance Period of literature. Slavery had been abolished, but injustices still occurred, and prejudices still existed. The writers of this time reflected these in their writing so that society, black and white, could read and empathize with the obstacles of the new Negro. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses her characters and their conflicts to mirror the experiences of Afro- American males and females in the United States after World War 1. This novel definitely exhibits most of the characteristics of this time period, with only a few exceptions.

Racial pride was one of the characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance period (Shmoop Editorial Team). Hurston uses the character of Janie Mae Crawford to show that the black community purses not only material wealth but also inner qualities, such as self-worth and pride. Janie could easily be a black woman in the Afro-American community in Harlem in the 1920s or 1930s. Janie and her Nanny live in the beauty. She is proud of who she is and especially her hair: “She tore off her kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight. The length, the glory was there,” (p.). Another way to show racial pride is through progressive politics. Hurston demonstrates this through the character of Jody as he is elected mayor of the small town of Eatonville. He is influential and is admired by the community at first. Not only is he elected mayor, but he buys a light pole and then has the setting of it approved by the people: “Nobody had ever thought of street lamps and some of them said it was a useless notion. They went so far as to vote against it, but the majority ruled,” (p.). This shows organization and leadership within the black community. The author uses both of the characters to show evidence of racial pride in her novel. This idea is also evident in the music and art of the Harlem Renaissance Period.

Another characteristic of this time period was that the authors produced works that highlighted their own cultures rather than imitating the styles of white writers (Shmoop Editorial Team). Hurston does this by using a Southern setting and dialect throughout the novel. During this time period many blacks had migrated north to pursue jobs and different lifestyle for their families. They longed for an identity far from an “ex-slave” who was owned and abused. Hurston chooses to leave her characters in a small town in Florida. Janie, the main character, lives here and in the “muck” or Florida Everglades. She and her husband Tea Cake live in a shanty which is reminiscent of slave quarters on the plantations: “They rattled nine miles in a borrowed car to the quarters hat squatted so close that only the dyke separated them from the great, sprawling Okeechobee, Janie fussed around the shack making a home while Tea Cake planted beans,” (p.). While lives in the real world have changed for the black and man woman. Hurston chooses a more relatable setting for her novel. The author also uses dialect to reflect the culture of the black community of the novel: quoted4. While the dialect makes for difficult reading, it emphasizes an obstacle the Afro-American had to overcome to integrate into the white society successfully during the Harlem Renaissance.

Finally, this novel is characteristically Harlem Renaissance because it promotes social equality, not only between races but also between genders (Shmoop Editorial Team). After Janie shoots Tea Cake towards the end of the novel, she must then stand trial for his murder. The jury consists of twelve white men who find a mixed racial woman not guilty; this hints at the absence of racial inequality. These men find the ability to look beyond the skin color to evaluate the evidence deliver a righteous verdict. After the verdict is delivered, the white woman in the courtroom offer support to Janie, while her black friends shuffled away from her: “ And the white woman cried and stood around her like a protecting wall and the Negroes with heads hung down, shuffled out and away, (p.). With this change in attitude, the black man and woman can shed the images of ex-slaves and now can be Americans pursuing their dreams. At the beginning of this novel Nanny speaks of the idea of inequality between genders when she advises Janie to basically marry the older Logan who own land and has some money. Love is overrated, according to Nanny; being protected and provided for is far more important than love: “Tam’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby it’s protection, (p.). At this point Janie says what Nanny and society would expect her to say, but she has other words inside that she longs to speak. As the novel progresses so does Janie’s will and strength to speak. When she is married to Jody, she finally finds the voice to chastise him for his treatment of her. When she meets Tea Cake, he allows equality to exist between them that fosters a deep love from Janie. This is evident when he teaches her to shoot a gun: “Oh, you needs tuh learn how T’ain’t no need you not knowin’ how tu handle shootin’ tools. Even if you didn’t never find no game, it’s always some trashy rascal dat needs uh good killin,” he laughed” (p.). Throughout the remainder of the novel, Hurston enables Janie to stand alone and equally to all the others. Hurston and the other writers of this period did not forget their own humble beginnings, but preserved their trials and triumphs in their writings.

In the 1920s and 1930s many of the Afro- Americans migrated to the north to begin new lives in the cities and gain new identities (Shmoop Editorial Team). These characteristics were not evident in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Hurston keeps her settings in small towns in the South while in the Harlem Renaissance Period, most of the people were making new beginnings around New York City and Harlem. They wanted to live in apartments and work all day and have their nights free, definitely a new way of life. Now they were factory workers, but there were mixed racial identities. Even though they were far away from the cotton fields and plantations, they were still confronted with the segregation of blacks and whites. Harlem was the center of black America, where new concepts and ideas and progress could occur.

Zora Neale Hurston’s novel exemplifies the Harlem Renaissance Period with its characteristics. It shows the coming-of-age of not just Janie but also the black race as the author sees it. Hurston shows the progress of the black individual and community through the progress of Janie after she is married to three very different men. The word renaissance means “rebirth”, as the reader sees the rebirth of the main character, the United States saw the rebirth of the African-American who also experiences new places, new jobs, new identities, and new triumphs to gain a new self-respect and sense of worth.

Over time, numerous civilizations developed their history and literature closely together. Therefore determining which one imitates the other is difficult to do. In order to confirm the answer, research may be conducted by targeting a specific timeline. During the early 1900s, a war broke out known as World War I. The United States fell into a period of isolationism and disillusionment. The disillusionment was surprisingly liberating, it helped transform habits and forms of tradition. Soon, artists, musicians, and writers began experimenting with a new form of writing called modernism. (Elements of Literature, Pg 747) After analyzing events during the Modern Era, the author’s background, themes of novels, and popular literary devices, it is evident that literature precipitated a change in history during the Modern Era.

Events during the Moderns brought an adjustment in American attitudes on experimentation and innovation. During the 1920s a movement named the Harlem Renaissance created a monumental change. The Harlem Renaissance drew a new appreciation of the role of black talent in American culture (Langston Hughes, Claude McKay, James Weldon, and Countee Cullen.) (Elements of Literature, Pg 749) It was a critical movement in African American cultural history. It helped them obtain authority over the portrayal of black history and life. Along with the Harlem Renaissance came the age of the flapper. The use of the flapper look began on October 29, 1929. Flappers of the 1920s were young women who were executing an outrageous lifestyle thought by many at the time as unladylike. They were considered the first generation of individualistic American women. (A&E Television Networks) Multiple events occurred where people began to speak up and present their ideas assertively but this could not be done without the help of artists during the time.

One of the many artists includes Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was a woman who made it to the top of the African American literary society. Prior to the Harlem Renaissance, African Americans lived in rural communities. Hurston moved with her family when she was still a toddler to Eatonville, Florida. Her books reveal no reminiscence of her Alabama origins. She was one of the few authors who stepped away from portraying the lives of poor, unschooled Southern African Americans. One of Huston’s most commonly known work is, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Hurston wrote “Their Eyes Were Watching God” in seven weeks while she was travelling in Haiti in 1937. It was one of the few novels centred around a woman speaking for herself and achieving and understanding her own life. “Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net.” (Hurston Page 193) The book was harshly criticized by male leaders in the Harlem Renaissance because of its focus on female self-dependence. It was even seen as a “minstrel technique.” Hurston opened a new possibility for women of the future through her work, despite the criticism she received it was a work that influenced the future.

The theme and characters presented in “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” proposed a revolutionary era for minorities. Hurston’s protagonist Janie, is a young adult attempting to stray from societies and her grandmothers restricted view of women. During her journey for self-dependence, Janie runs into obstacles that others place upon her. She does not see the same values and priorities others would like her to focus on. Hurston later presents the idea that it is okay to be independent and live outspokenly, their lives are not revolved around others. Hurston said, “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.” (Hurston Page 25) By including this in her book Hurston supports the age of the flapper while not necessarily imitating it. Although many criticized her along with women who partook in the flapper look, she urged them to continue to fight for their independence. The immediate change did not occur but progression was occurring. For example, in 1963 the Equal Pay Act was passed by Congress, ensuring equal pay for the same work, without discrimination of race, sex, religion, etc. Hurston worked hard to continue the progression of women independence because of her passions.

The literature of this time period was often moving and personal but it also reflected the miserable mood that arose after World War I. Modern authors often discussed the inner human mind. Authors of the Harlem Renaissance heavily focused on transforming habits and creating a new way of life by inspiring others. Unlike Romanticist, Modernist did not look to nature, emotion, or the events of history. (Course Hero) Like most artists, Hurston was not focused on writing about the past instead she wanted to shape the future by incorporating ideas of history. Hurston attended Barnard College to study anthropology. Anthropology is the study of human societies and cultures and their development. “Anthropological study and training provide the knowledge, skills, and tools to work with people, study the past, and shape the future.”(Thomas, Advance Your Career) ) Her passion for anthropology pushed her into creating a new tomorrow. “That hour began my wanderings,” she later wrote. “Not so much in geography, but in time. Then not so much in time as in spirit.”(New Dynamic, About) Overall, authors of the Modern Era concentrated primarily on influencing not retelling.

Many may argue that literature imitates history. This is due to the chronological order of historical events to publishing dates. For example, Hurston did not publish her novel until 1937 but the flapper era began in the 1920s. Though this may have influenced the novel’s target and plot, Hurston took a different approach. Instead of imitating how women protested male-dependency she created a story where her main character found herself by continuing her self-dependency. By creating this plot, she was capable of motivating females to continue fighting for independence. Her novel was able to provide new possibilities and a new perspective, she helped women feel comfortable with rebelling. Literature may be influenced by history but it is not history’s imitation

By analyzing major events, Zora Neale Hurston’s background, her impactful novel, and popular literary devices during the moderns, it is indisputable that history imitates literature due to its influence. History can inspire a novel and the author may reflect some pieces of history in their work but it is literature that shapes our perspective of tomorrow. Literature allows room for interpretation, meaning that it could be “imitated” easily. Our tomorrow is determined by what we read, learn, and adventure about every day. Tomorrow is simply our past waiting to be made. Authors of the Modern Era helped create change for years to come. If they would have imitated the work of history, multiple novels from this time period would have been utterly sorrowful, considering the United States had just come out of World War I. On the other hand, the works of this time period were often inspiring to people living in the United States. By creating alternatives, different paths can be taken. These different paths are made by literary works. It is up to the human to decide his/her path, literature simply gives them possibilities.

Works Cited

1. A&E Television Networks. “Zora Neale Hurston.” Biography.com, A&E Networks Television, 16 Apr. 2019, www.biography.com/writer/zora-neale-hurston.
2. CrickettNFatBoy, Course Hero. “Literary Trends and Themes Modernism The Literary Movement Called Modernism.” Literary Trends and Themes Modernism The Literary Movement Called Modernism, 2019, www.coursehero.com/file/p5igttv/Literary-Trends-and-Themes-Modernism-The-literary-movement-called-Modernism/.
3. Editors, History.com. “Flappers.” History.com, A&E Television Networks, 6 Mar. 2018, www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties/flappers.
4. Elements of Literature. Fifth Course. Ed. Kylene Beers, et al. Austin:Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 2009. 747-750
5. Giles, James R., and Morris Dickstein. “American Literature.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 5 Dec. 2018, www.britannica.com/art/American-literature/Fiction.
6. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.
7. New Dynamic. “About Zora Neale Hurston.” Zora Neale Hurston, 2019, www.zoranealehurston.com/about/.
8. Thomas, Deborah. “What Do Anthropologists Do?” What Do Anthropologists Do? – Advance Your Career, 2019, www.americananthro.org/AdvanceYourCareer/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=2148.

Zora Neale Hurston has proven to be an extremely influential novelist who writes African American literature. She has written many successful novels, including her most popular novel called Their Eyes Were Watching God. This novel portrays the life and relationships of an African American woman named Janie Crawford. Janie seeks true love and self-discovery. In pursuit of these goals, Janie goes through three different relationships with three dissimilar men. All of these relationships help Janie to learn and grow within herself and her thoughts on love. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie’s relationships with Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake help Janie to achieve personal growth and development with love.

Janie develops and grows as a person after learning from her first marriage to Logan Killicks that she can’t learn or teach herself to love someone. Janie’s grandmother knows that she can only take care of her for so long, so she believes that it is in Janie’s best interest to get married to a man named Logan Killicks. Although Janie is not in love with Logan, she tells herself that even if she doesn’t love him right away, eventually she can learn to love him once they are married. In the text Janie comforts herself by thinking, “Yes, she would love Logan after they were married” (Hurston 21). This quote from the novel proves that Janie truly believes that she can learn to love Logan. However, Janie soon finds out that her expectation of finding love with Logan is not realistic. In “The Concept of Love and Marriage” Farah Abbas writes about Logan’s house and Janie’s relationship with him by saying, “This is not the place of dreams or the happy life that Janie expects. She needs a place to rear love and romanticism. She lives reluctantly with the old man and remembers the pear tree and its image” (Abbas 5). This example shows how Janie does not get the relationship that she expects to have with Logan. Her marriage with Logan does not include the love and romance that she has always dreamed of. Both of the quotes mentioned above add to the novel as a whole because Janie learns her first lesson about love; Janie can not learn or teach herself how to love someone. After coming to this realization about love, Janie decides to leave Logan to be with Joe (Jody) Starks. Although Janie is disappointed with how her first attempt at love failed, she still continues to think about how she can make her dream become a reality. After learning that she can’t teach herself to love Logan Killicks, Janie grows and develops as a person by becoming more self-aware.

Janie also grows and develops as a person after her second marriage to Jody Starks when she realizes that love should be equal between the two partners. When Janie first meets Jody Starks, he promises her a life full of happiness, and he says that he will take care of her the way that she deserves to be taken care of. At first Jody provides for Janie the way he promised to, but soon enough Janie realizes how manipulative Jody truly is. Janie starts to understand that Jody sees her as more of a pretty object to look at, instead of seeing her as his equal. In the novel Janie tells Jody, “You sho loves to tell me whut to do, but Ah can’t tell you nothin’ Ah see” (Hurston 71)! Jody responds with, “Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves” (Hurston 71). This conversation proves that Jody does not see himself and Janie as equals. This clearly makes Janie upset because after Jody tells her that she can’t think for herself, she realizes that what they have is not true love. In “Illuminating Nature and Gender Trouble,” Sepideh Hozhabrossadat writes: “Janie understands she cannot expect any blooming from her marriage with Jody, and as days pass by it becomes clearer that their relationship is sterile” (Hozhabrossadat 4). This quote shows how Janie grasps the fact that her relationship with Jody is not only unequal, but is also lifeless and no longer going anywhere. A final example of how Janie realizes that her marriage is impotent and unequal can be found in “The Cognitive Construction of the Self,” where Patrick Bernard describes how during “a conversation with Jody, Janie defends “womenfolk,” disagreeing with the sexist claim that God made men “different” because they turn “out so smart” (70). When she states that men don’t know half as much as you think you do,” Jody interrupts her saying, “you getting too moufy Janie… Go fetch me de checker-board and de checkers (70-75) so that he and the other men could play” (Bernard 8). This conversation with Jody proves yet again that Jody does not view Janie as an equal partner. All of these examples add to the novel as a whole because Janie is able to come to the conclusion that her marriage with Jody is not an equal partnership. After learning from her second marriage to Jody Starks that love should be equal between two partners, Janie grows and develops as a person by becoming more independent.

A final way that Janie grows and develops as a person is after learning from her third marriage to Tea Cake how to love someone and how to find love in herself. Throughout most of Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake she is truly happy and in love. She finds joy in participating in activities that she never could before, including how to plant beans, go hunting, and how to shoot a gun. Readers can tell that Janie truly loves and cares for Tea Cake. In the novel, Tea Cake falls asleep and “Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place” (Hurston 128). This quote shows how Janie finally finds the love that she has been waiting for. The love that she shares with Tea Cake is so overwhelming that she no longer fears how intense her love for him is. This quote is essential to the novel because Janie realizes that it is all right to be vulnerable with someone and to truly love them. In “Self Realization in a Restricted World” Lisa Hawkes writes, “Her {Janie’s} relationship with Tea Cake marks the moment when she gets to live out the “self” she knew existed deep inside of her during her previous unhappy relationships” (Hawkes 2). This quote is another example that reaffirms how Janie finds the love that she has always dreamed of having. Janie is finally living the life that she has dreamed of having. Everything is working out in Janie’s life until she needs to make a decision whether to save herself or Tea Cake. After being bitten by a dog with rabies, Tea Cake loses his sanity and fires a gun at Janie. Janie has no other choice but to shoot him if she wants to survive. Although she loves him dearly, Janie ends up shooting Tea Cake and killing him. After killing Tea Cake, Janie learns her most important lesson, which is how to love herself. Lisa Hawkes writes, “Janie’s action of killing Tea Cake shows that she gains even more appreciation of herself given the fact that she loves him but places value over her relationship with Janie over all others” (Hawkes 10). This quote proves that even though Janie loves Tea Cake deeply, she ultimately decides to put herself before anyone else. Although she loves him, he is not an essential part of her life. He just plays the role of helping Janie to discover and better understand herself. Janie’s decision to choose herself over Tea Cake, shows that she never really needed to find love with someone else, all she needed was to find reliability and happiness within herself. After her third marriage to Tea Cake Janie grows and develops as a person by learning what love is, how to love someone, and, most importantly, how to find love within herself.

In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie’s relationships with Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and Tea Cake help Janie to achieve personal growth and development with love. From Janie’s relationship with Logan Killicks, she learns that she can’t learn to love someone and has more self-awareness. From her relationship with Jody Starks, Janie learns how to be independent and that love should be equal between two partners. From Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake, Janie not only learns how to love someone, but she also learns how to find true love in herself. Throughout all three of Janie’s relationships she is able to develop and learn from love.

Works Cited

1. Abbas, Farah Mahmood. “The Concept of Love and Marriage in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” J. Of College Of Education For Women, vol. 22, no. 3, 2011, pp. 606-627. IRAQI Academic Scientific Journals, 8 Dec. 2019.
2. Bernard, Patrick S. “The Cognitive Construction of the Self in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Comparative Literature and Culture, vol. 9, no. 2, 2007, pp. 1-13. CLCWeb, doi: 10.7771/1481-4374.1221. 8 Dec. 2019.
3. Hawkes, DeLisa D. “Self-Realization in a Restricted World: Janie’s Early Discovery in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” The Journal of Traditions and Beliefs, vol. 4, no. 5, 2014, pp. 1-11. MSL Academic Endeavors, 8 Dec. 2019.
4. Hozhabrossadat, Sepideh. “Illuminating Nature and Gender Trouble in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, vol. 4, no. 5, September 2015, pp. 124-128. IJALEL, doi: 10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.4n.5p.124. 8 Dec. 2019
5. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: HarperPerennial, 1998.

It is reasonable to remember that racism and discrimination used to be accepted phenomena a few decades ago. This approach can help people understand that the system was harmful. Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel by Zora Neale Hurston, is a reminder to ensure that people avoid these adverse events in the modern world. In the story, the author offered a comprehensive discussion of identity, its elements, importance, and relation to modernism.

To begin with, one should state that Hurston’s concept of identity is complex and consists of a few elements. A person’s skin color is the first constituent because it demonstrates an individual’s cultural background (Kaibartta, 2020). Since the period of African-American slavery was present, it was no surprise identities of representatives of this ethnic group drew much attention to this skin. The second element of identity refers to gender because women were considered subordinate in the male-dominated world (Kaibartta, 2020). These two elements are powerful because they determine what place a person can occupy in society. In particular, Hurston states that female African Americans were underprivileged in the aggressive and patriarchal system a few decades ago. However, the author provided her character with determination, motivation, and courage to achieve equality in society (Kaibartta, 2020). This viewpoint is aligned with modernism, which promotes a break from tradition and individualism.

In conclusion, race and gender play an influential role in shaping identity, according to Zora Neale Hurston. These two elements contribute to the fact that a person has a particular position in society, and it is challenging to refute it. However, the author provides her characters with sufficient courage and motivation to protect their rights. This approach finds its reflection in the element of modernism because the break from tradition and individuals were crucial concepts in this movement.

Reference

Kaibartta, S. K. (2020). Redefining female identity in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Huston. Jamshedpur Research Review, 1(XXXVIII), 7-11.

Harlem Renaissance was a period in America between the 1920s and 1930s. Great migrations of African Americans characterized the South to the North, Harlem in New York (Farebrother and Thaggert 77). The First World War had just ended, and the Jim Crow segregation law was gaining momentum forcing black people to move to the North. During this period, African American culture grew tremendously in literature and thinking. Harlem was flooded with black artists who looked to grow their reach and capabilities. Their way of thinking was transformed, thus developing a sense of independence; they developed their literature instead of copying the white artists. They embraced their African heritage from which they developed their music, art, and poetry. Authors wrote novels and poems basing them on the way of life of the people in Harlem during that decade. For instance, Zora Neale Hurston, a renowned writer and anthropologist wrote several novels that bore and applied similar themes as those of Harlem, the novel of choice is ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God. The paper will discuss how Hurston exemplifies the Harlem movement in her book.

‘Their Eyes Were Watching God is an award-winning novel first published in the late 1930s and is considered one of the classics of the Harlem renaissance. Furthermore, this novel portrays the movement in all its features and style. The novel narrates the story of Janie and her pursuit for peace. As much as the book portrays as a product of the rebirth, it also acts as a representative of the Harlem Renaissance. The novel exemplifies the Harlem rebirth by accommodating various themes portrayed in the way people of Harlem lived and carried out their daily activities. These themes include; racism, freedom, independence, language, power and conquest, love and relationship, and humanity. Through these themes, the author can capture and present the Harlem sensation in her novel.

The language being used by the novel’s characters displays mastery of the southern dialect. Hurston uses an exciting narrative structure by accommodating idioms and literary speech, which was common during the movement. The characters of this novel are designed in a manner that long passages contain as much artistic voice as possible. For instance, Janie’s character has a distinctive use of grammar and vocabulary similar to the people of Harlem. Hurston uses language artistically to match Janie’s quest to search for her voice (Rau 154). Similarly, artists in Harlem use their power over language to develop pieces of art that are compelling to the audience.

The novel portrays language as an instrument of harm because it can hurt somebody. It is displayed when Jody asks Janie to be silent when elected as the mayor. White people despise vocal African Americans since they do not like the idea of black people demanding equal treatment (Rau 147). Language is depicted as a key for harmonious correlation; Tea Cake and Janie engage in conversations that breed love, respect, and togetherness. The same applies to Harlem, where artists use their skills to bring people together. Hurston has established that one can define themselves through language and let their intentions be known (Hurston 224). In Harlem, black artists used their voices to air their grievances against racism.

Though not a significant theme in the novel, race plays a crucial role in Harlem since African American artists are considered inferior compared to their white counterparts. Racism in the South has become unbearable for black people due to the oppressive laws which the Democrats are approving (Farebrother et al. 179). The great migration is mainly attributed to violent racism in the South, meaning that it is a crucial influence on the Harlem Renaissance. Black artists are being despised, which prompts them to focus on producing authentic art by embracing their African traditions. Furthermore, racism is so rampant in Harlem that white Americans migrate from their town Harlem to avoid mixing up with black people.

In the novel, racism is portrayed, but in this case, a black person discriminates against another black person; this is colorism. Although Janie is black, she is light-skinned because she ¼ white hence the Caucasian-like hair (Hurston 234). Mrs. Turner discriminates against Tea Cake, who has darker skin, and despises Janie for marrying him. Mrs. Turner asks Janie to leave Tea Cake for her brother, who is light-skinned like her. She is but another obstacle that Janie has to navigate before achieving fulfillment and being at peace with herself. The novel depicts racism during the burial of those killed by the hurricane. Here black people are buried with nothing while white people are put in pine caskets. Explicit instructions are laid that no black person should be buried with white people and vice versa (Hurston 205). Tea Cake jokes that the caskets are for helping god identify white souls since there is no Jim Crow law in heaven.

Power and conquest for fulfillment is the second theme in Hurston’s novel, basing its origin on the Harlem rebirth, where African American artists flood Harlem to make a mark in the world of music and literature. Harlem was initially a white man’s town, but whites were overwhelmed with the influx of black people and thus moved higher up North (Farebrother and Thaggert 204). White Americans can no longer suppress black people or keep them under their command. Their illusion of power is destroyed. African Americans seize the town of Harlem, and this gives them a deep sense of fulfillment since they are now occupying a town that was purposefully constructed for middle and upper-class white.

Similarly, Janie achieves fulfillment by undertaking spiritual journeys to self-awareness and love (Hurston 141).On the other hand, Jody achieves fulfillment by suppressing and controlling everybody. He is obsessed with forcing those around him into submission under the illusion that he will be fulfilled. Nevertheless, his illusion of power is destroyed when he becomes sick, and it dawns on him that he can no longer control his surroundings.

Love and relationship are other themes present in the novel on the basis Harlem Renaissance. Many artists travel to Harlem to develop their talents since its population guarantees an audience (Farebrother and Thaggert 154). These artists work together and maintain symbiotic relationships where everybody gains. They co-publish articles, poems, and books; as such, they help each other grow in their respective fields of expertise. A symbiotic relationship is evident between Janie and Tea Cake; these two hold each other in high regard and respect (Hurston 247). Through this, Janie can grow and eventually achieve self-awareness. Tea Cake treats Janie as his equal, which plays a significant role in ensuring the success of their relationship.

Artists in Harlem relate harmoniously; nevertheless, relationships do not guarantee self-fulfillment; this is evident in both the novel and Harlem town. Janie attained true fulfillment only after the death of Tea Cake. In addition, she is enlightened and independent. In Harlem, William Grant quit his band and focused on himself. He perfects his skills and is now considered the best since he attains fulfillment independently without any partners; this proves that relationships do not guarantee fulfillment.

Hurston successfully exemplifies the Harlem renaissance in her novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God.’ In her novel, she incorporates characteristic features of the movement in themes. Some of these themes/features comprise; racism, love and relationships, power and conquest for the fulfillment, and language. These features play a significant role in identifying the novel with the movement. Fulfillment is one thing that Janie longs for, and it comes at the cost of her husband’s life. Similarly, in Harlem, black artists long for recognition and achievement of one’s goals despite all the challenges they persevere. Relationships were crucial in Harlem, and Hurston emphasizes Janie’s. Power and conquest are witnessed in Harlem; white Americans want to suppress black people to achieve fulfillment but fail since they are not enslaved anymore. Likewise, in the novel, Jody was obsessed with dominating his surroundings, including people but failed since he could not control nature. Therefore, Zora Neale Hurston exemplified the Harlem renaissance using her novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God.’

Works Cited

Farebrother, Rachel, and Miriam Thaggert, eds. A History of the Harlem Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their eyes were watching god. Prabhat Prakashan, 2020.

Rau, Dana M. The Harlem Renaissance. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2019. Print.

A Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 1937 classic fiction novel that was written by African-American writer, Zora Neale Hurston (Jan. 7, 1891 – Jan. 28, 1960). Hurston was born to John Hurston and Lucy Ann Hurston and was the fifth in a family of eight children. Her mother passed on in 1904 and her father re-married. She was later sent to a boarding school, but dropped out due to non-payment of school fees by her father and stepmother.

She was later employed as a maid in a theatrical band that toured America (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011). She returned to school and graduated from Morgan Academy in 1918. Soon after her high school graduation, Hurston entered Howard University where she went on to co-found the University’s student newspaper, The Hilltop. She left the University in 1924 and was awarded a scholarship at Barnard University; she obtained her BA in anthropology in 1927 and worked at Columbia University for two years (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011)

By 1930, Hurston had written many short stories, including the much-hyped Mules and Men (1935), a landmark piece of writing that expounded on the African-American tradition. She also collaborated with several well-known African American writers such as Langston Hughes. Most of her novels were published in the 1930s and included Jonah’s Gourd Vine (1934), Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), and Moses, Man of the Mountain (1939).

Hurston spent the latter parts of her career writing for magazines and newspapers, before she disappeared from the public eye, and died in 1960 from a hypertensive heart disease (Lester, 1999). Of all her literary and factual works, Their Eyes Were Watching God is her best-known work (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011).

Their Eyes Were Watching God was written in 1937 during which books on racial difference stirred heated public debates. The success of the book is attributed to the financial crisis of the 1930s that brought an end to the cultural openness that had enabled the Harlem Renaissance to thrive.

As the financial crisis worsened, political unease heightened too and writers felt that art should be used as a political tool to reveal social injustices in the world, and dismissed many ideas of the Harlem Renaissance as discriminative, lacked significant political content, and therefore did not deserve any artistic merit. However, this did not prevent the book from generating attention and heated debates, especially for its use of phonetic spellings of the dialect spoken by African Americans.

Janie Crawford, a beautiful, confident woman in her mid 30s returns to Eatonville, Florida, after a long time. The local black community gossip about her and wonder the whereabouts of her young husband, Tea Cake. They read her self-belief to imply loneliness and do not associate with her, but Janie’s friend, Pheoby Watson, stays close. After much pressing, Janie decides to tell her story to Watson (Hurston, 1937). She explains that her mother, Leafy, ran away and was raised by her grandmother, Nanny.

Nanny transfers all the hopes she had had on Leafy to nanny and when she sees her granddaughter kissing a local boy, she arranges her marriage to Logan Killicks, a much older man. Even though Janie objected to the marriage, Nanny wanted to have all the things she could not have, and it was only through this marriage that she could achieve this (Hurston, 1937). The marriage turns out to be a disaster and Janie runs off with the persuasive Jody Starks, they move to Eatonville.

Upon arriving at Eatonville, Starks observes that the locals do not have any ambition, so he organizes and purchases more land from them and constructs a store, and is later chosen as the mayor. Janie becomes conscious that Starks only wants her as a trophy wife to complement his high-profile position.

Starks passes away and Janie is overwhelmed by the number of admirers, however, she falls in love with a man who named Tea Cake (Hurston, 1937). They sell the store and head to Jacksonville where they get married, and later move to the Everglades where Tea Cake finds work in a farm. Even though their marriage has highs and lows, Janie is happy for she was in a marriage bound by love, like she had always wanted.

The area is hit by a storm and in the confusion, Tea Cake is bitten by a dog and contracts rabies. Due to his mental instability, Tea Cake attempts to shoot Janie, but she shoots him first, in defense. The court charges her with murder, but is later acquitted, and returns to Eatonville (Hurston, 1937).

Their Eyes Were Watching God presents many instances of a woman, Janie Mae Crawford, who is in search of herself. Even though the novel focuses of Janie’s relationships with other men, it is primarily a search for her inner true self, her own identity. She goes though this mission by first finding her voice, then herself.

Throughout the novel, Janie strives to find her own voice and even though it takes her more than thirty years to do it, she finally succeeds in her mission. Every one of her husbands plays a significant role in her pursuit to finding her own identity. During our first and last encounters with Janie, she is all alone. This view is supported by critics who note that the book is not about her pursuit for love, but rather that of independence.

Janie goes back to Eatonville a confident and strong woman, a large contrast from the moment we first met her, when she was uncertain of who she was or the kind of life she wanted to lead. For example, in her first marriage, she is confused as to whether she is really into the marriage to get love or for the material gains. Her confusion is slightly quelled by Nanny, who assures her that the marriage will enable her to have all that she never had a chance to have, and she will have security, especially Logan owned a 60-acre potato farm.

Her confusion is further evident when Nanny dies a few weeks after her marriage to Logan Killicks, and with no one to guide her, she runs away with another man. Indeed, while still married to Logan, she opts to listen to “the words of the trees and the wind” (Hurston, 1937). Through this marriage, she finds part of herself, however, she still needs a relationship that is bound by love.

As she narrates her story to Phoeby, she commences with her revelation under the flowering pear tree, the revelation that kicks off the pursuit in search for her true inner self. It is under this tree that she encounters an ideal unification of harmony and nature. She recognizes the love that she would like to have, a reciprocity that brings unity in the world, but is not sure of how to go about it. At this juncture, she is not even sure of what she wants.

Jodie’s entry into her life offers a reprieve from the dull and no-nonsense Killicks. With his smooth talk, Jodie convinces Janie that he will help her achieve her dreams. However, Janie realizes that Jodie’s application of authority only stifles her. When Janie visits the ailing Jodie, her stifled power breaks through in an outburst of verbal reprisal.

Her rather cruel outburst at the dying Jodie portrays the profoundness of Jodie’s inner self (Kubitschek, 1983). Her encounter with Killicks and Jodie does not kill her will in her journey to find her own identity, in contrast, these experiences strengthen her as seen when she meets Tea Cake (Indiana State University, 1982, Waters, 1978).

Janie blossoms in her relationship with Tea Cake as he “teaches her the maiden language all over” (Hurston, 1937). She is able to control her speech and remain quiet whenever she decides to.

The notion of silence as strength rather than submissiveness becomes evident during her trial. Dialogue had played a critical role up to this moment, and one might have expected the author to use the court proceedings to highlight Janie’s mature voice. The lack of dialogue in this section reveals Hurston’s unease with rhetoric for its own benefit: Hurston does not want the Janie’s voice to mistaken for that of a lawyer or politician.

Janie’s maturity of voice is a direct indicator of her inner growth, and the activities at the courtroom may be plotted too much as to draw the parallels in her inner self. Part of Janie’s maturity lies in her ability to recognize that other people’s meanness and brutality toward her or their failure to understand her originates not from hatred but from their background or limited viewpoint.

Janie Crawford, who is the main protagonist in Their Eyes Were Watching God, prenets many interesting similarities with the book’s author, Zora Neale Hurston. This similarity stems from the fact that most of Hurston’s woks are a reflection of her own self and her experiences. Similar to Janie, Hurston was married to more than one husband, and died single.

Hurston had two marriages in her life, the first was in 1927 to Herbert Sheen, the couple divorced four years later, Hurston then married Albert Prince III in 1939 and divorced in 1943. Even though little is known about these marriages, reading about Janie’s search for her inner self can give a hint as to why both marriages lasted only a few years. Even though Prince Albert III was 23 years her senior, the pair married, although they did not stay together for long (Gale CEngage Learning, 2011).

Hurston uses Janie to illustrate how women overcame injustices arising from race, gender roles, and oppression. As a young person herself, Hurston faced numerous challenges herself in her quest to have decent education, including dropping out of school to work as a maid after her biological mother died.

It was only through hard work and determination that she was able to return to school and later get a scholarship to study at Barnard University. She was the only black student at the time. The story is more or less the same with Janie who, after her mother ran away, was raised by her grandmother and overcame numerous challenges in her quest to achieve personal satisfaction and have a decent life.

Racial overtones arise from the fact that Janie was light-skinned and this endeared her to men as opposed to women with darker skin, such as Mrs. Turner. Her skin tone exposed the male preference for light-skinned women. Jordan (1988) and Upshur-Ransome (2000) share the view and mention that Hurston’s early life and experiences heavily influenced her works.

The novel is mainly set in the black neighborhood of central and southern Florida, where life is hard, the African American population is suffering from the combined effects of the Great Depression, and the low socio-economic status associated with non-whites.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is very progressive in nature as it illustrates the representation, isolation, and prejudice towards the African American population. Hurston provides a detailed description of the scenes in the novel as it gives a depiction of economic and social situation in real-life black neighborhoods at the time (Bloom, 2008, Bowers 2006).

Their Eyes Were Watching God presents the ordeals on one woman as she attempts to find her own identity. Janie is married three time, the first two marriages fail to live up to her expectations regarding the concept of the reciprocity of love and freedom. As she moves from one marriage to another, her maturity increases and discovers more of herself.

From Logan, she learns of the importance of love and compassion in a marriage, from Jody she learns, among other things, the importance of self expression and from Tea Cake Janie discovers her ability to express herself through verbal communication, and learns that silence too can be a source of strength.

Equally, she is silent in noticeable places, neither revealing why she is not offended with Tea Cake’s beating, nor revealing her words at the courtroom. The author puts immense significance on the use of language as a source of identity and strength.

References

Bloom, H. (2008). Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their eyes were watching God.’ NY: Infobase Publising.

Bowers, K. (2006). Their Eyes Were Watching God Literature Guide. Victorville, CA: Secondary Solutions.

Gale CEngage Learning. (2011). Zora Neale Hurston. Web.

Hurston, Z. N. (1937). Their eyes were watching God. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott.

Indiana State University. (1982). Black American literature forum, Volume 16. Indiana: Indiana State University.

Jordan, J. (1988). Feminist Fantasies: Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God. Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature, Vol. 7, No. 1 pp. 105-117.

Kubitschek, M. D. (1983). Tuh De Horizon and Back: The Female Quest in “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Black American Literature Forum, Vol. 17, No. 3, pp. 109-115

Lester, N. A. (1999).Understanding Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their eyes were watching God.’ Westport, CA: Greenwood Press.

Roberts, J. (1980).Their Eyes Were Watching God. The Journal of American Folklore, Vol. 93, No. 370, pp. 463-466.

Upshur-Ransome, C. L. (2000). A comparison of the African-American presence in an earlier and later American History Textbook. Oxford: University Press of America, Inc.

Waters, E. (1978). Their eyes were watching God: Janie Starks’s search for identity and self-fulfillment. New Jersey: Lippincott.