“Their Eyes Were Watching God”
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a great novel to read. Zora Hurston tells the sad story of a middle age African woman. Zora reveals the story in a very poetic way and uses many dialogues. Some parts of the novel include topics of love, passion and dreams. The whole idea behind the novel is to connect nature and humanity. The novel is full of similarities and metaphors. It describes relationships of love that later are converted to hatred. The story takes place during a time of racism and consists of realistic characters. Their Eyes Were Watching God allows everyone to dream about love and passion. It teaches the lessons of general respect.
The story starts when Janie Crawford, the middle age African woman, comes back to her old neighborhood in Eatonville, Florida. Her neighbors start to want to talk about her with out knowing her sad story. Her friend, Pheoby Watson, is the only one who sticks to her side and listens to her without judging her. Janie takes the opportunity to open herself up and starts to let out her sad story. She begins by telling Pheoby her sad childhood, where she reveals that at her young age she didn’t realize that she was dark skin. As a young girl, she lived in the backyard of Ms. Washburn and her family, which were a white family. This was the family that her Nanny worked for as a servant. She was able to receive education and when she got older she changed the way she felt.
Nanny, Janie’s grandmother and guardian, and herself moved out of the backyard they were staying at. Nanny decided to marry Janie to Logan Killicks, a man that Janie did not love, thinking that this marriage was the safest thing for Janie. Nanny loved her granddaughter a lot and always took care of her after Janie’s mother left them. Janie did not marry Logan, but she did move in with him thinking that some day she would be able to love him. However, their lives together lacked love, passion and respect, all the basic elements needed in a healthy relationship. He was indifferent to her. Even after the fact that she was a very attractive woman.
After, some time Janie ran off with a stranger named Joe Starkes. Joe was a very smooth-tongue and ambitious man. Joe and Janie move to Eatonville and there Joe becomes a very important figure. He becomes known as the mayor of the town. Janie becomes the figure of the “mayor’s wife.” After some time Janie starts to be really miserable. Joe keeps her isolated from the community. She appears to be fine with it, but deep inside she still dreams. One day being Joe disrespects her image causing her to get angry and slaps him. Joe becomes angry because she did it in front of the neighbors. Their marriage starts to go even more down. Joe starts to become ill and she doesn’t have any interaction with him. Until the day Joe dies in an argument, where Janie tells him that she feels.
After, Joe’s death Janie starts to take care of things by her self. She gives the image of a free woman when she lets her long pretty hair down. Out the no where a young man named Tea Cake shows up. Tea Cake is a guy that is twelve years young than her. However they share a romance. Janie marries him after nine months of Joe’s death. Janie sells the store she had and moves to Jacksonville with Tea Cake. At the begging of their marriage they start to have problems because of money. Tea Cake leaves her one night making Janie think that all he wanted was her money. However, Tea Cake comes back tells her that he truly loves her. They move again, this time to Everglades. There they harvest and do a lot of socializing.
A very bad hurricane hits them. For the first time in the book the title of this novel comes in. Nature and humanity join when four of them stay standing looking at the door. Tea Cake becomes ill of rabies and blind by jealousy. Janie struggles some time to find what she has been looking for all her life.