Their eyes were watching god door Zora Neale Hurston

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Boek
Auteur
Zora Neale Hurston
Taal
Engels
Vak
Eerste uitgave
1937
Pagina's
297
Geschikt voor
bovenbouw havo/vwo
Oorspronkelijke taal
Engels

Boekcover Their eyes were watching god
Shadow
Their eyes were watching god door Zora Neale Hurston
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Characters

The book has one main character; Janie Mae Crawford and two other characters, Jody Starks and Tea Cake, who are also very important for the story. I will tell about the development of the protagonist below.

Janie Mae Crawford:

Janie is a beautiful black women with straight hair and the protagonist of the story. Janie was raised by her grandmother and her grandmother wants Janie to behave according to how she wants to see it. When Janie kisses an older boy when she is sixteen, her grandmother's mistrust grows. She lets her marry Logan to make sure she does not follow the footsteps of Janie's mother.

She has a round character, because you know a lot about her feelings and thoughts. Throughout the book Janie learns how she wants to stand in a relationship. But that is not just about it. She is looking for her own identity. Many different people have expectations of her and in the beginning she tries to adapt to these expectations. When she comes back again and talks to Phoeby, she knows what she wants and she is no longer concerned about the opinions of others. The text below is a quote from Janie. she tells Phoeby that she should let the others talk. they know nothing and actually just have to interfere with their own business.

"Now, Pheoby, don't feel too mean wid de rest of 'em 'cause dey's parched up from not knowin' things. Dem meatskins is got

tuh rattle tuh make out they's alive. Let 'em consolate theyselves

wid talk. 'Course, talkin' don't amount tuh uh hill uh beans

when yuh can't do nothin' else. And listenin' tuh dat kind uh talk

is jus' lak openin' yo' mouth and lettin' de moon shine down yo' throat. It's uh known fact, Pheoby, you got tuhgo there tuh know

there. Yo' papa and yo' mama and nobody else can't tell yuh and

show yuh. Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves.

They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin'

fuh theyselves."(p.257)

Janie is under the pear tree at the beginning of the book and she sees the harmony of nature. She also wants the same harmony in love. She just does not know how to achieve it. After Janie was married off by her grandmother to Logan Killicks, she met Joe Starks. He was the opposite of Logan and had many dreams that he wanted to make true as fast as possible. Janie fell for his ambition and left Logan to go with him. They went together to the all-black community of Eatonville. Joe also promised Janie that she could also make her dreams come true. Yet this romanticized vision of the future was not what Janie had hoped for. Joe suppressed Janie and told her what she should and should not. Joe got a disease and just before he died Janie told him what she felt and what he had done wrong. The inequality between man and woman also played a part in this. Joe at one point assumed that Janie will do everything for him. But Janie was deeply aware that this should not be her role in a relationship when she looked at other women.

Janie’s third man was Tea Cake. They met each other at the porch of the store, where Janie was working most of the time. Tea Cake was mysterious and had a charming way of talking. He taught her the maiden language all over and he taught her how to play checkers. Janie left Eatonville to go with him to the everglades to work there. Everyone thought it a scandal that she just left with a much younger guy.

He liked her very much and also wanted to make it clear that she was very beautiful. She found it very difficult because Joe always cut her off because he was simply jealous that other men would fall on her. In addition, Janie was never allowed to play checkers. According to Jody, that was more of a 'men's thing'. Tea Cake was nothing like Jody and let Janie be herself. Finally, Tea Cake taught her to play checkers. Janie's self-assurance grew because she could unfold herself in the presence of Tea Cake.

The great development that Janie has gone through is breaking the silence as passivity. She no longer has to remain silent , but the silence has become a force, which she has learned from tea cake. Sparknotes describes this very nicely with an example:

‘’Her control of speech reaches a new level as she learns to be silent when she chooses. This idea of silence as strength rather than passivity comes to the forefront during Janie’s trial, when the narrator glosses over her testimony. Dialogue has been pivotally important up to this point, and one might expect Hurston to use the courtroom scene to showcase Janie’s hard-won, mature voice.’[1]

Time

The story is actually told as a big flashback. How the story begins is the end of the life story that she is telling Phoeby. She tells Phoeby why she came back to Eatonville again. While she is telling, she also looks back at previous situations. For example:

‘’Sometimes Janie would think of the old days in the big white

house and the store and laugh to herself. What if Eatonville could

see her now in her blue denim overalls and heavy shoes? The

crowd of people around her and a dice game on her floor! She was

sorry for her friends back there and scornful of the others.’’(p.179)

The 'big' flashback is told chronologically. It begins as it were at the end of the story but afterwards it is told in the order of time.

The story takes place in the early 1900s. This can be deduced from the slavery that recently took place. Janie's grandmother also had to work for white families during the time of slavery, but she was no longer a slave in the last years of Janie's upbringing. The time set of the events is very different. There is as much about the relationship with Joe as about the relationship with Tea Cake told, but she has lived together with Jody for twenty years and lived ,with my own estimate ,with Tea Cake for around 5 years.

It is important to know when the story has played out. This way you can also think about the norms and values of that time and why people behaved like that. In the time when the story took place, people were distant to the people who deviated from the standards and the prevailing norms and values in society.

It is also important to know where the story takes place. The two most important settings are the everglades and Eatonville. Those two places are both in Florida.

Theme

There are two notable themes in the story. I explain the different themes: gender and love. There are more themes, but I discuss the most important ones below

Gender:

In the book it is clear that women and men have different roles. Women are seen as the weaker gender and that the woman is destined to serve the man. Women should keep their own opinions and agree in all times with the man. Women only got a little respect when they would marry a powerful man. In this story, Jody starks is a good example. Jody was a powerful man, and Janie had to be glad that he wanted to marry her. Jody wanted Janie to be quiet and wanted Janie to work for him in the store.

"You sho loves to tell me whut to do, but Ah can't tell you

nothin' Ah see!"

"Dat's 'cause you need tellin'," he rejoined hotly. "It would

be pitiful if Ah didn't. Somebody got to think for women and

chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don't think none

theirselves."

"Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes

too!"

"Aw naw they don't. They just think they's thinkin'. When

Ah see one thing Ah understands ten. You see ten things and

don't understand one."(p.95)

In the quotation above, Jody and Janie are in conversation. Joe clearly shows that women can not think for themselves. Janie says that is not true but that does not change Joe's opinion.

Love:

The theme: love became clear by the three marriages of Janie. In each of her marriages she tries to find true love. She discovers who she wants to be through the first two loves and after meeting Tea Cake she also tries to love herself. Here is an example of the beginning love between Tea Cake and Janie:

‘’He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from one of his good points. Those full, lazy eyes with the lashes curling sharply away like drawn scimitars. Then lean, over-padded shoulders and narrow waist. Even nice!

Because Tea Cake treats Janie like an equal and an intelligent person, Janie finds herself more attracted to him. His classy treatment of her opens the door for love. Where Janie would have normally overlooked him as another suitor and continued happily in her widowhood, Tea Cake’s behaviour sets him apart from the other self-absorbed men and presents Janie with a chance to finally experience the love she has pursued all her life.’’(p.130)

Motifs

Community:

One of the motifs in the story is the community. The writer often describes the situations in which a group of people talk, discuss and gossip with each other. In the course of the story Janie also has to deal with different groups of people. The different communities in the story show the changes in thinking about the groups from Janie’s perspective. The writer focused mainly on the conversations that took place on the porch. In addition, Janie also met many other people in the everglades. These conversations ensured that Janie felt connected and safe. A good example of feeling connected with the community is that they think about each other when people are not together. They care about each other and worry about others in difficult situations. Below, is a quote from the book that clearly reflects the form of connectedness.

‘’ The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light

for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other

shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls

asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His.

They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were

watching God.’’(p.160)

Motorboat, Tea Cake and Janie were hiding before the storm and it says in the quote that they were in the same barren situation together with the others, they are actually not at all together but they constantly think of each other.

On the other hand, Janie realizes that having that solidarity in a community has consequences for your individual development and independence. Sacrifices have to be given to belong to such a group. Janie refused to make such sacrifices. She wanted to think for herself and not always go along with the others. Her strong will made others jealous and that caused gossip in the communities.

Yet she always continues to find it important what others think of her, because she wants it to be understood. This is also apparent from the quotation below. The punishment to be killed is the least serious. She thinks it's the worst thing that people have not understood or believed her.

‘’The jury filed out and the courtroom began to drone with

talk, a few people got up and moved about. And Janie sat like a

lump and waited. It was not death she feared. It was misunder

standing. If they made a verdict that she didn't want Tea Cake and

wanted him dead, then that was a real sin and a shame. It was

worse than murder.’’(p.188)

God:

The second motive is God. The story is referred to God several times in the story. God is a superior thing that has control over almost everything. If people do not know anymore, their eyes were watching god. After all, God has influence on the lives of all people and nature. What then stands out is that the title says a lot about the story. When you read the book for the first time, you wonder why the book has that title.

‘’They huddled closer and stared at the door. They just didn't

use another part of their bodies, and they didn't look at anything

but the door. The time was past for asking the white folks what to look for through that door. Six eyes were questioning God.’’(p.211)

‘’He meant to measure their puny might against His.

They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were

watching God’’(p.213)

In the above quotes you can read that people look at god when they do not know it anymore. At first the whites were looked at, but God was always the most powerful.

The God in the story is not a typical Christian God. Janie is also closely involved with folklore. This shows that God is not represented as one force but as something that has divided all forces. Various natural factors play a major role on a religious level in the story. For example, the wind, sun, moon, sky and the horizon. The view of god was always different, just like with Janie. below an example of how Mrs. Turner thought about it.

‘’All gods who receive homage

are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise

they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering

men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones

for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped

in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.

Mrs. Turner, like all other believers had built an altar to the

unattainable—Caucasian characteristics for all. Her god would

smite her, would hurl her from pinnacles and lose her in deserts,

but she would not forsake his altars. Behind her crude words was a

belief that somehow she and others through worship could attain

her paradise—a heaven of straighthaired, thin-lipped, high-nose

boned white seraphs. The physical impossibilities in no way injured

faith. That was the mystery and mysteries are the chores of gods.

Beyond her faith was a fanaticism to defend the altars of her god.’’ (p.145)

Symbolism

Janie’s head-rags:

Jody had told Janie that from then on she had to hide her hair. With that, Joe prevented other men from looking at Janie's beautiful, straight hair. He was jealous and wanted Janie only to show her hair to him. This event symbolizes the suppression of feminist feelings in Janie. The steep hair of Janie is a characteristic of white women. Because of this Janie's hair also symbolizes her strength that she feels when she wears her hair loose. At one point she was done with the oppression of Jody and after his death she burned all her head-rags. The quotation below shows that Janie was done with the head-rags:

‘’This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing in it as she went about things in the store. And one night he had caught Walter standing behind and brushing the back of his hand back and forth across the loose end of her braid ever so lightly so as to enjoy the feel of it without Janie knowing what he was doing. Joe was at the back of the store and Walter didn’t see him. He felt like rushing forth with the meat knife and chopping off the offending hand. That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all. She was there in the store for him to look at, not those others.’’(p.55)

The sun:

The sun symbolizes the happiness and joy in life. In addition, the sun rises every day. That means that a new day starts again with good courage. Life will just continue despite the bad days. In this Janie associates tea cake with the sun (see the quote below). He is the sun for her which means that she feels happy and pleased with him. So after the death of Tea cake she will always think of him when the sun rises again.

‘’Janie buried Tea Cake in Palm Beach…Janie had wired to Orlando for money to put him away. Tea Cake was the son of Evening Sun, and nothing was too good. The Undertaker did a handsome job and Tea Cake slept royally on his white silken couch among the roses she had bought. He looked almost ready to grin. Janie bought him a brand new guitar and put it in his hands. He would be thinking up new songs to play to her when she got there.’’(p.189)

The pear tree:

The pear tree symbolizes happiness in love. When she first lay under that tree she felt happy and knew what her purpose was in love. Later she always thinks of the feeling she had under the pear tree and how she wanted to match that. The first quote shows that Logan does not match the pear tree. That's because Janie had no feelings for him. This was not what she longed for and she still craved for real love. In the last two quotes Janie, Tea cake compares with the pear tree. That was a good sign because that would mean that she had finally found the real love. This was also the case and Janie was very happy with Tea Cake. Janie finally flourished just like the pear tree in her grandmother's garden.

‘’The vision of Logan Killicks was desecrating the pear tree,

but Janie didn't know how to tell Nanny that. She merely

hunched over and pouted at the floor.’’(p.14)

"Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit

under a pear tree and think. Ah . . . "(p.24)

‘’He could be a bee to a blossom—a

pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent

out of the world with his footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs

with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a

glance from God.’’(p.106)

Only with her third and

last lover, a roustabout called Tea Cake whose unstructured frolics

center around and about the Florida swamps, does Janie at last

bloom, as does the large pear tree that stands beside her grand

mother's tiny log cabin.(p.197)

Narrator

The story is written in the third person. The narrator is omniscient and actually knows everything already. The writer writes about, among other things, the feelings and thoughts of Janie, Phoeby and the other women on their porches. For example:

‘’The people all saw her come because it was sundown. The

sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky.’’(p.1)

The book is not only written in the third person. the main part is written from the perspective of Janie, when she explains her entire life story to Phoeby. In addition, there are also many dialogues.

Style

Hurston has had to write the story in several different writing styles. On one occasion she writes as a third person about the thoughts of the persons and at other times she has to write a dialogue from the persons themselves.

Hursten has a neutral writing style, which means that she does not give a clear opinion about the story. On the other hand, she does have a sympathy for Janie's situation.

If Hursten made a switch to another character, the writing style was changed. Janie and the others talk in black-American English. so 'you' changed to 'yuh' and 'I' changed to 'Ah'. For example:

"Aw you know Ah'm gwine chop de wood fuh yuh. Even ifyou

is stingy as you can be wid me. Yo' Grandma and me myself done

spoilt yuh now, and Ah reckon Ah have tuh keep on wid it."(p.26)

Furthermore, Hurston uses both short and long sentences and the sentences are complex and sometimes difficult to follow. She also uses various style figures. namely irony and imagery. A few examples below:

Imagery:

“Then Jody Starks realized all the meanings and his vanity bled like a flood”(p.79)

This quote is a kind of imagery because his vanity can not really bleed. This is also called personification.

It feels jus' lak underneath uh dove's wing next to

mah face."(p.103)

The quote you see above is a simile. Janie's hair is compared with the down under the feathers of doves, because it is so soft. For this reason Tea Cake can not stay away from Janie’s hair.  

Irony:

‘’Ah was 'spectin' to make a school teacher outa her.

"But one day she didn't come home at de usual time and Ah

waited and waited, but she never come all dat night. Ah took a

lantern and went round askin' everybody but nobody ain't seen

her. De next mornin' she come crawlin' in on her hands and

knees. A sight to see. Dat school teacher had done hid her in de

woods all night long, and he had done raped mah baby and run

on off just before day.’’(p.19)

The irony in this quote is that Nanny wanted Janie's mother to be a teacher, but that she was also raped by a teacher. Teachers were respected and received a lot of respect. it is therefore not really respectful that a teacher had raped her. This is situational irony.

‘’They scrambled a noisy "good evenin' "

and left their mouths setting open and their ears full of hope.’’(p.2)

This is a example of verbal irony. The women say goodnight to Janie but they mean the opposite. They do not wish her a good evening but they are looking for gossip about Janie.

Reading experience

When I had chosen the book, I expected a difficult and complicated written book. I expected that I would have trouble with the story so I would not understand what the book would be about. Besides, I did not have very much expectations about the content of the book. The story might seem boring and long-winded on the one hand and the search for a perfect marriage did not appeal to me so much.

Once I started reading, I thought it was very interesting. I also find it interesting to read about the differences between women and men and the difference between black and white in the past. Especially in the early 1900's many people started to think about these divided roles. They came to the conclusion that it can also be done in a different way and that it was unfair at the time.

I liked to read how Janie also had a different vision about these roles between women and men, how she thought about it and developed further. I especially liked reading about how Janie rebelled against Jody. I was also almost proud when she ridiculed Jody for a whole bunch of other men (see the quote on the next page). As a woman I supported her as it were and I had a lot of empathy for her.

‘’Then too, Janie took the middle of

the floor to talk right into Jody's face, and that was something

that hadn't been done before.

"Stop mixin' up mah doings wid mah looks, Jody. When you

git through tellin' me how tuh cut uh plug uh tobacco, then you

kin tell me whether mah behind is on straight or not."

Their Eyes Were Watching God 4 1 p 79

"Wha—whut's dat you say, Janie? You must be out yo' head."

"Naw, Ah ain't outa mah head neither."

"You must be. Talkin' any such language as dat."

"You de one started talkin' under people's clothes. Not me."

"Whut's de matter wid you, nohow? You ain't no young girl

to be gettin' all insulted 'bout yo' looks. You ain't no young

courtin' gal. You'se uh ole woman, nearly forty."

"Yeah, Ah'm nearly forty and you'se already fifty. How come

you can't talk about dat sometimes instead of always pointin' at

me?"

"T'ain't no use in gettin' all mad, Janie, 'cause Ah mention

you ain't no young gal no mo'. Nobody in heah ain't lookin' for

no wife outa yuh. Old as you is."

"Naw, Ah ain't no young gal no mo' but den 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'n you kin say. You big-bellies round here and put out a lot

of brag, but 'tain't nothin' to it but yo' big voice. Humph! Talkin"bout me lookin' old! When you pull down yo' britches,

you look lak de change uh life."(p.78)

The book was not about the search for the perfect marriage but the development of Janie and her feelings about love. The aim of the book is therefore not to help Janie to a man but to discover her own identity. I found some parts complicated because a lot happened at the same time. For example, when Janie, Tea Cake and motorboat fled before the storm.

[1] https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/eyes/character/janie-mae-crawford/

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