Research Paper on "Eyes Were Watching God Summary and Analysis"

Research Paper 4 pages (1331 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

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Eyes Were Watching God Summary and Analysis

Zora Neale Hurston's most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was first published in 1937, but the characters she created and the situations they face are timeless, and still reverberate strongly today. Issues of love, control, and independence are common themes to all of humanity, and though both the author's and the main character's identities as African-American women highlight these issues, they in no way limit the impact of this novel on readers with a different identity. Instead, the depth and humanity with which the characters, especially the main character of Janie Crawford, are portrayed makes this novel speak to readers of all backgrounds. The yearnings of Janie to achieve her independence and some semblance of harmony with the world are things that all human beings can identify with. At times, the characters do seem somewhat larger-than-life, but this only helps to illustrate the points made in the book. Similarly, many of the plot points in the book seem slightly too convenient and unbelievable at times. The overall effect of these apparent flaws, however, is to render a much sharper picture about what it means to find individual power as a human being in a way that would not have been possible by more subtle means.

The book opens at the end of the plot, with Janie returning to the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida after burying her third and final husband (Hurston, 4). Dialogue is very heavy in this opening chapter, and in much of the rest of the book as well, yet Janie's voice is not recorded for the first several pages. Instead, the narrator notes that "her speech was pleasant enough, but she kept walking straight on to the gate" (Hurston, 4). Though the reader does not yet know Janie's story, she is immediately seen as someone wise and in control, especially amidst the chaos of the people surrounding her at her arrival. This makes an instant connection between her and the reader.

Janie is the character with whom I personally most identify in this book. Her struggles mirror my own in many ways. Her struggle to find and maintain her independence without shirking her true responsibilities reminds of the balancing act I walk in my family. Janie's grandmother forces Janie to marry Logan Killicks, an older and relatively well-off farmer, in order to protect Janie from wrong turns in life. The way Logan treats Janie, as a commodity rater than a human being, soon convinces the her that life with Logan isn't worth it, and she makes plans to run off with Jody Starks. One quote from the novel at this scene that really struck a chord with me is: "she turned wrongside out just standing there and feeling" (Hurston, 40). This quote is integral to the novel, and explains how Janie often feels when she is caught in a situation with no completely good solution. It is also something I can especially identify with, as being emotionally turned "wrongside out" by situations at lest as difficult as Janie's in this scene is something that is all to familiar with me.

It was somewhat scarier to discover and admit how much I identified with Tea Cakes, Janie's third husband, as well. Though she is married to Jody for over twenty years, she eventually admits to herself that the way he treats her -- keeping her away from the social life in Eatonville, where the couple owns and operates a store that makes them quite wealthy, and generally controlling her life -- is not right or acceptable. Janie feels that her "image of Jody tumbled down and shattered," and she ends up berating Jody in front of the town (Hurston, 68). He beats her, and their relationship basically ends. Jody dies a few months later, while Janie is berating him for a second time. Many men are after her for marriage, but the roguish Tea Cakes is the man she chooses. Life… READ MORE

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