Janie wants nothing more than to find a man that will love and respect her. Throughout the book she dabbles in different marriages and cannot seem to have any luck with any of them. By the end, she realizes it is what she has learned through those relationships that has made her strong. Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God taught me what it means to learn and move on.
Zora’s writing style has a big impact on what this book is about. ”Yeah but he was uh man dat wuz more’n man”(p. 66) she really places the reader in that time by writing exactly how the characters would have spoken then. “..Still and all, ‘tain’t no use in telling lies just ‘cause uh heap uh folks don’t know no better..”(p.39). Like in this sentence, most of the story was told in dialogue, adding to the effect. The mixture of dialogue and slang made the book very difficult to comprehend quickly, so each page required intense focus to keep up.
Janie was the main character in Their Eyes Were Watching God, along with Logan, her first relationship, Jody, her second, and Tea Cake, her third. Janie was a strong-willed woman who did not like being told what she could and could not do. She enjoyed her freedom and that often left her unhappy when married. "Janie loved the conversation and sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had forbidden her to indulge.”(p.50). Jody was my least favorite of the three men. “Thank yuh fuh yo' compliments, but mah wife don't know nothin' 'bout no speech- makin'.. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home.”(p.40-1). He would always find ways to abuse her mentally and put her down, so she would be too scared to leave him. When Janie was with Tea Cake, she was her happiest. “Janie is wherever Ah wants tuh be. Dat’s de kind uh wife she is and Ah love her for it.”(p. 148). The relationship between them was by far the truest, with each respecting the other.
The setting played an important part on how the characters acted and what they said, because white and black people were still segregated during this time. “You know, honey, us colored folks is branches without roots and that makes things come round in queer ways.”(p.15) People still referred to whites and blacks as two separate groups. Also, Florida’s hurricane weather was evidently what lead to Tea Cake’s untimely death. “Janie buried Tea Cake in Palm Beach. She knew he loved the everglades.” (p.188). When he became sick and crazy, and Janie was forced to shoot him. Women were also not given the respect they are today. "'Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don't think none theirselves.'"(p. 67). They were constantly being told where their place was. Janie was constantly being held back by something whether it be her race, sex, or her husband.
This is not an easy read; it requires an open mind that’s looking for a deep and heart-touching story. If a reader is willing to put forth the effort, they won’t be disappointed with this story to find love.
