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Their Eyes Were Watching God, an intriguing novel written by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of a young girl and journey in her early years of womanhood. The language used in this novel send a specific message to the audience which has received many positive and negative responses. People such as Richard Wright harshly criticized the book whereas people like Alain LeRoy Locke admired the writing of Zora Neale Hurston. Critics like Richard Wright, who bash Hurston’s novel, fail to see the brilliance of the style and portrayal of the African-American culture.
The writing style of the novel bewilders the reader at the beginning and leaves them wondering why someone would ever write in such a foreign manner. After reading for some time it becomes clear the message Hurston wants to send. Through quotes like, “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore,” Hurston sends a crucial message across about the characters and the setting in general (Hurston 226). Hurston portrays to the reader that although people like Janie never received the best education or learned to speak
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perfect English, they still had the intelligence to say deep insightful things with or without impeccable grammar. Hurston truly innovated a unique and beautiful style by writing the novel like she did. Richard Wright criticized Nora Neale Hurston by saying he wrote the novel with the sole intent of putting a smile on the lips of the white people in hopes of making her book a top seller.
He claims that she disrespects the culture of the African-Americans by writing a story without a message, a theme, or a purpose. Many other people including literature critics like Alain LeRoy Locke strongly disagree with Wright. These people believe Hurston wrote a replacement for the “faulty local color fiction” that had existed as the basis for literature about blacks. The period before the publication of this book included segregation and a deteriorating life for blacks in the United States of America, so writing this took a lot of courage from Hurston also displaying the positive attitude she portrays in the
book. Nora Neale Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God to tell the story of a character named Janie, a young black woman who grows into someone unrecognizable to the people she once knew. Hurston writes this novel in the accent of an uneducated person to display a certain tone that some people view as brilliant and others view as disgusting. The way Hurston wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God showed her revolutionary and unseen style of writing that turned out incredible.
What is one’s idea of the perfect marriage? In Zora Neal Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie has a total of three marriages and her best marriage was to Tea Cake. Janie’s worst and longest marriage was to Joe Starks where she lost her dream and was never happy. The key to a strong marriage is equality between each other because in Janie’s marriage to Joe she was not treated equally, lost apart of herself and was emotionally abused, but her and Tea Cake's marriage was based on equality and she was able to fully be herself.
..., she found her identity. It did not come easy for Janie. It took her years to find out who she really was.
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is written by Zora Neale Hurston in the year of 1937. In the novel, the main character is Janie Crawford. Janie has been treated differently by others during her life because of how she was raised and the choices she has made throughout her life. The community is quick to judge her actions and listen to any gossip about Janie in the town. Janie is known to be “classed off” from other members in her community in various ways. “Classed off” means to be separate or isolated from other people.
Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston explores the life of an African American woman from the south who is trying to find herself. The protagonist of this novel is Janie Crawford. She is trying to defy what people expect of her, and she lives her life searching to have a better life. Zora Neale Hurston’s life experiences influence the book in many ways, including language, personality, and life experiences. Through her use of southern black language in the book, Zora Neale Hurston illustrates the vernacular she grew up speaking.
“Death is the greatest gift you never want to receive. It is the great equalizer of mankind. For death knows no name, no race, no social class or status. It is the only way man to enjoy a meaningful existence. For if there were no death, there would be no meaning” by Dan McDaniel. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Death is consistent throughout the book. Death is found throughout the book as an equalizer, it shows that despite people's thoughts that they are better than one another, or that they will not die until they believe that they are ready, however, that is wrong. Death, in this book, does not discriminate, does not wait, and does not care about human-made hierarchies.
---. "Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God." Zora Neale Hurston - Critical Perspectives Past and Present. Eds. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and K. A. Appiah. New York: Amistad, 1993
Although Hurston was a woman of color from the rural south and growing up in a racist, sexist and urban-centric society, her aim was to change the public’s perceptions of African Americans. Hurston’s purpose for her writings was not to integrate whites and blacks but instead to appreciate and celebrate race and culture diversity. Her writings focused on her passions for folk culture, wisdom, self-respect, and individuality.
The Harlem Renaissance was all about freedom of expression and the search for one's identity. Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows these goals through the main character Janie and her neighbors. Janie freely expressed what she wanted and searched for her identity with her different husbands. Even though Janie was criticized by everyone except her friends, she continued to pursue. She lost everything, but ultimately found her identity. Hurston's writing is both a reflection and a departure from the idea of the Harlem Renaissance.
What I feel is truly remarkable about this author is that despite all the scrutiny and anguish that she faces like most of her race at the time she does not take a negative attitude towards white people and she actually chooses to ignore the general racial segregation. Her charming wit and sense of humor despite all the hardship is what attracts the reader. Hurston does not let her social disadvantages stop her from trying to achieve her aspirations and dreams. She does not see being colored as a disadvantage, but accepts it as a challenge to excel and be unique.
Zora Neale Hurston once said, “Happiness is nothing but everyday living seen through a veil.” In post-slavery African American society, this statement was unusual, as society was focused on materialistic values. The “veil” Hurston mentions is a lens used to sift through one’s beliefs; to help one understand that what they have is more important than what they don’t. Hurston alludes the veil in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, in the form of a fish-net, saying “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it in from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulders" (193). Just like the veil, the “fish-net” allows one to sift through one’s beliefs, deciding what is important and what is not. Essentially, Hurston
This is why I would have to disagree with Alain Locke’s want to include different genres into Hurston’s work. A book can never include all the elements every person would want. If Locke’s idea would be incorporated, Their Eyes Were Watching God would have been a completely different book. For example, if Zora would have incorporated racial prejudice against African-Americans it would take away from Jaine’s journey of finding herself through her experiences of love and focus more on her hardships. My original thought of Hurston’s novel was unique, because of Janie’s view of the world, adding certain elements would ruin that. Hurston’s figurative language which includes, “She was an ironing board with things thrown at it”,(Hurston pg) ”’Mah woman would spread her lungs all over Palm Beach County, let alone knock out mah jaw teeth.’”,(Hurston pg) and “The train beat itself and danced on the shiny steal rails mile after mile”,(Hurston pg) more than make up for any belief in lack of genre. Hurston not only uses figurative language, but also uses diction, metaphor, and folklore of southern blacks. In the end, I disagree with Locke’s proposition that Hurston’s work is lacking any way. Their Eyes Were Watching God is perfectly unique just the way it is, Hurston did a good job in such a short
It’s a shame that even to this day in the African American community, dark skinned people try to bleach their skin to look more “appealing.” It’s a shame that as a whole, the African American community continues to fight for justice against police brutality and the white man. It’s also a shame that over the span of 400 years, only 6 decades were put forth to get rid of segregation alone. Racism and prejudice still poisons this country and the communities within it.