Their Eyes Were Watching God Analysis

Imagery Analysis
The terrestrial imagery in this passage develops Baptiste’s character and unfurls the theme of the natural world. The passage begins, “Louise, he whispered. Her name was thick in his mouth.” Using Louise’s sense of hearing, the author creates the image that Baptiste appears to have an alluring demeanor. The adjective “thick” makes it sound like his words are swells of smoke emerging from his throat. Ceasing to offer Baptiste a response, Louise instead chose to focus on how “she could feel a wet heat rising from his body.” The words “wet heat” depict the image of Baptiste's body producing a haze of steam off into the torrid summer air.  This reminds me a rainy day when rays of sunlight poke through a curtain of gray clouds and raise water droplets into the sky through

evaporation. The verb “feel” insinuates that Baptiste is connected to Louise because they touch the lives of one another on a spiritual level.
The passage continues as Louise describes she was “surprised” that she “leaned forward to touch the tip of her tongue to the fat lobe of his ear.” The adjective “surprised” reveals that Louise doesn’t know why she partook in the action; however, because she doesn’t have a reason indicates that it was by instinct because there is a quality about Baptiste that compels her to him.

Louise found that Baptiste’s skin “tasted sour with old body salts.” The use of the word “salt” evokes the association of minerals pertaining to the earth. I immediately begin to think about elements and in turn affiliate Baptiste’s character with natural substances. After Louise got close to Baptiste, she noticed that he smelt like the “sweet, warm earth and the faint, odd smell of lime that covered anything unclean.” Baptiste has a paradoxical scent because he smells both like the “warm earth” and “anything unclean” at the same time. The description of “warm earth” makes me think of the nature and all things fresh. However, fresh and “unclean” are words that fail to coincide with one another. This presents Baptiste’s character as a mystery because it’s difficult to explain the inner working of a

paradox.
The passage ends as Baptiste “crooked his head toward her” and “opened his mouth to reveal his tongue as red as a salamander.” The adjective “crooked” gives him an animalistic quality as it makes him appear to be an owl perched on a branch twisting its head in the direction of its prey. The image of Baptiste exposing “his tongue as red as a salamander” takes me to a tropical forest where the poisonous reptiles are all bright with vibrant colors. This creates an eerie connotation because poisonous reptiles are often associated with danger.
As this passage reveals Baptiste’s character to the reader, it also highlights the thematic concern of the natural world. All of the images used to develop Baptiste relate to the earth in one way or another. Baptiste is associated with smoke, evaporation, minerals, owls and salamanders, which are all concepts derived from Mother Nature. This connection is because Baptiste represents the power and necessity of the traditional American Indian culture— a culture that is heavily rooted in nature.