"Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Paper Summary:

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the book, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston. It discusses the book's three major themes and illustrates how Hurston makes them work.

From the Paper:

"When Hurston's book was first published in 1937, black readers were more critical of it than white readers were. They felt Hurston portrayed Negroes as always happy - singing and dancing, and that she did not show their lives in the South realistically. Today, English classes commonly study the book, and critics give it wide acclaim. The story takes its title from the passage, "They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God."

"One of the main themes of the story is learning about yourself. Janie, the main character, is a mulatto woman who has lived most of her life the way other people thought she should. Her mother abandons here when she is young, and her grandmother (Nanny), raises her. Nanny has a very strict moral code, and specific ideas about freedom and marriage. Janie marries the man Nanny says she should, because he has land, and he will keep her "safe and protected," that is Nanny's idea of freedom. However, Logan Killicks is not the man for Janie, and their marriage only lasts a year. "

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