Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
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Book Reviews of Their Eyes Were Watching God
Book Review: Hurston's prized novel
Summary: 4 Stars
Alice Walker was one of the ones who helped put Zora Neale Hurston's works back on the map, and although the recent film version of Their Eyes Were Watching God probably doesn't match up to the novel's standards, it also was evident in giving more exposure to Hurston's novel. Perhaps one of the knocks against Their Eyes Were Watching God is the lack of plot--which basically consists of Janie experiencing three separate marriages and one tragedy before returning to her home--but it is evident that this journey is deeper than the surface value allows. In many ways, Janie Crawford's experiences are a sort of buildingsroman, or coming of age, in which she gets stronger with each life episode and comes back to a better understanding of who she is and what life is about.
Janie experiences two failed marriages before finally meeting someone who allows her to live, Tea Cake. Although Tea Cake doesn't have the status that either of Janie's first two husbands had, he has a personal quality that helps her express herself more. Starks, the second husband, was a man with great ambition, and although he goes on to be mayor, he keeps Janie secluded from the community. Janie's first marriage was loveless in a way that arranged marriages might have been, and the romantic ideal of "marriage bringing love" Janie realizes, is a fraud. However, with Tea Cake, she is able to live a little, and he has a real aspect to him that the others didn't have.
Certainly another aspect of Janie's character is her self-realization after her spiritual journey. She comes to understand what makes her a complete person, and has a more complete voice in life. It's ironic because Tea Cake, perhaps more than the others, brings on the most scrutiny and judgment from the "others", those who are from her community. But Janie, at this point in her life, can hold her own, and comes to a realization of what is critical in the life experience.
One of the more challenging aspects of the novel is getting used to the dialect. If you have read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, then you know that certain passages are hard to get through, and this novel is similar. As one reviewer commented, listening to this novel on tape or CD would be a great way to experience this dialect for how it should sound. Therefore, it takes a bit of time, but eventually one gets accustomed to it, and can proceed at a quicker pace.
Another interesting facet of Hurston's book is the deeply symbolic nature. Janie's hair seems to be synonymous with self-expression and having a voice; she only is able to free this voice later in the novel when married with Tea Cake. In her second marriage, Janie's hair is kept hidden from all society, and seems to equate with the restrained relationship she has with Starks. The storm that Janie experiences toward the end of the novel seems to be evident of life's struggles and overcoming them. The novel itself is very circular, as it end and begins in the same spot, with Janie having "been to the horizon" and back.
Over all, this is a novel that merits much praise, and it is great to see the revival of this great author.
Book Review: A satisfying read
Summary: 4 Stars
Janie Crawford is a young black woman who wants to march to her own beat. When she grows old enough to start noticing men, her grandmother decides it is time for her to marry. Janie wants to marry for love but her grandmother insists she marry for security. She complies and marries older man Logan Killicks. At first Logan pampers her but soon starts treating her like a servant. Janie meets smartly dressed Jody Starks, a man who dreams big and runs away with him. They marry and settle in the town of Eatonville, an all black community. Jody finds the success he was seeking with a profitable store and by being elected the town Mayor. Jody and Janie spend 20 years in Eatonville but she does not find the love she seeks as Jody treats her like one more tool to further his political ambitions. Their marriage deteriorates and Jody falls ill and dies. Janie finally feels free. One day a penniless man named Tea Cake, ten years Janie's junior, wanders into town and Janie finally finds real love with him. They marry and decide to start life anew in the Florida Everglades. For the next two years, they experience a natural disaster and a few personal ones. A stronger woman due to all her experiences, Janie returns to Eatonville to live a peaceful existence.
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a simple story of a woman searching for love that is greatly enhanced by the authentic dialect of the time combined with the social tones of the era playing in the background. Hurston paints Janie vividly-as a woman who perseveres despite poverty and trying circumstances with all three of her husbands, but who always maintains her spirit and true self even if she has to bury it for awhile to survive. I was touched by the way in which the book was written- the writing was clean and simple yet poetic. For example, take this passage which discusses the hopes and dreams of men and women:
"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. ... For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.Now, women forget all those things they don't want to remember and remember everything they don't want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly."
Gems like that (a refreshing break from the sometimes hard to get used to dialogue) made me want to stop reading and let it roll around in my head a little while before continuing on.
Hurston's contemporaries criticized this novel because it didn't focus enough on the social climate at the time. I think the book's greatest strength was letting the characters and the settings speak for themselves instead of focusing on the racial divide of the time. It would have been an entirely different book had the author went that route, and probably not nearly as good. There really was no plot other than the telling of Janie's life story but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I can see why it is considered a classic and deserving of the praise it finally received after years of being ignored.
Book Review: An American Classic
Summary: 4 Stars
I bought a used copy of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston at the Salt Lake Library Book Sale last year. It's been on my to-read shelf for awhile so my friends and I decided to read it for our long-distance book discussion group this month.
Published in 1937, Hurston writes of the love story of an African American woman in Florida during the early decades of the Twentieth Century. It is a powerful and moving tale of love and gaining ones freedom through personal choice. It is also a haunting and horrifying tale of loss.
Janie has been doing what every body else wants her to do for years. Now, her second husband is dead. She is a middle-aged, beautiful widow of means. Tea Cake, a young and handsome gambler has caught her eye and woos her with promises of love. For the first time, she is falling in love. Ignoring the cultural "rules" and throwing caution to the wind, Janie follows Tea Cake to Florida.
Initially, I had trouble getting into this novel. The main problem was that as a used book someone else had underlined and made notes in it. It's a risk one takes with used books but these notes were especially distracting (we certainly were not thinking alike). Fortunately, the first reader (obviously a student) either tired of the book or got so involved in the story that the notes stopped around page 42.
The second hindrance was the Hurston's use of the local dialect. She wrote as the people spoke. ("Naw, Nanny, no ma'am! Is dat whut he been hangin' round here for? He look like some ole skullhead in de grave yard." p.13.) She was an anthropologist and a folklorist and writing the tales of her subjects verbatim is part of the trade. I got used to it and by the end of the novel it was no longer a problem.
Hurston's use of language is simply beautiful. She is at her best when describing about nature and especially the power of the 1928 Okechobee Hurricane (resulted in the lake breaching the dikes--thousands were killed).
As an anthropologist, Hurston also understands people and the social rules that bind people and tie them down. Janie is a complex character and I enjoyed watching her grow into herself in this novel.
This novel is a true American classic and deserves a place with the works of Steinbeck, James and Faulkner.
Book Review: African-American Lit class reading
Summary: 4 Stars
"Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston was one of the books selected for my African-American Literature class. Recently my class had been made to read this book for about a week and a half. While the plot of the story was really well paced; however, the language for the conversations were entirely written in very hard to decipher and understand completely Southern dialect. Like the majority of my classmates, it took me forever to understand exactly what the characters were even talking. While I did kind of like the book after reading it, I wish could have had more time to leisurely read this book since the teacher made us read entire chapters before class meetings.
It's rare that I like the main character in a novel, but I really liked Janie's spirit. For the majority of the story, she was a fiercely independent woman. Her life was tough but she managed the best she could for the story's time period. During that time period, she would have been seen as insolent and daring as women were supposed to be subservient and weak-willed to their husbands. Despite having her spirit and dreams crushed, she never truly gave up in this emotional. She has been abused, humiliated and silenced into submission multiple times, but she never gave up. She had her heart broken multiple times, and she even found her one true love while she developed into this remarkable character.
The greatest thing about this novel is how the characters were given a chance to develop more than just bluntly labeling it for the readers. After getting used to the language, it became an enjoyable read for me even though some of my peers still didn't like the book. Overall some parts were rough to read, but other parts it was like fine poetic verse.
Book Review: Their Eyes Were Watching Janie
Summary: 4 Stars
In this charming tale of one woman's experience with love set in small closely knit African American Southern communities we are introduced to the life and culture of American blacks in the 1930's. The author who is also an anthropologist tells the tale in the heavy black dialect that was so prevelent in small rural southern towns. The author's technique in using the vernacular created a rich atmosphere and back drop for Janie's experiences with love and spiritual growth. I gave the book 4 stars, because understanding the dialect was challenging for me. A reader more familiar with the dialect would have an easier time with the story. However, interspersed with the dialect came crisp clear and charming images narrated in the author's own articulate voice. Some of the images are simply charming. One example is the following: "The spirit of the marriage left the bedroom and took to living in the parlor. It was there to shake hands whenever company came to visit, but it never went inside the bedroom again." (pg.71) "She took careful stock of herself,then combed her hair and tied it back up again. Then she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see."
In the end Janie has triumphantly broadened her horizens and possibilites. This has brought her peace.