Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale

Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston: Confident, talented • Rejected by father • Grew up in all African American town of Eatonville • Attended Howard and Barnard Universities

Joined the Harlem Renaissance • 1925 • Was criticized by male peers, considered eccentric

• Between the characters: Reparté- The oral tradition of verbal dueling, showing skill with language

Feminists criticized the book • Claimed Janie loses her voice— especially when she does not speak up • Hurston asserted that it is inner growth that is valuable, not words

Set in late 1800 s -1930 s • Covers Janie’s life from age 16 to 40+ • Mostly takes place in all African American town, Eatonville (South) • Some in the Everglades in Florida

It’s a Bildungsroman • genre of the novel which focuses on the psychological and moral growth of the protagonist from youth to adulthood • Follows Janie’s first love, then marriages and self-discovery

It is a “frame” story • Starts as Janie returns home; then she flashes back to the start of her story, framed by telling Phoebe why she has returned home alone

Symbolism • About the town “Mule”. . .

Janie’s Hair • How does what we do with our hair reveal our inner selves?

Motifs (repeated images/ symbols) • Plants, trees, flowers, buds, bees