Summary Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston tells the story of Janie Crawford living in Florida in the early 1900’s. The book is written in third person with an unknown narrator. The story starts with Janie returning to her home in Eatonville. She is visited by Phoeby Watson, an old friend, who is interested in hearing about Janie’s life since she last saw her. The rest of the story is told as if Janie is retelling the story to Phoeby, however, Janie is not the narrator. The story highlights issues that are applicable to the time period in the book and issues that are still present today. The main theme of the book revolves around gender roles, discrimination by class, love and happiness in and out of a relationship. The book tells the

The novel contains major themes found in literature published during the Harlem Renaissance such as black identity and African American culture. Hurston found inspiration in her family when writing her novel in Haiti. Jody Starks, the mayor of the all black town of Eatonville, can be compared to her father who was the real-life mayor of Eatonville. Hurston, having grown up in Florida, uses the state of Florida as the setting. In the story, Janie is an only child by birth but lives in close proximity with the white children of her Nanny’s employer, the Washburns. Hurston was one of 8 children so she knew about growing up with other children. These similarities between Hurston’s upbringing and Janie’s upbringing add credibility to the story and offer the reader a glimpse of what life may have been like as a child for

A major theme in the book was gender roles and the expectation that true love would bring happiness. In two of her three marriages, Janie is beaten by her husband. Both Starks and Tea Cake beat Janie yet she takes the beatings and fails to defend herself. This is seen as cruel, but normal. In her second marriage, she is viewed as an object by Jody and he places limited freedoms on her social life. She becomes increasingly unhappy throughout the marriage. This objectification by Starks leads to Janie’s feeling liberated after his death. However, her first marriage to Killicks defies the common gender roles when Janie is expected to work. She refuses. Janie quickly learns in her first marriage that true love will not be handed to her once she is married. She doesn’t love Killicks so she leaves him despite knowing her Nanny would be disappointed. She shows independence when leaving Killicks until she goes off with Starks. When married to Starks, Janie submits to his objectification and authority. After his death, she begins to develop the independence she craved. This independence benefits her after Tea Cake’s death. She knows she can be happy without a husband and succeeds in moving on with her life as a single woman. Hurston’s choice of themes in the novel brings awareness to other issues that affect women of all colors