Their Eyes Were Watching God

By Zora Neale Hurston

‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ by Zora Neale Hurston follows a breathtaking story based on the quest to find true love, purpose, respect, and relevance to life. Hurston walks the reader through the struggles of a certain Janie Crawford, a young woman who is hell-bent on shunning popular opinions to rewrite her own destiny.

About the Book

Protagonist: Janie Crawford
Publication Date: 1937
Genre: Coming of Age, Historical Fiction
Rating:
3.9/5
Victor Onuorah

Article written by Victor Onuorah

Degree in Journalism from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Proving to be one of the leading works of African American classic literature, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ presents a captivating love tale of Janie Crawford – and spans across her three marriages, as she searches for selfhood in unions that seem to be pervaded with a mixture of trials, poverty, and male dominance.

Key Facts About ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’

  • Author: Zora Neale Hurston
  • Book title: ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’
  • Publisher: J. P. Lippincott
  • Publishing date: 18th September 1937
  • Antecedents: American Civil War, Harlem Renaissance, Slavery.
  • Literary genre: Historical fiction, psychological fiction
  • Plot setting: Eatonville, Florida. Everglades. Jacksonville.
  • Climax: Tea Cake is hit by hydrophobia from the dog bite, disillusioned, and wants to kill Janie, who he’s now convinced is cheating on him.

Zora Neale Hurston and ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’

Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is an important American classic that was born out of the Harlem Renaissance, a crucial period for black creatives and communities across the United States.

Hurston shares quite the bromance with this book for the fact that the bulk of her life’s experiences – from childhood to adulthood – are ideally captured within the pages of the work as the reader will discover in the life and struggles of Janie Crawford – whose demeanor is strikingly likened to those of Zora Neale Hurston herself.

Like her book character, Hurston grew up lacking the love and acceptance she craved, and this was largely because she lost her mother at a very tender age. Although her preacher father did love her and did all he could to fill that void, it was impossible to give her all the attention – given that he had to split his time between his daughter, his pastoral work, and other extended family members as they had quite a large one.

Hurston struggled through life after her move to Jacksonville, Florida, to join her older siblings a few weeks after losing her mother. She attended an all-Christian school and shuttled school and her elder brother Cornelius’ residence in the same city until her father could no longer afford her education, and she dropped out.

From there, Hurston would take up all kinds of menial jobs as she was now living on her own and had to support herself and take care of her bills – although she occasionally got support from her brothers and sisters whom she would reach out to and visit from time to time.

Her first experience with racism was also felt in Jacksonville, Florida, and the event was utterly devastating for her. She had her first marriage in 1927 with Herbert Sheen and would go on to have a total of three marriages – just like her book character Janie – with all ending in divorce. Hurston’s failed marriages can largely be attributed to her search for independence and marital equity and her partners’ seeming inability to allow her such liberties.

In the story of ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God,’ Hurston not only retells the captivating stories of the black Eatonville community – a piece of information she got from conducting community-wide interviews and documentaries but also makes an effort to re-enact several key moments of her own life in the area – growing up as a child to teenager to adulthood. 

Books Related to ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’

Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is a leading book that talks about the early struggles of women in a male-dominated, patriarchal society of the early 20th century.

Hurston explores the many troubling themes in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ from the point of view of a certain Janie Crawford, detailing her struggles from childhood to adulthood – as she tries to carve out a path for herself outside of what society dictates for women such as herself.

Throughout her life, Janie faces a range of horrible and unpleasant treatment – from racism to abuse to subjugation – as she sojourns through three failed marriages before finding her peace and finding herself. The book is not just a fine piece of  African American history of the South but is also a realistic compilation of Zora Neale Hurston’s life facts.

There are several books that can be likened to Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ based on their genre similarity and shared theme styles. One such book is no other than Alice Walker’s ‘The Color Purple’ – a book that bagged both the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. 

The Lasting Impact of ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’

At its core, Zora Neale Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is a novel about women, their rights in society, and how several of such rights have been hampered by the patriarchal culture.

Hurston’s book also shines the spotlight on the cultural and folkloric traditions of a certain all-black community, Eatonville, Florida, a town where every family has their unique story of slavery, racial prejudice, and oppression.

Written for a time when negative gender roles were at their peak, and women were only viewed as a sort of accessory to men, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ became an early voice that called society into consciousness and championed the cause of every woman in a society that appeared to be forgetting about them.

After so many years, the reality of women in today’s society is arguably much more encouraging compared with the 20s and 30s society – where a typical woman was mostly viewed as having no other role asides from being a housewife, and even when she had dreams and passions, she couldn’t pursue them because society didn’t support them for her.

Today, women have tremendous liberty, if not the same as men, to be involved, pursue their passions and overachieve. Families are increasingly unsubscribing to the ‘housewife’ mentality because there is now a large contingency of career and working-class women – with several of them going strong and becoming breadwinners for their families.

Another aspect of society and family touched by Hurston’s ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is the aspect of abuse. The book’s moral lesson teaches subtle ways for anyone – particularly women – to escape and not endure or stay in an abusive marriage or relationship.

Victor Onuorah

About Victor Onuorah

Degree in Journalism from University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

Victor is as much a prolific writer as he is an avid reader. With a degree in Journalism, he goes around scouring literary storehouses and archives; picking up, dusting the dirt off, and leaving clean even the most crooked pieces of literature all with the skill of analysis.

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