Illustration of the profile of Janine Crawford and another person facing each other

Their Eyes Were Watching God

by Zora Neale Hurston

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Themes: Race and Racism

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While the novel rarely delves into the dynamics between white and Black people, it vividly illustrates how racism and class inequalities infiltrate the Black community. The assumed biological and cultural superiority of whiteness overshadows the lives of all the Black characters. Janie notices the moral decline in those who prioritize whiteness above their own Black identity. When Janie encounters Joe Starks, he is on his way to Eatonville, striving to escape the servitude imposed by white society. In this all-Black town, his goal is to exert power over others, mimicking the authority of white men. Joe possesses a “bow-down command in his face,” and his grand white house amazes the town, causing the other homes to look like “servants’ quarters surrounding the big house,” resembling plantation layouts from slavery times. Joe also acquires a desk similar to those owned by influential white men in the nearby town of Maitland and adopts behaviors that imitate middle-class white customs. For Joe, success is measured by white societal standards, leading him to view the townspeople as “common” and even inferior. One man notes, “You kin feel a switch in his hand when he’s talking to yuh.” Janie’s rejection of Joe’s superiority and his obsession with bourgeois respectability has led many critics to view the novel as a critique of middle-class Black individuals who, after gaining some status in the 1920s, became disconnected from the grassroots of the Black community, the folk.

This critique is further emphasized through Janie and Tea Cake's rejection of Mrs. Turner’s perceived superiority over darker-skinned Black people. Mrs. Turner, who is light-skinned and financially secure, attempts to distance herself and Janie, who is also of mixed race, from the "black folks." She suggests to Janie, "We oughta lighten up de race," and "Us oughta class off." However, Janie responds, "Us can’t do it. We’se uh mingled people and all of us got black kinfolks as well as yaller kinfolks." Janie believes that there should be no divisions within the Black community.

Janie easily transitions from her upper-class status in Eatonville to her life with Tea Cake among the common folk. Together, they openly accept the Black workers from the Bahamas, who had previously been shunned by Black Americans on the muck. Additionally, Mrs. Turner’s racist views are ridiculed by the narrator, who notes, “Behind her crude words was a belief that somehow she and others through worship could attain her paradise— a heaven of straight-haired, thin-lipped, high-nose, bone-white seraphs. The physical impossibilities in no way injured faith.”

The absurdity and tragedy of racism and division within the Black community are ultimately revealed through Mrs. Turner, who is consumed by self-hatred, a natural result of her rejection of Blackness. Janie discovers that only by embracing all aspects of Black identity with love can one become a whole, healthy human being.

Expert Q&A

In Their Eyes were watching God, what are Janie's grandma's views on the white man and power?

Janie's grandmother, Nanny, views the white man as the ultimate ruler, reflecting her experiences as a former slave. She believes that the "nigger woman is the mule uh de world," indicating a deep understanding of racial and gender oppression. Nanny accepts the racial hierarchy and seeks protection for Janie through marriage, despite the lack of love, as she dreams of a better life for her granddaughter within the constraints she knows.

Does Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Hurston portray racism?

The novel presents the relationship between Janie and Tea Cake as a place of happiness for Janie. However, Hurston shows that it is not. The couple does have success together but only in a very short time frame. Janie finds herself trapped in a life that she does not like. Her husband's death frees her from him, but it also leaves her more trapped than ever because she has nowhere to live and no money. She has been taught by her grandmother to be dependent on a man so she cannot take care of herself or her future. When Tea Cake dies, the town is hostile to Janie because they see such a young widow as unacceptable. This leaves Janie with no options except one: accepting Joe Starks'

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the battle between the dog, Tea Cake, and Janie an allegory of racism?

The battle involving the dog, Tea Cake, and Janie in Their Eyes Were Watching God can be interpreted allegorically as a struggle against racism, but it is not explicitly depicted as such. Although the rabid dog attacking Tea Cake and Janie might symbolize the pervasive threat of racism, the novel does not provide strong evidence to support this interpretation. While the allegory suggests a fight against a harmful force, it fails to capture the ongoing nature of racial issues.

Select and analyze three passages from Their Eyes Were Watching God that detail the uses and abuses of power based on gender, class, or race.

The novel uses several passages to explore power dynamics based on gender, class, and race. Nanny's speech reveals Janie's inherited history of gender and racial oppression, influencing Nanny's control over Janie's love life. Tea Cake's beating of Janie exemplifies gender-based power abuse, contrasting their initially equal relationship. Lastly, racial injustice is highlighted when Tea Cake is forced to bury Black hurricane victims, while whites receive preferential treatment, underscoring racial discrimination in post-slavery Florida.

Does Hurston avoid addressing the race issue in Their Eyes Were Watching God?

Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is not at all concerned with the so-called “Negro problem” or the program of “racial uplift” that dominated much of the writing by African Americans in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, but it seems inaccurate to me to say that Hurston avoids the “race issue.” Race seems to me to be everywhere in the novel, and the novel would not be what it is without the emphasis on race.

How do race, the Harlem Renaissance, and the American Dream intersect in Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God?

Race, the Harlem Renaissance, and the American dream are all relevant to the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Hurston was writing during the Harlem Renaissance, a time when African Americans were increasingly producing content in the arts. During this time, African Americans were still not considered equal, and they had many roadblocks in achieving their dreams. Dreams are a recurring theme in literature from the time period.

Comparison of Janie, Nanny, and Mrs. Turner in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and their representation in American society

In "Their Eyes Were Watching God," Janie, Nanny, and Mrs. Turner represent different aspects of American society. Janie embodies the quest for self-identity and independence. Nanny, her grandmother, symbolizes the older generation's survival mentality shaped by slavery. Mrs. Turner represents internalized racism and classism, valuing lighter skin and associating with whites. Each character highlights diverse social attitudes and struggles within the African American community.

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