“In
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston
explores the natures of black women and black men; the ways in which their
natures are shaped by their individual and collective experiences within
American and African American cultures; and how their experiences inform their
self-knowledge, their connection with the world around them and their
relationships with others. More specifically, Their Eyes Were Watching God is concerned with a young black
woman’s quest for self-discovery beyond the false values imposed on her by a
society that allows neither women nor black people to exist naturally and
freely. Through her female protagonist, Janie Crawford, Hurston critiques the
status of black women and the roles available to them within American and African
American cultures; and she offers them an alternate frame of reference for
their unique experiences within the world and an alternate path to
self-determination and autonomy.” (Smith)
•
Hurston begins the book with an
extended metaphor. What are the dreams of men? How are they different from the
dreams of women? Who doesn’t get disappointed?
Chapter 1
"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."
•
Why does Nanny say she is a
“cracked plate”? What is Janie’s response? What does Nanny mean by this?
She has been used up in her long
life. She didn’t exactly lead an exciting (a common
life serving a purpose like a plate) but her experiences have left her broken
in many ways.
•
How does Logan view Janie's role
in their marriage?
Chapter 4
"Six months back he [Logan] had told her, "If Ah kin
haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it
inside. Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d
grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten."
Chapter
4
"Janie got up with him the next
morning and had the breakfast halfway done when he bellowed from the barn.
"Janie!" Logan called harshly. "Come help me move dis manure
pile befo’ de sun gits hot. You don’t
take a bit of interest in dis place. ‘Tain’t no use in foolin’ . round in dat kitchen all day long…"
"You don’t need mah help out dere, Logan. Youse in yo’ place and Ah’m in mine."
"You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh. Git uh move
on yuh, and dat quick."
•
What are your predictions for
Janie’s new marriage? How does it differ from her first?
Chapter
4
"[Joe to Janie]: "You behind a plow! You ain’t got no
mo’ business wid uh plow than uh hog
is got wid uh holiday! You ain’t got no business cuttin’ up no seed p’taters
neither. A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat
other folks plant just special for you."
Chapter 5
“[Tony
Taylor when Joe is made mayor]: "And now we’ll listen tuh uh few words uh
encouragement from Mrs. Mayor Starks."
The burst of applause was cut short by Joe taking the floor himself.
"Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but nah wife don’t know nothin’ ‘bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’
lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place
is in de home."
Chapter 6
"Somebody
got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves."
"Ah knows uh few things, and womenfolks thinks sometimes too!"
"Aw naw they don’t. They just think they’s thinkin’. When Ah see one thing
Ah understands ten. You see ten things
and don’t understand one."
•
How does Hurston use porches in
the novel? Who sits on them and what are they doing while they are sitting on
the porch?
Chapter 1
“It was time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was
the time to hear things and talk. These sitters had been tongueless, earless,
eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their
skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful
and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things.”
"What
she doin coming back here in dem overhalls? Can’t she find no dress to put on? – Where’s dat blue satin dress she
left here in? – Where all dat money her husband
took and died and left her? – What dat ole forty year ole ‘oman doin’ wid her
hair swingin’ down her back lak some young gal? – Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went off here wid? – Thought
she was going to marry? – Where he left her?
– What he done wid all her money? – Betcha he off wid some gal so young she
ain’t even got no hairs – Why she don’t stay in her class?
It is a
place where information is traded (gossip and fact). It is also where Nanny tells her story and Janie’s mother story
(Which are both stories of caution). This is why
Nanny wants her to marry Logan--he is stable. She hopes to break the cycle.
Symbolism
of Janie’s hair:
Chapter 6
“This
business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It
didn’t seem sensible at all. That was because
Joe never told Janie how jealous he was. He never told her how often he had seen the other men figuratively wallowing
in it as she went about things in the store.
And one night he had caught Walter standing behind and brushing the back of his hand back and forth across the loose end
of her braid ever so lightly so as to enjoy
the feel of it without Janie knowing what he was doing. Joe was at the back of the store and Walter didn’t see him. He
felt like rushing forth with the meat knife
and chopping off the offending hand. That night he ordered Janie to tie up her hair around the store. That was all. She
was there in the store for him to
look at, not those others.”
