book report

Their Eyes were Watching God

[JaNina Ruffin] African Literature

Dr. P. Reed

Virginia State University November 24, 2020

Biographical discussion of the author

The Eyes were watching God is one of the masterpieces, and it is such a wonderful book written in history, the author has touched the sensitive issues of society and besides it, it as discussed, a lot of literary elements. The literary elements like history, geographical regions, language and culture and many other aspects.

Zora Neale Hurston writes the book, and she is considered as one of the wonderful authors. She has made a great history in New York by writing the novels like the eyes were watching god and the short stories like "sweat". So, she is a famous writer across the boundaries and is famous beyond the borders for her work as well.

She has written a lot about the cultural aspects where the different cultures are compared with one another, and it has been seen that these cultures are not only different in one aspect, but the author has always tried to discuss the cultural aspects in different ways. She has an amazing talent of folk story writing and has impressed the readers by writing a lot of folkways. She was born in 1871 in Alabama. She has some debate for her birthplace as she has written in her autobiography that she was born in Florida, but some of the other authors have cited that she was born in Alabama. She has n childhood memories with Alabama and spent most of her time in Florida.

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She became the fixture of the Harlem Renaissance after writing so many books in the Name of culture. The famous writings include "sweat" and "How it feels to be Colored Me” has made her favorite author of several people. She has to spend life with parents from different regions, so their thoughts and perspective to spend life were different. They have different ideas for their daughter, but she had to do something different and unique. This is the reason why she chose to write. She described the bitter realities of life in her books, and she explained that we all need to make efforts to lead a peaceful life (S.)

Summary:

As has been explained above that the author had to spend the life with the parents from different cultural regions, so she had reflected the similar story of a girl in the book. It is about the story of a girl that comes from a mixed heritage of black and white. It was not an easy time for her as the era did not support the mixed-race individuals. The life was already complicated and the girl named Jannie. She had to suffer through emotional trauma, and she was not ready at all for this. She never took life as difficult as it came to happen. Her grandmother planned the first marriage to a farmer. She was married thrice, but her wish to get the true love of life remained disappointed for a long time. The first marriage of girl proved to be a failure, and the plan of the grandmother of Janie did not work. She was divorced because she was not agreed to lead an uninspired life. She wanted to have a husband full of life and passion. So, it was not in the category of her first husband. No doubt, she was young, and trauma was quite painful, but she did not lose heart and let the things go on.

The reasons to leave such a reliable husband include abusive and threatening behavior. He used to beat her for not obeying him. It was so devastating that the girl could not carry out the marriage. She did not want to get divorced, but then life happened. She flew to America and married to Joe. Life was so good, and both were living the high life. She was rich and known

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as a wife of Mayer, but over time, the things changed. Her husband blamed her for acting too younger than her age. He accused her that she has insulted his manhood, and most of the times, she remained unable to fulfil the desires and provides him with satisfaction.

The case was quite the opposite because the husband body was failing, and he was unable to fulfil the expectations of his wife. She was least satisfied with his manhood abilities. He died due to the disease, and she had to live single. She was happy and enjoying as a widow being the African oral tradition. Later on, she found the eternal love of her life, known as Teacake. He was 12 years younger, but they got married. They were madly in love with each other, and they claimed not to live without each other. The girl was happy to get the true love in her life.

Moving on, it was seen that her husband got rabies saving the girl from the dog bite. The rabies was not easy for Jannie to handle. The husband used to become furious and aggressive at times, and it was difficult for her to manage. She murdered him and was proved innocent by the court. She returned to her birthplace and narrated the whole story. The eyes were watching the God gives an important message that life is not smooth always, but there are many ups and downs in it. It is not easy to survive. We all are helpless and always see to God to plan good and to have great help. The girl had to suffer throughout her life to get eternal love. The sad ending has shown that we cannot do anything to get our desires, and sometimes, we cannot meet our expectations. It is a clear observation that people should get ready to face difficult situations in life. The circumstances are not easy, and sometimes the true love turned into danger for life. The tables turned down, and she had to kill him by herself to protect her body and to get peace of mind (Shoomp).

Themes of the story:

The author has got excellence in amalgamizing the different themes in a book. The theme of love and mis love has been explained clearly in the book. Janie kept on finding true love

throughout her life, and for a reason, she got married thrice in her life. It is not easy for a girl to marry over and again, but she had to do it for the sake of love. The love was her priority, and she wanted to get true love in her life from her husband. So, the last husband proved to be her love, and she killed him. The theme of power and dominance has been elaborated in the book. She wanted to have equality and did not agree with gender discrimination. It was the reason for the failure of her first marriage that she could not find the power of man bearable for a long time. Another theme of respect has been explained in the book that the girls never want to be disrespected by her partner. All these themes are important for women's lives, and the author has explained all of them so well (Spark).

Settings:

As the author of the book had spent most of the time in Florida, so she had chosen the same city for the setting of the book. The scenes were all set in Florida, and the story plot is shown to be the early 20th century. It may be said that the author tried to explain the things of revolution because that century brought a lot of changes and revolutions in the whole world. The city of Florida was suitable for the setting of the book because the author could do it better as she has a lot of memories with the city. She has set the story with the minute details of settings and surroundings to attract threaders and to fill the color of reality. The story is full of real aspects of life. Though it reveals the bitter realities of life, and these are painful too, but the author tried to keep everything real. There are different aspects discussed in the book, and love for the motherland is one of them. She returned to her home after passing through different suffering, and it showed that peace and love come from the motherland, and it has different affiliations (Weebly).

Literacy Devices:

The race is an important element that has been discussed in the book. The black and white concept has been in the nerves of American society for years. There always been discrimination among white and black, and it cannot be finished. The author herself was for such a protagonist family, and she had the parents from different regions. It was seen that the author had chosen a similar girl for her book. The main character of the girl came from the same family. The amazing thing about the book was not the race of either white or black, but the girl was from the hybrid parents. One was white and other was black, so she got the characteristics of both parents. She had a cultural approach to both parents. She wanted to set herself free and independent and wanted to be with someone who can understand her needs and love her for her lifetime. The search for eternal love increased the element discontentment in her, and she remained dissatisfied for the whole life. A person should learn a lesson from her life that such desires cannot obtain love. There are some efforts to be made for it.

The language if the book was amazing. The author used simple language, but it was amazing to see such language that captivates the heart and attract the minds of people. She got the status of a wonderful author, and she brought herself a fantastic storyteller. If the language had not been simple, it had become difficult for the readers to understand the plot of the story. The language of the main character was a mixture of both black and white culture. She knew that American readers want to such stories that are full f literacy devices like this book. There are many other literacy devices used in the book to captivate the hearts of readers (Hurston).

Conclusion:

The Eyes were watching God is one of the works of art, and it is such a superb book written ever, the writer has contacted the delicate issues of society furthermore it, it has examined, plenty of artistic components. The scholarly components like history, topographical districts, language and culture and numerous different perspectives. Zora Neale Hurston composes the

book, and she is considered as one of the magnificent writers. She has made a remarkable history in New York by composing the books like the eyes were watching God and the short stories like "sweat". Thus, she is a popular essayist over the limits and is illustrious past the outskirts for her wok also. The tragic consummation has indicated that we can't effectively get the longings and now and then, we can't live up to our desires. It is a reasonable perception that individuals ought to prepare to confront the troublesome circumstances throughout everyday life.

The conditions are difficult, and now and again, the genuine affection transformed into peril forever. The tables turned down, and she needed to execute him without help from anyone else to ensure her body and to get significant serenity. The subject of intensity and strength has been explained in the book. She needed to have correspondence and disagreed with the sexual orientation segregation. It was the explanation of disappointment of her first marriage that she was unable to discover the intensity of man endurable for quite a while. Another subject of regard has been clarified in the book that the young ladies never need to be disregarded by her accomplice. Every one of these subjects is significant for the ladies' life, and the creator has clarified every one of them so well. The creator utilized the basic language, yet it was astounding to see such language that charms the heart and pull in the brains of individuals. She got the status of the awesome creator, and she brought herself as a phenomenal narrator. On the off chance that the language had not been straightforward, it had gotten hard for the readers to comprehend the plot of the story. The language of fundamental character was a combination of both high contrast culture. She realized that American readers need to such stories that are full f proficiency gadgets like this book. There are numerous other literacy gadgets utilized in the book to charm the hearts of readers.

References

Hurston, Z. N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 1937. Urbana: U of Illinois P., 1978

S., Bryce. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God: Summary & Analysis. 2012.

<https://study.com/academy/lesson/zora-neale-hurstons-their-eyes-were-watching- god-summary-analysis.html>.

Shop. Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary. 2012. <https://www.shmoop.com/study- guides/literature/eyes-were-watching-god/summary#:~>.

Spark. Their Eyes Were Watching God. 2020. <https://www.sparknotes.com/lit/eyes/themes/>. Weebly. Formalistic Approach of Eyes was watching God. 2013.

<https://wearewatchinggod.weebly.com/>.