Their Eyes Were Watching God Book Review

“She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see” (Hurston 193). The story of Janie Crawford, told in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, calls our souls, the readers’, to come and see it –feel it– for there is so much life told between its pages. The novel is at once a bildungsroman (a book that centers around the spiritual development of its protagonist) and a tragic romance story. Its themes intertwine and overlap; it is a work of feminist literature as well as political commentary, exploring the experience of African American women in the early 20th century rural South. Hurston employs her own unique writing style: she is heavy on the dialogue, one which reflects the specific dialect of Black people of the geographic region and time period that she describes, and adopts a nonlinear method of storytelling. I can definitely say that I have never read a novel that combines vernacular speech and prose in such a flawless and moving way.

HARPERPERENNIAL

Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the life of Janie Crawford– specifically her upbringing and the story of her marriages. It is mostly told in her voice, the Southern Black colloquial language that she uses, as she tells the story to her only friend, Pheoby. The style is interesting and definitely takes some getting used to– but it adds a sort of truth to the novel.

  The novel begins with the end of Janie’s story: at the start of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie returns to Eatonville alone harboring an air of mysterious past and the particular heaviness of tragedy. Pheoby is as uninformed about Janie's turbulent love life as the rest of the nosy townspeople of Eatonville, Florida, but is told, along with us readers, of what exactly happened to Janie. We learn of her search for true love and agency as a Black woman in a society that seems bent on depriving her of these things– of her strength in the face of immense struggle and loss. 

The novel follows her character development from a scared yet idealistic young girl to a smart and courageous woman through the marriages that demarcate the different phases of her life and psyche. With Logan, she is naive; with Jody, she is lost; and, with Tea Cake, she is found. The gradual change in Janie that is described through the lives that she lives with the different men whom she marries is definitely my favorite part of the book. At first, Janie is submissive to others, notably her Nanny and first two husbands, and acts how she is expected to. However, as she plays different roles and discovers what she truly wants, she begins to not let others define her as they once did.

This novel is, above all, a critique of classism, racism, and the role of Black women in society in this time period. Hurston utilizes parts of her own life to bring Janie’s story while also criticizing the oppressive society that she lives in. By telling parts of her own story through Janie, Hurston portrays the broader experience of Black women in the South during the time period while at the same time crafting an inspiring feminist tale– her novel exemplifies progress in woman’s self-awareness and independence despite the position women held in society at the time.

I personally loved this book for a couple of reasons. First, Hurston’s style is so unique and an accurate depiction of the way those around her really spoke– not to mention the brilliance of the writing itself– I caught myself rereading certain passages and turns of phrase two or three times because I found them so beautifully composed. Moreover, Janie as a character is very interesting to discover because she doesn’t even know herself until the very end of the novel. I felt like I was right there with her through the good and bad moments, during her encounter with true, pure love as well as unimaginable loss. Her tragic story feels oddly satisfying because of how invested I became in her love life. What’s a good love story without some tragedy in it anyway? The end is hard to put down– I even shed a couple of tears while reading it at the library. Without spoiling it though, I’ll say that if you liked Old Yeller, you ought to read this book immediately. A classic of the Harlem Renaissance and a veritable tearjerker, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who appreciates feminist literature, romance, or a good bildungsroman.