criticism comparison and assessment
by jacob bauer
The main character of the book Their Eyes Were Watching God is Janie. This book and more importantly, Janie can best be interpreted if the reader knows about the author Zora Neale Hurston. Zora grew up in Eatonville, Florida and Janie settled in Eatonville when she moved away from her first husband, Logan (shmoop.com). Zora, like Janie was black and Eatonville was an all-black community back then, so Zora and Janie both know what segregation was like during that time period. Janie had three husbands throughout the novel which include Logan, Tea Cake, and Joe. Like Janie, Zora also had her fair share of divorces. Zora was married to a man named Herbert, whom she eventually divorced. Then she married a man named Price which would also end in divorce (shmoop.com). Janie is such an important character for the plot as the book is about her life from her teenage years until her last years. The rest of the characters are just the supporting cast. Janie is made in the image of Zora, so the best way to understand Janie is to first understand Zora.
The theme of the story actually contradicts what Zora believes in. The theme of the book seems to be about Janie moving through life while searching for God at the same time. Her best friend Pheoby believes in God and is religious, and at the end of the story she tells Janie to go to God. Janie seems at peace with the death of Tea Cake, so it seems as if she found God at the end. Zora, on the other hand, once was quoted saying, “prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down” (Gaylor). It is apparent from this quote that Zora does not believe in religion, thus making her belief and the theme different.
The beauty of the book Their Eyes Are Watching God is that readers are able to read the text and interpret it how they want. Because the theme and the main character Janie can be interpreted in many different ways. The book tracks Janie’s life from her first husband to her last. She marries Logan first, and she eventually runs away with a man named Joe. That sequence of events in the book have to be interpreted by the reader. Did she make the right decision in running away from Logan? Was it wrong of her to disobey her grandma’s wish to stay married to Logan? There are many different interpretations and questions that come from this event, however the readers have to come up with their own conclusions. The last two relationships that Janie had also have to be interpreted by the reader. Janie was beaten by both husbands, and she stayed with both of them, so different readers are going to have different viewpoints about Janie and the way she handled those relationships. The theme of this story can be different for certain readers. There are some books that have very obvious themes, and others like this one do not. God, segregation, and woman’s rights could all be possible subjects that the theme is about, but the theme can only be decided by the readers.
Zora Hurston wrote the book Their Eyes Were Watching God and made Janie the main character. Janie has to live through the 1920s and 1930s in the book, so a lot of things were going on with segregation and women’s rights. She marries three husbands throughout the book, and all three of the relationships do not end well. The second relationship in particular showcases the type of dominance that men had over women in that era. Janie is married to a man named Joe, and the relationship goes south quick. One of the reasons that the relationship did not work out was because Joe always had to show his dominance over Janie. He never let her wear her hair down, beat her constantly, and did not allow her to make her own decisions.
It bothered Janie constantly that she was not able to become an independent woman with Joe. After Joe died she married a man named Tea Cake, and Tea Cake showed her much more respect, but he still beat her every so often to show his dominance. The theme of the story is about seeking out God, and Janie eventually does that at the end of the book. It became more clear at the end of the book that the theme is probably about seeking out God, and Janie found God at a time when she was finally an independent woman.
A feministic and reader-response interpretation are both valid according to the Christian worldview. There is nothing about the interpretations that would make them more Christian like than the other. The only interpretation that does not agree with a Christian worldview is the historical one in this case. The reason why is because the author Zora does not believe in religion, and the theme of the book is about God. Other than that, all of the schools of literary criticism hold Christian worldviews in some way.
Works Cited:
https://ffrf.org/news/day/famous-freethinkers-secular-stars/spotlight/item/14128-zora-neale-hurston
http://www.shmoop.com/zora-hurston/timeline.html
The theme of the story actually contradicts what Zora believes in. The theme of the book seems to be about Janie moving through life while searching for God at the same time. Her best friend Pheoby believes in God and is religious, and at the end of the story she tells Janie to go to God. Janie seems at peace with the death of Tea Cake, so it seems as if she found God at the end. Zora, on the other hand, once was quoted saying, “prayer seems to me a cry of weakness, and an attempt to avoid, by trickery, the rules of the game as laid down” (Gaylor). It is apparent from this quote that Zora does not believe in religion, thus making her belief and the theme different.
The beauty of the book Their Eyes Are Watching God is that readers are able to read the text and interpret it how they want. Because the theme and the main character Janie can be interpreted in many different ways. The book tracks Janie’s life from her first husband to her last. She marries Logan first, and she eventually runs away with a man named Joe. That sequence of events in the book have to be interpreted by the reader. Did she make the right decision in running away from Logan? Was it wrong of her to disobey her grandma’s wish to stay married to Logan? There are many different interpretations and questions that come from this event, however the readers have to come up with their own conclusions. The last two relationships that Janie had also have to be interpreted by the reader. Janie was beaten by both husbands, and she stayed with both of them, so different readers are going to have different viewpoints about Janie and the way she handled those relationships. The theme of this story can be different for certain readers. There are some books that have very obvious themes, and others like this one do not. God, segregation, and woman’s rights could all be possible subjects that the theme is about, but the theme can only be decided by the readers.
Zora Hurston wrote the book Their Eyes Were Watching God and made Janie the main character. Janie has to live through the 1920s and 1930s in the book, so a lot of things were going on with segregation and women’s rights. She marries three husbands throughout the book, and all three of the relationships do not end well. The second relationship in particular showcases the type of dominance that men had over women in that era. Janie is married to a man named Joe, and the relationship goes south quick. One of the reasons that the relationship did not work out was because Joe always had to show his dominance over Janie. He never let her wear her hair down, beat her constantly, and did not allow her to make her own decisions.
It bothered Janie constantly that she was not able to become an independent woman with Joe. After Joe died she married a man named Tea Cake, and Tea Cake showed her much more respect, but he still beat her every so often to show his dominance. The theme of the story is about seeking out God, and Janie eventually does that at the end of the book. It became more clear at the end of the book that the theme is probably about seeking out God, and Janie found God at a time when she was finally an independent woman.
A feministic and reader-response interpretation are both valid according to the Christian worldview. There is nothing about the interpretations that would make them more Christian like than the other. The only interpretation that does not agree with a Christian worldview is the historical one in this case. The reason why is because the author Zora does not believe in religion, and the theme of the book is about God. Other than that, all of the schools of literary criticism hold Christian worldviews in some way.
Works Cited:
https://ffrf.org/news/day/famous-freethinkers-secular-stars/spotlight/item/14128-zora-neale-hurston
http://www.shmoop.com/zora-hurston/timeline.html