Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Author: Zora Neale Hurston

Star Rating: 3/5

*Spoiler Warning*

Synopsis: Janie Mae Crawford sits down to tell her friend Phoebe her life story; how she survived three husbands, a hurricane, and the south in the early 20th century. After Janie’s mom abandoned her to grow up with her strict grandmother, Janie grows into a strong, young woman with goals and creative dreams. Her grandmother, who endured slavery and oppression marries Janie off to a stable, older man in hopes that Janie would have some level of financial security that her ancestors were deprived of. Her first husband, Logan, expects Janie to fall into the role of a traditional wifey, but she is miserable and runs away as soon as she meets Jody. Jody is a businessman with an ego and big dreams too. He moves into Eatonville and quickly becomes Mayor, store owner, and bossypants. Their time in Eatonville brings Janie closer to a whole cast of characters hanging outside the store she basically runs. There is a deaf wandering donkey, and plenty of town gossip. Over time, Jody starts abusing Janie, and when he insults her in the store and in front of ever-prying eyes, she fires back. After years of holding her tongue she exposes him for the greedy ugly monster that he is. After this, Jody falls ill and pleads with Janie for kind words on his deathbed. She holds strong and true, however, and tells him that he should be ashamed of the way he treated her, and in the middle of her rant, he dies. The town expects a widowed woman like Janie to remarry local suitors, but she refuses until she meets a younger fellow named Tea Cake. Tea Cake becomes her third husband and he has some swagger. They move to Jacksonville together and Tea Cakes emerges as a social butterfly with a gambling addition. Janie, married to a younger man she loves, but cannot trust grapples with constant insecurity over whether or not Tea Cake will leave her or cheat on her with another woman. After they move to the everglades and start working as farm laborers, there is a woman Janie all but catches Tea Cake with too. This is when God, or mother nature finally steps in and says, “enough is enough.” A terrible hurricane destroy the everglades and their town along with it. In the escape Tea Cake and Janie encounter a rabid dog that secretly bites Tea Cake. His hubris gets the best of him and he waits too long to admit what has happened. By the time the doctor arrives to help, it is too late, but Janie, loyal and true, stays with Tea Cake til the bitter end. Only when he finally loses his mind, and almost kills her, does she defend herself and shoot him. After Tea Cake dies, Janie is put on trial, but found not guilty. After her trial, she returns to Eatonville and tells Phoebe what happened. 

Memorable Quotes: “So Janie waited a bloom time, and a green time and an orange time. But when the pollen again golden the sun and sifted down on the world she began to stand around the gate and expect things. What things? Wh didn’t know exactly.”

“The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”

My Take: I picked this book up because I heard that 12th grade students at my school were reading it. I never read it in high school, and had little context for the novel before picking it up. I happened to finish reading it on a beach in Florida during a trip for a friend’s 30th birthday. I always like reading books in or near the setting where they take place. Florida, the everglades, and the south have such specific conditions in which generations of people have lived, thrived or survived. With the feeling of hot muggy air dripping off my forehead, and on to every other page, many visceral elements of Janie’s story came to life for me. The dialogue in vernacular helped me hear the voices of each character too. I think we must appreciate this story in the context of its history, and the lack of stories like this we have heard, celebrated and acknowledged. It’s a short book, but I did find it somewhat hard to read straight through. The last 25% picked up though, and by the end I was glad to have read it. Stringing imagery, complex characters, and symbolism made this a standout. I only gave it three stars, however, because I don’t like how Janie’s story is framed in men. I like her agency, but what did Janie want? What would a happy life for her look like if not defined by the men she married?