Literary Criticism

While reading Nora Zeale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Try putting yourself in Janie's place, and your friends or family in the places of the other characters. You might be surprised at the parallels you can draw - the characters' attitudes and worldviews are remarkably modern for a novel that was written over seventy years ago. It's surprisingly easy to imagine what Hurston's characters are thinking and experiencing at every moment. By getting into their minds, you might realize that you would react in the same way. Each of the characters' search for success and fulfillment has similarities in the psychology of the modern world.

Janie, the main character, searches for her own happiness and fulfillment in life through self-assertion. Her life is compared to the bloom of a flower throughout the story. She glimpses the bud of the flower at the beginning, when she is just becoming a woman and learning to experience life for the first time. Then time seems to freeze when, after Janie's grandmother sees her kissing a neighborhood boy, she is forced into an unhappy marriage with a man who treats her poorly. Her husband treats her in a way that would today be considered both emotional and physical abuse. When Janie could no longer tolerate the situation, she left it. She ran from her situation to be with another man who promised to treat her as being more valuable than a servant - more like an equal, less like a slave. Her second marriage lasted longer but ended just as miserably. Janie's husband put her on a pedestal - above and away from everyone in the community. When Janie marries Tea Cake, her last husband, the flower opened fully and she learned what it was like to truly be loved, to love life, and to have the freedom to make her own choices within a relationship.

Joe, Janie's second husband, searches for happiness through power and position. He founds a town and puts himself - and Janie - in a position of prominence among its residents. As "the Mayor's wife," Janie is expected to live like a proper lady. Joe carries this expectation to the point that he forbids her to interact with the community in any way. Joe makes it clear that he is superior to those around him and chastises Janie for wanting to partake in their bourgeois antics - antics that he enjoys for himself. Joe's jealousy and self-conscious attitude end up causing him problems. Tea Cake, Janie's third (and last) husband, searches for happiness through pleasure, living in the moment. He whisks Janie off to "the muck," introducing her to a more humble way of life, but Janie embraces the adventure, learns new things, meets new people, and drinks up every minute of it. Tea Cake gambles, drinks, dances, plays games, jokes with his new friends at the muck, and enjoys his wife. He is always searching for a new way to enjoy himself and his life, but his search will ultimately end in misery.

At one key turning point in the story, Janie chooses to assert herself without flinching, without backing down. As I noted before, Joe's dissatisfaction with himself (and his attempts to point out Janie's imperfections so no one would see his own) lead to a major confrontation. Many people today have a similar attitude, though few take it to such an humiliating extreme. In an effort to deal with their own insecurities, some people try to take everyone around them a few notches by criticizing their appearance or morals or worldview. It's a common trap people use in an effort to deal with their own inadequacies. Joe's desperation at his own declining health and physique leads to him making incredibly inappropriate comments about Janie in front of much of the community.

The town's immediate reaction to Joe's comment is laughter. The town responds to almost every situation with laughter - whether out of humor, or fear, or happiness. The reaction here is no different. But this initial response doesn't last long; it fades quickly into nervous laughter and then silence as they wait to see what Janie will do or say. The town is like the backdrop for the drama, waiting with bated breath to see the outcome. They respect Joe and Janie, but they're a little shocked at what Joe has said. At the same time, like an audience watching a play, they're sympathetic with Joe after Janie's thorough dressing-down. The town is not unbiased, but at this point, they're not sure where their loyalty lies. Many of us know people in our home or workplaces who have similar qualities.

After listening to Joe's comments and considering her options, for the first time, Janie stands up emotionally. She can no longer quietly go about her business, submitting to her husband's inconsiderate and rude comments and his demeaning behavior towards her. She turns to face Joe and makes a retaliatory comment that takes Joe's ego down several notches. He is devastated, humiliated in the face of all that he holds dear - his position, his store, and his reputation with the town. Janie doesn't find immediate satisfaction in devastating Joe so thoroughly. She's hurt and mourns the loss of who he once was. He's not the same man she married. People change. Often the people we think we know best blindside us, and while we think knocking them back down will bring us some pleasure, retaliation is an ineffective pain reliever. Betrayal, disappointment, will always hurt. Regardless of this, however, for Janie, the confrontation is a big moment because it causes her to realize her full emotional potential and changes the way she lives the rest of her life.

Janie refused to be a slave to her situation, and she did whatever necessary to get out of it - sometimes turning to herself, sometimes pleading with God. Her story ends tragically, as do those of her friends and family. So, what comparisons can we draw between our situations and Hurston's characters? The answer will be different for everyone, but will likely determine the way we live the rest of our lives.

-Steffani Russell