“Their Eyes Were Watching God” is a marvelous example of women literature that can do better upon the reader than most of the self-help books. Zora Neale Hurston made a name for herself as a writer and secured a place in the best American books ranks thanks to this novel. Composed by an African-American author, it conveys the reality of an American society of the early 20th century through the eyes of a fair-skinned girl with big potential but no perspectives. 

This piece of literary creation saw the light of day in the atmosphere full of prosperous believes and great aspirations influenced by an economic upturn after the war. The following years of the Great Depression brought a lot of criticism on the book for the lack of social message and wrong political agenda. After many years of ignoring, today the society greatly appreciates Zora Hurston works. 

The protagonist of “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Janie Crawford has mixed origins and lives at times when having even a hint of dark skin in one’s bloodline makes life much more difficult. She grows into a tender lady and discovers her sensuality through three marriages. 

Her husbands symbolize typical social representatives of that time: boring and violent Logan, bright and self-confident Joe, young and money-loving Tea Cake. Each of these men teaches Janie a valuable lesson. They say that we don’t choose people in our life – the people choose us. That’s exactly the case of our heroine. 

Janie grows her character and spirit through these marriages. If at first, it’s a real death threat that forces her to run away, later she needs much less of a reason to protest. Her second marriage breaks because of a man’s stereotypical ideas on woman’s role in a household and society in general. She learns to speak out and even act out when emotions take over her oppressed personality. 

Author: Erica Morris