Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their eyes were watching God
Lameece Elhassan
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that focuses on the curious attitude on the difference between genders. It is written by Zora Neale Hurston. The protagonist is Janie, who is a semi-black woman because she comes from mixed ancestry. The novel is merely about Janie’s search and quest for love and independence. The novel starts with Janie arriving back to her hometown, coming back from a death.
In the first paragraph of the first page, the novel differentiates between women and men. There is a clear fundamental difference that slowly starts to build the background of the society. The passage manages to foreshadow the novels concerns; that men can never reach their dreams, while women are able to control their desires and choose to chase their dreams. This is represented by comparing the dreams and wishes of men to ships. Ships that never dock, but yet never out of sight, which reveals that men leave their dreams to chance. Their dreams are never quite reachable, as they are lost at sea. The sea represents a void of people’s hopes and dreams. “Never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.” This quote explains that men’s dreams are never reachable as time increases until death takes over. The author then compares the men with the women. That woman’s memories are selective. They follow their dreams and make them true. Women’s dreams are often realistic as they are the truth. That is the first difference that the author establishes in the novel. This passage foreshadows the confined concerns and burden of women’s role in the society. The author making Time, sun and skins personified, like a mythology. “The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky”. The sun represents Tea cake’s life, that the sun is gone and so is Tea cake’s life, but he leaves an impact in Janie.
The first page is directed towards a particular
Lameece Elhassan
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel that focuses on the curious attitude on the difference between genders. It is written by Zora Neale Hurston. The protagonist is Janie, who is a semi-black woman because she comes from mixed ancestry. The novel is merely about Janie’s search and quest for love and independence. The novel starts with Janie arriving back to her hometown, coming back from a death.
In the first paragraph of the first page, the novel differentiates between women and men. There is a clear fundamental difference that slowly starts to build the background of the society. The passage manages to foreshadow the novels concerns; that men can never reach their dreams, while women are able to control their desires and choose to chase their dreams. This is represented by comparing the dreams and wishes of men to ships. Ships that never dock, but yet never out of sight, which reveals that men leave their dreams to chance. Their dreams are never quite reachable, as they are lost at sea. The sea represents a void of people’s hopes and dreams. “Never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.” This quote explains that men’s dreams are never reachable as time increases until death takes over. The author then compares the men with the women. That woman’s memories are selective. They follow their dreams and make them true. Women’s dreams are often realistic as they are the truth. That is the first difference that the author establishes in the novel. This passage foreshadows the confined concerns and burden of women’s role in the society. The author making Time, sun and skins personified, like a mythology. “The sun was gone, but he had left his footprints in the sky”. The sun represents Tea cake’s life, that the sun is gone and so is Tea cake’s life, but he leaves an impact in Janie.
The first page is directed towards a particular