Their Eyes Were Watching God

Ther Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is an emotional novel about an African American women's life. Her name is Janie Crawford, and as she takes us through her life story, she will take us from her early childhood problems to her love and her heartbreak. She is born into many problems from the start, and she will go through many more throughout her life. The novel demonstrates the role of black women at the time it takes place. Zora Neale Hurston was an African American author during the Harlem Renaissance. In her novel, she truly portrayed how black culture was at the time, and was later criticized for it. Despite this, it is a heart-touching story about the ups and downs of life, and I hope you will read it along with me!

My Name

The name David means “beloved” or “friend.” This is the first name my parents chose for me after a lot of consideration. They were deciding between several different names: David John, Sean Patrick, and if I was a girl, Grace Catherine. Out of all these, the name David John had the most significance. I am named after my father and my grandfather. The name David is my father’s middle name, and John is my grandfather’s name. Because I was going to be their first born son, my parents wanted me to have a strong connection to the family. They decided not to make my first name John because I already had two uncles, and a cousin named John, and they did not want to add another one to the family. The real deciding factor in naming me David John was during my mother’s pregnancy with me; my grandfather was diagnosed with cancer and passed away. Since I was never able to meet him, they wanted me always to carry on his memory.

The name David is very popular. In fact, in 1995 (the year I was born), it was the sixteenth most common name for babies in the United States, and in 2009, it was the fourteenth most popular name. There are variations of the name in almost every language. The name has Old Testament biblical origin. There is only one David mentioned in the Bible, and his name occurs more than a thousand times. Everybody has probably heard the story of David and Goliath. David was only a child, but he was able to defeat the much larger Goliath, whom everybody else was scared of, in battle. David went on to become a king, poet, and musician.

25 Facts About Me

1. I have had every natural hair color possible
2. I aspire to become famous
3. I've been told that I look like Percy Jackson
4. I am going to be an engineer
5. I LOVE cheesecake
6. I love milkshakes
7. I am secretly in love with Selena Gomez
8. I run.
9. I'm a drummer
10. I hate vanilla ice cream
11. My favorite movie is School of Rock
12. My middle name is John
13. I am a middle child
14. I have more than thirty cousins
15. I am extremely good at pole vaulting
16. I have never been to Taco Bell
17. I used to be homeschooled
18. My mom and all her siblings went to John Carroll
19. My lucky number is 11
20. My favorite color is blue
21. My favorite food is chicken
22. I am Irish and Norwegian
23. I am allergic to peanuts
24. Most people don't pronounce my last name right
25. I eat Bagel Bites almost every day

Imagery

10 Images

“From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the lead-buds to snowy virginity of bloom.” (page 10)

“That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes.” (Page 12)

“There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.” (Page 24)

“She knew that the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether. She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up.” (Page 25)

“The noon sun filtered through the leaves of the fine oak trees where she sat and made lacy patterns on the ground.” (Page 27)

“They tried hard to hold it in, but enough incredulous laughter burst out of their eyes and leaked from the corners of their mouths to inform anyone of their thoughts.” (Page 37)

“Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun. (Page 51)

“Death, that strange being with the huge square toes who lived way in the West. The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof. What need has Death for a cover, and what winds can blow against him? He stands in his high house that overlooks the world.” (Page 84)

“A little sack hung from the corners of his eyes and rested on his cheek-bones; a loose-filled bag of feathers hung from his ears and rested on his neck beneath his chin.” (Page 81)

“The sun from ambush was threatening the world with red daggers, but the shadows were gray and solid-looking around the barn.” (Page 31)

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Symbolism

10 Symbols

The Head Rag symbolizes Joe’s control over Janie. Just like the head rag holds Janie’s hair back, Joe is holding Janie back from what she wants. He does not want Janie to be desirable to any other of the men in town.

Pear tree symbolizes Janie becoming a woman. It shows her maturing and growing just like the tree does.

The Mule symbolizes all the work that women have to do. Janie’s grandmother says that black women are like mules because they are regarded lowly and have to do a lot of work for their husbands.

The Gate symbolizes Janie’s longing for new things. She is always looking over the gate, and she always thinks that the grass is greener on the other side.

The Manure pile symbolizes Janie and Logan’s marriage. He was always making her do hard work, and he treated her like she was only there to serve him.

Horizon symbolizes Janie looking for hope. She is looking to the future and hoping that things in her life will get better.

Janie’s hair symbolizes her strength and womanhood. It is her most beautiful feature, and she draws strength from it.

Overalls symbolize the hard work that Janie has to do and the poverty and hardships in her life. Her life is not luxurious, but she doesn’t really care what others think of her.

Checkers symbolize that Joe wants Janie to be above other women but still always below men. He wouldn’t let her play checkers with the men in the town.

Joe Stark’s house represents his pride. He is supposed to be an equal with the other townspeople, but his house is bigger and better.