#tewwg

[billiennn]

𝒯𝒽ℯ𝒾𝓇 ℰ𝓎ℯ𝓈 𝒲ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒲𝒶𝓉𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓃ℊ 𝒢ℴ𝒹 （2005）

[moodboardmaniac]

every book i read in 2020 - 3/?

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

“Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.”

(click the image for hopefully better quality on mobile)

[bibliophile-quotes]

“He was longing for peace but on his own terms.”

- Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

[berghahnbooks]

She had waited all her life for something, and it had killed her when it found her.

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, 1937

[theafromystic]

Happy Belated to one of my favorite Collective #Ancestors and #Hoodoo Wimmens, Zora Neale Hurston! In my life shes an uplifted Ancestor...Her work has both saved my life, and given me my entire life #MulesandMen, #TellMyHorse, #DustTracks, #TEWWG...Thank You Eatonville, and Thank You #Zora! . . . | #zoranealehurston | #hoodoo | #conjure | #BlackLit is #Lit | #literature | #blackbooks | #classics | #BlackWitchBookClub

[bibliophile-quotes]

“Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman.”

- Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

[smaeemo-reads]

Ok Their Eyes Were Watching God and RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM ARE UOU KIDIDNGME OMGZ RH

[theevilmaninyourcomputer]

Goooood morning everyone, unfortunately, it's that time again. What time, you ask? Well, as you may or may not know I find blogging on my phone much easier than sitting down with a computer, so when I have to write a book report, I draft something up on the ol' tumblr alt (and I shave HOURS off of what would be a day long process, because I am a ridiculously slow writer). This paper is due in a week, so in the interest of getting it done before the 11th hour, I'll be posting it here for the whole world (5 people) to see. It's funny, everytime I do this I'm struck by how short the post looks. Doing this helps me overcome the creative roadblock that is MLA formatting. Okay, fuck, *cracking all my bones*-let's a-go.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston tackles intersectionality. Janie struggles to exist as a free-spirited, independent black woman, fighting against the stringent societal expectations of the Jim Crow South. Men police her appearance, dictating how she is allowed to present herself-when she can speak, what she can say. Janie's intelligence is undermined, and she is treated like an incompetent object by every man in her life. Her first two husbands, for example, refuse to acknowledge her as an equal. Joe "Jody" Starks, Janie's second partner, constantly puts Janie down, "he wanted her submission and he'd keep on fighting until he felt he had it" (Hurston 71). Janie assumes the roll of the quiet, devoted wife, but she silently resents Jody. When he dies of kidney failure, she runs off with a 20-something boy named "Tea Cake." While Tea Cake does legitimately respect her, there's still an unbalanced power dynamic in their relationship. When Tea Cake grows jealous of another man, "He whip(s) Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside of him. Being able to whip her reassured him of his posession" (Hurston 17). Tea Cake does feel that, on some level, he owns Janie, albeit less than Jody.

This brings me to my next point (it doesn't, but there's no way for me to naturally transition into talking about this), which is the thematic importance of Janie's hair. Janie's primary struggle is one of freedom-financial freedom, sexual liberation; freedom to live on her terms, go where she pleases, wear what she wants. Janie's hair is her most striking, beautiful feature. It's symbolic of her autonomy, and a means of self-expression . As Janie ages, she is (as so many women are) waved off as an old biddy, undesirable, like a carton of milk past its expiration date. People are appalled when she continues to behave like a young woman, when she doesn't immediately tie her hair up and trade her overalls for a mumu (or whatever the early 20th century equivalent to a granny dress is). Janie is unconventional, in the sense that she does not 'act her age.'

I referenced the theme of 'sexual liberation,' (which is arguably one of the most important themes of the novel, although it's mostly subtextual), often when Janie speaks of "marriage" she is referring to, I believe, marital relations. This is intruiging, and adds another layer of complexity to an already rich story. Sexual liberation, as it pertains to women's rights, is directly relevent to the subject matter in TEWWG. It's heavily stigmatised, yet simultaneously such a pure, adolescent thing to desire. Janie spends the latter half of the novel as a middle aged women, making up for her lost youth with Tea Cake. When she finally does, you know, pollinate his flower, it isn't framed as being sinful or wrong, as her grandmother led her to believe. This brings the story full circle, in a sense. TEWWG begins with Janie, "getting her womanhood" and being thrust, unwillingly, into the adult world at the ripe old age of 17. After years of repressing her sexual desire, it is ultimately very empowering for her to, not just take part in, but initiate the sexual act. Especially considering the horrible circumstances under which she was concieved. When she has intercourse with Tea Cake, it's beautiful. Tea Cake is springtime, he is the peach tree, and the bees. At long last, Janie really does have her womanhood about her, and in the end-it isn't so bad.

Ugh my head hurts.