Analysis of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses a great number of  literary mechanisms to develop the plot. The hurricane in the story serves as a defining moment and it reveals things about the characters and the environment they live in. From the test of Tea Cake’s relationship with Janie, to the existential ideas passed in the dark, to the race-based hierarchy in their society, all of these ideas are brought into play with the help of the hurricane.

The  effect it had on Tea Cake is one of the more important outcomes of the hurricane. We watch Tea Cake lose his house, his belongings, and almost his life.  But all the while, we observe as he holds on to his bond with Janie and displays that it is strong and true. With the dog scene, this very bond is tested along with Tea Cake's devotion to Janie,“Tea Cake was over-tired . . . They fought and somehow he managed to bite Tea Cake high up on his cheek-bone once.”(166) Even with Tea Cake being “over-tired” he still rushes in an attempt to save Janie’s life. This scene does nothing but further strengthen the relationship and set an example of the lengths that either would go through to keep their connection. The preceding event to really establish this idea was between pages 159-161. “‘Well then Janie, you meant whut you didn’t say, ‘cause Ah never knowed you wuz so satisfied wid me lak dat. Ah kinda thought-’”(160) The relationship between Janie and Tea Cake is really tested during the hurricane but this down-to-earth moment really bonds them.

This hurricane has a similar effect on Janie. We see Janie once again, struggling to survive and make it through the hurricane alive. As she does, she explains her feelings about the relationship. “Ah never ’spected nothin’, Tea Cake, but being dead from the standin’ still and tryin’ tuh laugh. But you come ’long and made somethin’ outta me. So Ah’m thankful fuh anything we come through together.”(167) Janie expresses her appreciation for her relationship with Tea Cake. She is grateful to be able to live a life only a reality in fables. After spending so much of her life living under her grandmother’s idea of success, it is illuminating to be able to relive her life under a new light. The hurricane also does something that Janie has experienced in one way or another many times over. It gives her another fresh start by destroying what she and Tea Cake have worked up to build.  The effect the hurricane has on clarifying and strengthening the bond between the two is powerful.

Something else that the hurricane scene shows is the racism still evident in the way white and black people acted towards each other. Such racism is highlighted by this hurricane. At the six-mile bridge, “But it was crowded. White people had preempted that point of elevation and there was no more room.”(164) This race-based hierarchy prevails even in the darkest of times. People were “Hurrying, dragging, falling, crying, calling out names hopeful and hopelessly. Wind and rain beating old folks and babies.” The pain and dreadfulness of the situation shows how everyone is affected. The fact that the discrimination forces people like Janie and Tea cake to continue on through the treacherous conditions comes in stark contrast to the storm. The storm has no preference as to who feels its wrath and it is indiscriminate. The white folks, on the other hand, are first to receive the safety of the Six Mile Bend and turn away the others. The hurricane is a major vocal point in the novel and has an oppressive and powerful effect, an effect which points characters to turn to a greater power.

The thought that there is a greater power watching or controlling above is an idea that Hurston plays with among her characters. “The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in the other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” While Hurston references God, the characters are asking him for solace. These people have done all that they can. They can not choose what happens to them next. It is up to chance, to luck, or in this case, God. This idea can be applied to the novel as a whole. I think throughout the novel, the hope and reliance on the judgment of God is within a lot of the novel’s message. There is a noticeable liveliness and personification given to the storm.  The wind “came back with triple fury,” is a good example of the life given to the storm. The creativity that is used while describing the storm seen throughout.“The monstropolous beast had left his bed”(161) The beast of the hurricane takes lives and swipes life’s work of many. It leaves things bare and broken. Not unlike a beast and its meal. The detail and intelligent wordplay used in these scenes is hard to miss and there are many examples of Hurston using this to capture key ideas.

The final scene in chapter 18 encapsulates the message of the hurricane when looked at through the right lense. “Havoc was there with her mouth wide open. Back in the Everglades the wind had romped among lakes and trees. In the city it raged among houses and men.”(167) The terror and destruction brought by the hurricane is captured here. Yet, through it all, this scene is the moment where Janie has been closest to her partner. And as the two reconcile the world around them is in chaos. Tea Cake says to end the chapter“You don’t have tuh say, if it wuzn’t fuh me, baby, cause Ah’m heah, and then Ah want yuh tuh know it’s uh man heah ”(167)

Various complex and multi-layered ideas and messages flow from the terror of the hurricane. Hurston's immense literary skill is more than proven in these passages and with it she is able to progress the progress of the plot.  Things like the relationship of the main characters, the thoughts on God, a reminder of the time the characters live in, and the recurring themes of love and freedom. All of these elements and more are brought to fruition with the help of the hurricane.