Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston Book Analysis

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is charged with beautiful winsome metaphors that sit with the reader long after the book is placed back on the shelf. This book is regarded as a feminist novel and is an important read because of its perspective from a black woman as she navigates life in the South in the early to mid 1900s. The perspective offered in this book addresses many issues, some of which are traditional gender roles, the portrayal of women’s struggles, as well as discovering one’s identity and independence. I deeply identified with Janie’s character from the beginning, striving for something more than what life was offering at the time, and her experimentation with people and things in order to discover what feels right and connected to her as a person. Her journey is connected from beginning to end and leaves you feeling satisfied after finishing the story.

Janie explores her identity through relationships and experiences while she searches for true love. Though this isn’t your regular prince-charming story line, the raw moments of reality separate Janie’s love story from the expected cliches we all have been told. Hurston offers an interesting perspective having Janie, the main character, be the narrator of the story; yet it is spoken in an omniscient third person. 

Identity is hard to define since it is interpreted as such a subjective idea. The definition of identity is, “the fact of being who or what a person or thing is” (Oxford Languages). When applying this to Janie’s character, the experience that comes with “being” is forever shifting. Janie consistently mentions this idea she has of her “horizon” which was very smoothly woven into the storyline because it is synonymous with finding her identity. 

Janie’s development feels close to home to many, I assume, with her adventures in her backyard with nature and the curiosity she has for the pear tree. “She was stretched on her back beneath the pear tree soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun, and the panting breath of the breeze, when the inaudible voice of it all came to her” (Hurston 10). This stunning description effortlessly describes many of our experiences in early development within Mother Nature. 

This piece is also a commentary on many important causes that need to be discussed and hopefully changed. Along with Hurston’s powerful commentary, she manages to illustrate the beauty found within each experience, good or bad.

Separating this story from real life, these gender roles that Hurston is commenting on can be seen in many areas of our reality. My grandparents relationship, for instance, it wouldn’t be described as a healthy one. My grandmother must have dinner ready for my grandfather every night at 6:00 on the dot as well as the rest of the responsibilities of the house since he works. It is not balanced and is actually quite sad, and there are similar things found in the book, “so gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush” (Hurston 67). Hurston makes it clear that the settling into these problematic relationships is gradual. Similar to the analogy of boiling a frog, where as the water gets warmer for the frog, by the time it notices it’s in danger, it’s too late. A harsh analogy to my grandmother, as well as Janie, but that’s the reality of our world, and it’s especially common in older generations to fall into typical gender roles. Hurston was simply noting how things are for a lot of women, especially during this time period, and bringing them to light.

This book is a piece of artwork that will stay with its readers because of the beautiful metaphors and descriptions, but also because of the many topics that it tackles throughout the read. It has a unique twist on taking the reader through the character’s journey, which makes it such a memorable story. This book is important now, but was even more important when the author wrote it in 1937, when women’s struggles weren’t treated as seriously as they should have been.