Summary and Analysis Chapter 9
Summary
Janie spares no expense for Joe's funeral. Even people from neighboring towns attend his funeral. She does what is expected of her as a widow, but she hides her true feelings behind the required mourning attire. Inwardly, Janie feels no sorrow.
Janie's first act of freedom is to burn all of the headrags that Joe made her wear. Aside from that, she makes no changes. She keeps the store with the help of a teenage youth, Hezekiah, who does his best to emulate Joe's mannerisms, even down to his cigar. Now Janie can sit on the porch and talk if she chooses.
What should she do? Seek her long-lost mother, Leafy? Go back to her hometown and tend to Nanny's grave? An undertaker of a nearby town is courting Janie, and moreover, suddenly men who were scarcely interested in her and Joe are now driving distances to inquire about her. For Janie, the best course is to enjoy her freedom and make the most of being alive.
Analysis
The funeral for the mule in Chapter 6 is a parody of every funeral and burial in which the townspeople of Eatonville have even been involved. In contrast, Joe's funeral may well be the most elaborate that they have ever seen. Janie spared no expense to make sure that Joe left "as he had come — with the out-stretched hand of power."
Janie's outward appearance and her inward thoughts contrast following the death of Joe. While the townspeople mourn the death of Joe, Janie appears to be grieving. However, inwardly, Janie feels no sorrow, only a sense of calm. Janie attended Joe's funeral, but inside, she "went rollicking with the springtime across the world." Finally, Janie is free of the man who stifled her individuality. In her first act of freedom following Joe's death, Janie burns her headrags to symbolize her new independence from Joe's control.
While many women who lose their husbands feel weak and insecure, Janie does not. Rather, Janie actually gains strength from Joe's death. Even though Janie endures intense loneliness, she is strong enough to manage her personal life and the store as a result of enduring Joe's constant ridicule. Ironically, Joe's domination may have made Janie a stronger person. Janie begins to enjoy her freedom: ". . . she liked being lonesome for a change. This freedom feeling was fine." One other positive outcome of Joe's death is Janie's deepening friendship with Pheoby. No longer is Janie restricted from maintaining friendships and socializing with the townspeople. With Joe's death, Janie has gained the freedom she has desired for so long.
Glossary
gold and red and purple, the gloat and glamor of secret orders Joe evidently belonged to several lodges or fraternal orders, and each one has a different ritual to be performed when a member dies. Hurston mentions the Elks (BPOE) band that plays at Joe's funeral.
celebration funerals and wakes often become festive affairs when family and friends gather, not only for the burial but also for a celebration of the life of the deceased.
set for still bait a term for fishing, meaning that the bait is easy for the fish to grab.
like a pack of chessy cats The reference is to the Cheshire Cat in Alice in Wonderland, who had an all-knowing smile. Here, Janie is saying that all of her gentlemen callers have smug, too-confident grins on their faces.
FAQs
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is, at its heart, a story that validates the potency of love. The narrative follows the protagonist, Janie, on her search for an ideal love—which becomes a simultaneous search for herself. Her journey for a relationship envelops many correlated themes.
What is the literal meaning of Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Andrew Ruble Fate and self-determination are important themes within the story. " Their eyes were watching God" is another way of saying, "They were watching closely in order to predict fate", or. "Their eyes were watching nature unfold."
Why is Their Eyes Were Watching God so hard to read? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God is known for its use of early 1900s, southern, African American dialect. Because the dialect is so thick, the novel's dialogue can be difficult to decipher at first.
What is Zora Neale Hurston trying to say in Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Zora Neale Hurston
Set in the rural South, the novel vividly captures the cultural and social context of the time, including issues of race, gender, and class. Janie's story is a powerful exploration of identity, resilience, and the quest for autonomy in a society marked by racial and gendered oppression.
What is the moral lesson of Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
What lesson does Janie learn in Their Eyes Were Watching God? Janie learns that she has a voice and her dreams and desires are just as valid as those of the men around her. She learns that she can be happy with a partner or by herself.
What did Janie sacrifice? ›
Nanny caused Janie to sacrifice the love she dreamed of. In her youth she had a great dream of a pear tree during which she came to realize what love was.
Why is Their Eyes Were Watching God so popular? ›
Published in 1937, Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is regarded as a groundbreaking piece of literature for its exploration of the self through the eyes of Janie Crawford, a romantic, resilient Black woman navigating three marriages in the early 20th century.
What does Janie's hair symbolize? ›
Hair. Janie's hair is a symbol of her power and unconventional identity; it represents her strength and individuality in three ways. First, it represents her independence and defiance of petty community standards.
What is the plot of the eyes were watching God? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God is the story of Janie Crawford, whose life is a quest to find true love. Janie narrates to her friend Phoeby the story of her three marriages and her search for love.
What is controversial about Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Add to that a story dealing with rape, inter-racial relationships, murder (even if it was in self-defense), and forced marriage it illustrates how it would be considered controversial from the start, but these subjects are just as emotionally charged in modern times: in 1997, a parent complained of language and sexual ...
Their Eyes Were Watching God meets the standard for Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity for grades 11-12.
What was one reason that Their Eyes Were Watching God was considered controversial _____? ›
One reason that "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston was considered controversial was because it portrayed black people's lives in a way that was not consistent with the mainstream view of black people's experiences at the time.In the early 20th century, white people's perceptions of black people's ...
Why were their eyes watching God banned? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The story is set in early 20th Century Florida, and it follows the story of Janie Mae Crawford, who is described as an independent Black woman. In 1997, the text was banned after a parent of a Virginia high school student complained about its obscenity and sexual content.
What is the point of Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God illustrates how no human pursuits—for love, money, or self-worth—can stand against God or the forces of nature.
What does the ending of Their Eyes Were Watching God mean? ›
Essays What Does the Ending Mean? Their Eyes Were Watching God concludes with Janie's self-actualization and hope for her own future. Janie finishes recounting her story to Pheoby—just as she promised she would do in the beginning—before settling into her bedroom and reflecting on Tea Cake's death.
What is the point of view Their Eyes Are Watching God? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God is told from the perspective of an omniscient third-person narrator, meaning the narrator has access to the inner lives of each character. Unlike Janie and the other characters, the narrator does not speak in the informal Southern dialect.
What does Their Eyes Were Watching God represent? ›
Hurston writes that they waited to see how nature would determine their fate: “They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” With this line, the characters recognize the lack of control they have over their own lives, and realize they can only be spared from the cruelty of nature if God sees ...
What is Hurston's message in their eyes? ›
Throughout the novel, Zora Neale Hurston presents the theme of love, or being in a relationship versus freedom and independence, that being in a relationship may hinder one's freedom and independence.
What is the story "Their Eyes Were Watching God" about? ›
The novel explores protagonist Janie Crawford's "ripening from a vibrant, but voiceless, teenage girl into a woman with her finger on the trigger of her own destiny". Set in central and southern Florida in the early 20th century, the novel was initially poorly received.
