Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston (2024)

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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.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel about Janie, a Black woman who learns to love herself and use her voice through decades of trials. The novel touches on various themes including power, inequality, and the importance of having a voice.

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 ...

The most prevalent themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God involve Janie's search for unconditional, true, and fulfilling love. She experiences different kinds of love throughout her life.

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.

Also known as the 'All-Seeing Eye' and 'Eye of Providence', the symbol has been used since the ancient times to signify the omniscience and omnipresence of God and His powerful, preserving and guarding character.

Hurston wrote the novel during a critical moment for African American writers. The “New Negro Movement” and the Harlem Renaissance presented African American artists with the opportunity to use their art as a way to authentically represent the African American experience.

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.

Janie's husband, Joe Starks, insisted that she cover her hair so other men could not see it. So one of Janie's first actions after Joe dies is to uncover her hair. By destroying her head rags and letting her hair down, she signifies that she is no longer under Joe's control.

Richard Wright, often considered Hurston's chief literary rival, wrongheadedly criticized her novel for not explicitly addressing the “race problem,” and for allegedly choosing sensuality over social commentary.

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.

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.

Zora Neale Hurston was a famous writer in the Harlem Renaissance. Her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is the story of Janie Crawford and her search for true love. Through three marriages, Janie discovers not only what true love looks like, but she discovers herself, too.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston approaches romantic love as a symbiotic element of nature and longing that, when finally realized, is too pure to exist for very long on an impure earth.