Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

Oprah made the movie Their Eyes Were Watching God different from the novel that the author Zora Neale Hurston would not even recognize her own work. Critics like Barbara Ceptus can even agree with this statement. “Oprah takes a four-course novel that requires time to savor and digest and reduces it to baby food. It’s easily digestible, but hardly nurturing or memorable” (Ceptus). Oprah changed the relationships between the characters to where some had purity and some had not. She refused to include important symbolism in the movie that it made the audience focus on the story as a story of love instead of a story of revelation. Oprah changed the dynamics of the story by shortening or eliminating significant scenes in the movie and made the

“It was one of the most beautiful and poignious love story I have ever read” (Harpo). In the novel, the relationship between Janie and Tea Cake had little purity but Oprah changed a lot of things that she turned it into a pure true love story. Tea Cake had told Janie that he would never leave her unless he found someone that brought his attention like Janie did in the book. “If Ah ever gits tuh messin’ round another woman it won’t be on account of her age. It’ll be because she got me in de same way you got me—so Ah can’t help mahself” (Hurston 121). Tea cake implied that he would not leave Janie unless he finds someone like Janie; he implies he could cheat. This statement got eliminated so Tea Cake would be seen as pure. Tea Cake had taken Janie’s money and had a party where Tea Cake would only allow the pretty women inside the party Tea Cake threw. “And he stood in the door and paid all the ugly women two dollars to not come in” (Hurston 122). Tea Cake only let the pretty girls in his party. Tea Cake seemed to have attracted women because other females would flirt with him. Nunkie had importance because it showed Tea Cake’s impurity in the novel. “Janie learned what it felt like to be jealous. A little chunky girl took to picking a play out of Tea Cake in the fields and in the quarters” (Hurston 136). The scene had much significance

The hurricane scene in the novel had the most importance in the novel but had gotten shortened. It led to the climax and what occurred also led the end of Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship. “The hurricane represented the destructive fury of nature… The hurricane makes the characters question who they are, and what their place in the universe is” (SparkNotes). The hurricane had the most important significance in the whole novel and the fact that Oprah shortened it made it seemed unimportant. Janie loved nature so much but this type of nature became the reason why Janie’s life changed. “The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God” (Hurston 160). The scene showed the fear in the people in the town and the hope they had on God for it to all