Almost 2,000 died the night of the 1928 storm in Florida. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston realistically depicts the Okeechobee hurricane that struck the coast of South Florida. The incredulous, category four storm produced winds as high as 150 mph and flood waters of up to eight feet. Hurston describes their heart wrenching experience throughout the end of the novel when Janie, the protagonist of the story, survives the devastating hurricane with her husband, Tea Cake. The book shows similarities between the overflow of Lake Okeechobee and the specific weather conditions of the hurricane, but differs regarding the aftermath of the storm. “The greatest devastation occurred, however, along the south shore of Lake Okeechobee. There, the 10 feet surge washed over the lake’s 5-8 feet dikes and flooded an area 75 miles wide” (Hurricanes: Science and Society). The most prominent similarity between the event described in the book and the event in reality, is the fact that the dikes surrounding Lake Okeechobee burst causing the lake to rapidly burgeon. Janie and Tea Cake walk through the rainwaters and as they are escaping for higher ground, they turn around and see the inexorable lake rushing towards them, destroying everything in its path. “The lake was coming on. Slower and wider, but coming. It had trampled on most of its supporting wall and lowered its front by spreading. But it came muttering and grumbling onward like a tired mammoth just the same” (pg. 163). Hurston describes the lake using personification, acting as if the large body of water is a monster. With this literary device, she incorporates the point of view of the victims, who saw the lake as a significant bane of the storm. Specific weather condition... ... middle of paper ... ...ora Neale Hurston, does an excellent job of articulating the Okeechobee Hurricane throughout her novel. Although, the aftermath of the storm is more lengthy in reality, the dikes bursting around the lake and detailed weather conditions deem true. Tea Cake and Janie experience the pernicious storm with fear and discomfort, which is a realistic interpretation of real victims’ emotions. Their Eyes Were Watching God indisputably portrays the Hurricane of 1928 that devastatingly swept through the coast of Florida. Works Cited "Top 10 Facts about Rabies You Didn’t Know." N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 20 Feb. 2014. "Rabies." ASPCA. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Feb. 2014. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial Modern Classics: Reissue Edition 2013
Zora Hurston’s novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” depicts the journey of a young woman named Janie Crawford’s journey to finding real love. Her life begins with a romantic and ideal view on love. After Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, soon grows fearful of Janie’s newfound sexuality and quickly marries Janie off to Logan Killicks, an older land owner with his own farm. Janie quickly grows tired of Logan and how he works her like a slave instead of treating her as a wife and runs away with Joe Starks. Joe is older than Janie but younger than Logan and sweet talks Janie into marring him and soon Joe becomes the mayor of an all African American town called Eatonville. Soon Joe begins to force Janie to hide not only her
In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author takes you on the journey of a woman, Janie, and her search for love, independence, and the pursuit of happiness. This pursuit seems to constantly be disregarded, yet Janie continues to hold on to the potential of grasping all that she desires. In, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Hurston illustrates the ambiguity of Janie’s voice; the submissiveness of her silence and the independence she reclaims when regaining her voice. The reclaiming of Janie's independence, in the novel, correlates with the development and maturation Janie undergoes during her self discovery.
Oprah Winfrey mutilated the classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston by turning the movie into a story with no resemblance to the book. Throughout Janie Crawford’s life, love is a dream she wished to achieve. Oprah makes changes to Janie’s character, her marriages, and the differences of symbolism, the change of themes, and the significance of Janie’s childhood which will alter the entire moral of the story. Another difference is the way the townspeople gossip. Oprah changes the point of Janie’s life journey to find herself to a love story.
...er, she uses her voice and fights to save her dream and her life. Because the hurricane scene serves as the central metaphor of Hurston’s novel, it’s not surprising that other writers would want to use the hurricane to signify on Hurston. What may surprise these other writers, however, is that the novel actually includes five hurricane scenes, not just one.
Hurston, Lora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1990.
Hurston, Zora N. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1937. Print.
The main female characters of Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Seraph on the Suwanee, move from oppression to liberation throughout the course of the novel. Their journey to find their own “niche” in life occurs via their relationships with men. For Janie, her relationships with dominant male figures stifle her identity as well as her ability to achieve self-actualization. For Arvay Meserve, her personal background and relationship with her authoritarian husband cause miscommunication and thus prevent her from personal growth and awareness. In both cases, a hurricane is the mechanism through which both women find their identities and place in life.
4. Hurston, Zora Neal. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Collins, 1937. Print.
Through her use of southern black language Zora Neale Hurston illustrates how to live and learn from life’s experiences. Janie, the main character in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a woman who defies what people expect of her and lives her life searching to become a better person. Not easily satisfied with material gain, Janie quickly jumps into a search to find true happiness and love in life. She finally achieves what she has searched for with her third marriage.
The book revolves around one particular idea that God is nature and we should live close to nature, for it is our greatest teacher, and it is once again God. There is this idea in the book that God can manifest through nature, like when Janie was under the fruit tree, in nature, and was finally able to get her thoughts together, figuratively through God (11). Also in the text, Teacake, Janie and Motorboat were watching the hurricane up in the sky. The text directly restated the title, “Their eyes were watching God,” directly implying that the hurricane, a representation of nature, is God himself. This same hurricane puts the three through havoc and nearly kills them; also implying that it is God, himself, only this time, indirectly.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 04 Feb. 2014. Web. The Web.
Appiah and Gates, 204-17. Hurston, Zora. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1990. Wright, Richard.
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rep. N.p., 26 Sept. 2013. Web. 11 Apr. 2014.