Their Eyes Were Watching God

Their Eyes Were Watching God Book Report

1. Title: Their Eyes Were Watching God

2. Author/Date Written: Zora Neale Hurston/1937

3. Country of Author:

4. Characters

Janie Mae Crawford- The book’s main character. She is a very strong willed, independent person. She is able to defy a low class, unhappy life because of these factors, even though the environment that she grew up and lived in was never on her side.

Pheoby Watson – Janie’s best friend in Eatonville. Pheoby is the only towns person who respects and cares for Janie. She is trustworthy and kind.

Sam Watson - Pheoby's husband. Sam deals with problems in the community by using humor. His presence makes Janie more at ease, and comfortable.

Nanny Crawford - Janie's grandmother. She is concerned for Janie and is sometimes overbearing when she makes decisions for Janie.

Mr. and Mrs. Washburn- The Washburns were very sweet to both Nanny and Janie. They supplied Nanny with a job after she became free and they aided in raising Janie.

Johnny Taylor – During her adolescent years, Janie kissed Johnny. This is what caused Nanny’s decision for Janie to marry Logan Hicks.

Logan Killicks- Janie’s first husband. He is financially stable, yet unloving to Janie. She finds that she would be happier with Jody Starks.

Jody Starks - Janie's second husband. During their marriage, he becomes a powerful man and his ambitions and high set goals cause him to lose connection with Janie. The marriage ends soon after.

Tea Cake - Janie's third husband. He is understanding and warm. As he accepts her as herself, he also gets worked up and harms her a few times.

Motor Boat – A close, dear friend from the Everglades who attempts to avoid the hurricane with the couple. (Tea Cake and Janie).

Annie Tyler and Who Flung – Annie was a rich woman from Eatonville who became engaged to a younger man. Early into their relationship he takes her money and is never seen again. This story inspires Janie not to be so trusting and actually causes her to fear that Tea Cake will steal her money and leave.

5. Settings

The major places are: West Florida, Eatonville, Jacksonville, and the Everglades. West Florida is where Janie grows up, and is raised by Nanny and the Washburns. Eatonville is a second home to Janie. This is where she begins and ends her journey with Jody Starks and where she comes home to rest at the novel’s...

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...ere watching the actual God. In this work, the events and nouns in nature symbolize the presence of God; whether it is beautiful and giving such as the pear tree, or destructive and vengeful such as the hurricane. Many events of the book revolve around the weather and the climate, the seasons, and it shows that religion is open-minded, and that it can be interpreted in many different forms.

11. Techniques

The techniques used by Hurston include foreshadowing, language and sympathy. When you begin the first chapter, Hurston includes questions from characters standing on the side-lines that in a way that shows what will be present in her story and what questions will be confronted as she speaks.

The author also vividly expresses that Janie has been through hard times and still managed to make it through because she is strong of mind and heart. Hurston’s sympathy seems to be coming out of admiration as well as affirmation.

The language used also gives a feeling of the characters’ lives and personalities. It made me feel as if they were unique because of the way they talked. If the dialect had been printed using proper spelling, then the characters would have had far less personality.