Different but similar
Comparing the Their Eyes Were Watching God to the other books we read in class this year, it feels really laid back. We have been dealing with some pretty serious issues, especially with the native son. There is surprisingly hasn't been a lot of shocking, in your face, racism in this book. A major part of this book is looking from the perspective of Janie as she adventures through life and lovers. I think this makes sense as Janie has been mostly interacting with other black people. Instead of showing the hardness of society in the interaction between whites and blacks, this story seems to show the problems in black society: the problems with money, the problems with how people act in society, and how different people's morals can differ.
I think a key idea that we come again and again in this book is Janie's idea of love. This is where people's idea differs. For example, Janie's grandmother has an ingrained value that values a person's assets over "love," while Janie is more romantic and wants to fall for someone. I remember we talked about how if Janie's situation prompted her to leave with Joe. Looking back at it, I really didn't see that marriage working out well for Janie. Even if things aren't perfect, sometime it wouldn't work and I think that is way more acceptable nowadays. Especially after Joe's threats. This also was seen with Janie's second relationship, as over time it didn't feel like the connection was still there, especially with the amount of control that Jody. Even though something started with something special, it ended up being not. Yet it is interesting how Janie is forced to almost have this persona of sadness when she was actually happy, a testament to society's nature. Questions now arise if this third time will be the charm. What do you guys think about this novel? Is it also a protest novel?
I think a key idea that we come again and again in this book is Janie's idea of love. This is where people's idea differs. For example, Janie's grandmother has an ingrained value that values a person's assets over "love," while Janie is more romantic and wants to fall for someone. I remember we talked about how if Janie's situation prompted her to leave with Joe. Looking back at it, I really didn't see that marriage working out well for Janie. Even if things aren't perfect, sometime it wouldn't work and I think that is way more acceptable nowadays. Especially after Joe's threats. This also was seen with Janie's second relationship, as over time it didn't feel like the connection was still there, especially with the amount of control that Jody. Even though something started with something special, it ended up being not. Yet it is interesting how Janie is forced to almost have this persona of sadness when she was actually happy, a testament to society's nature. Questions now arise if this third time will be the charm. What do you guys think about this novel? Is it also a protest novel?
I feel like what we have read so far could definitely be considered as protest literature. We observed how Janie was basically forced into a marriage with Logan at the young age of 16, even though she didn't want to. Hurston could be protesting how this was very common at the time, and how it affected young women like Janie.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Nabeel, however I think that this book will cover more than just forced/abusive marriages, and I feel like we should keep our eyes open for more topics than just that.
DeleteThe fact that it's laid back just puts me more on edge because it feels like I'm missing something, but maybe that's just me.
You make an interesting point how this novel diverts from the general theme in Native Son and Invisible Man. While the aspect of racism is missing from this novel, I do still think it is a protest novel because it still tackles an issue. The object of protest in the other two novels had to do with race but in this novel, it seems like Hurston is protesting the general idea of marriage, especially when young girls are forced into them.
ReplyDeleteI think it could still count as protest literature, but I would say not on the same topic. It's much more focused on the ideas of love and marriage. It's not really exploring the ideas of racism like Invisible Man and Native Son did. I also think having a more laid back style allows us to analyze deeper. I feel like in Invisible Man (even though we didn't read too much at a time), there was always another symbol to rush to, and I am sure we didn't discuss all of the symbols in there.
ReplyDeleteI think this novel is really unique in that it is told from the perspective of a woman and brings to the table different issues than the other novels. Indeed, in the other novels it felt like women were commodities; things to be used when convenient, but never actual people to love or to even respect as their own people. Name one 3-dimensional female character from either novel. Maybe I'm just caught up in myself, but I didn't think of any. Anyways, the point is that Their Eyes Were Watching God explores the idea of women being real people and how it feels to not be treated as such, even from other women.
ReplyDeleteI would definitely agree that this novel has a more laid back tone. Things aren't as wild as the other stories we've read this semester. While it doesn't deal with problems of white and black people, it does deal with problems within the black community. The major topic, as you've mentioned, is Jamie's idea of love. She starts out with a very romanticized idea of love, but as the story progressed, it seems to change a little bit. As she experiences different kind of love, her idea of love changes. Even with all of this going on, Jamie seems to be a very independent woman and does whatever she wants.
ReplyDeleteI think that it could be a protest novel in the way that internalized racism seems to be a thing. Others are jealous of Janie's "white" hair and Daisy's straighter hair and that makes them dislike them. In addition, they believe that "white" clothes are better which further emphasizes that there is internalized racism. Thus, it is a protest novel.
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