Black Culture and Women’s Role in Society as Seen in Their Eyes Were Watching God In Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, we see many different references to the way both blacks and women were seen in her time as well as when the book was set. The book takes place a few generations after the Civil War ended and slavery was abolished. Tensions between blacks and whites were high, and they were still decades away before women’s rights were even considered as legitimate concern. Hurston uses a variety of devices to help portray the world of her characters, the most obvious being her use of dialect. The way each particular character speaks gives us an inside view of their life and experiences. For example, if a character is educated, and lived in big cities for most of their life they are going to sound different than a character who worked in the fields their whole life. Giving each character their own dialect also helps the reader differentiate between characters based on who’s talking, and allows Hurston to give each character their own mannerisms. A good example of this is on page 92 of Zora Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God . “Another time she overheard him using Joe’s favorite expression for pointing out the differences between himself and the careless­living, mouthy town. “Ah’m an educated man, Ah keep mah arrangements in mah hands.” ” Throughout the novel, there are many references to women’s places in society during that time period. Women were seen as stupid, and belonged to men. They were taught to marry rich, keep their mouths shut, and serve their husbands. Since women were viewed more as belonging to men, men were allowed to do whatever they wanted to their wives. In Their Eyes Were

Watching God, sport the of hitting women is often mentioned. Characters often spoke to one another about how much they enjoyed hitting their wives, or how much they wanted to hit certain women. Hitting women was a pleasurable activity that men engaged in, and was viewed a very ordinary occurrence. Hurston illustrates the changing view of women through Janie’s different marriages. In her first and second marriages, she was viewed as an asset. She worked to serve her husbands, and was treated as a subordinate. Also, in both marriages she was both physically and verbally abused. It was only in her marriage that she was viewed as an equal. Both she and Tea Cake worked alongside each other, and loved each other. It was the first time that Janie was treated with the respect that she felt she deserved. Hurston used their marriage as a goal for women everywhere. Hurston wrote this novel in the 1930’s when women’s rights were starting to be considered an issue; therefore, Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage was more of an ideal to strive for. Feminism is also a major component of this story. Janie is a very independent women for her time. She starts out as independent and wanting to marry for love, but her grandmother convinces her otherwise. Once she gives up hope of loving her first husband, she starts to become more independant again, and caring for herself over her husband. Then she meets this sweet­talking stranger named Joe who offers her true love in exchange for her hand in marriage. She falls for it, and drops everything for this man. During that marriage, her independence really shines through, and eventually ends up humiliating her husband and essentially ending their marriage. Overall, Janie stays pretty true to herself and her belief that she matters just as much as any man does. This is exemplified when at the end she chooses herself over Tea Cake.

Black culture is extremely prevalent throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God. We see this through their language, mannerisms, and attitude. Hurston shows both the sense of community and the distrust of white people displayed by blacks during the Harlem Renaissance throughout the novel. Hurston continually mentions the sense of community and family that Eatonville shares just by the gatherings on porches every night. The book itself is Janie sitting with her best friend on her porch, telling her about her life story. Hurston also mentions the distrust and jealousy that the black community had for whites. It started out with Janie’s grandmother. She kept pushing for Janie to marry a lighter skinned man to produce extremely light­skinned children. Hurston also constantly compares black folks to whites. Whether she’s talking about their hair, clothes, or jobs, there’s a comparison to white hair, clothes or jobs. There are many different ways Zora Hurston incorporates culture into Their Eyes Were Watching God. omen’s rights, black views/culture, love, personal struggles, and one’s personal W journey all play major roles in creating this novel. Hurston uses dialect to help set the tone for her story, and sets it in the south to create a more diverse group of characters. Through following Janie’s personal journey, we also get to see a little bit of Zora Hurston’s life story shine through. Hurston does an amazing job of confronting issues within her modern society within this story of a girl looking for love.