Their Eyes Were Watching God starts when Janie, the main
character, returns to Eatonville, Florida after one and a half years. The story
is told in third person point of view, omniscient, and contains plenty of
dialogue. As the book opens, the townspeople stare at Janie and criticize her
appearance –overalls and her long black hair- as well as her unexpected return.
They are surprised that Janie confidently passes in front of them but doesn’t
even stop to say hi and they wonder if the man she ran away with –Tea Cake, who
was ten years younger that Janie, has taken her money and left her. This is the
point in the story where the theme of judgment is first shown; the porch
sitters “sat in judgment” (1). “What she doin coming back here in dem
overhalls?... Wat dat ole forty year ole ‘oman doin’ wid her hair swingin’ down
her back lak some young gal? –Where she left dat young lad of a boy she went
off here wid?” (2). Considering the fact that Janie is different from the women
in her town, I think that judgment will continue to appear in the novel as a
main theme.
As the porch sitters continue to talk badly about Janie,
Pheoby, her best friend, tries to defend her. She hasn’t seen her in very long
but she tells the gossipers that Janie doesn’t have to share her personal
information. She goes and takes Janie a plate of rice where readers discover
that they have been friends since forever; that Pheoby is caring and trusting.
Janie informs Pheoby about Tea Cakes death, and starts telling her life story,
where we are introduced to many characters…
We are first introduced to Nanny, Janie’s loving and caring
grandmother who had always wanted the best for Janie. Nanny was born during
slavery and was a slave herself; she was raped by her master and had Leafy
(Janie’s mother) who was born ½ white. When Leafy was a teenager, she was raped
by her school teacher, got pregnant, and as soon as she gave birth to Janie she
ran away, leaving Nanny to take care of her daughter. Nanny wants to make sure
that Janie has everything she needs and deserves and decides to marry her to
Logan Killicks, a wealthy farmer, who will offer Janie protection when Nanny
dies. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection,”(15).
Janie and Logan marry but she cannot get herself to love him.
During the first three chapters of the book many symbols
show up. I think that an important symbol is Janie’s hair and clothing when she
arrives at Eatonville. Her appearances reflect her attitude and personality
and her way of being unique and different from what people expect her to be. She
is forty years old and still decides to have long hair, which people around her
criticize. I think this represents her rebellion towards woman standards. I
think that the overalls she wears show that she is not like all the women in
Eatonville who wear dresses just to blend in with the community and be
accepted; she doesn’t want any of this and prefers being herself.
“Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the
things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone. Dawn and doom was in
the branches,” (8). The pear tree in Nanny’s backyard is an important symbol in
these chapters. Janie thinks of herself as the tree and the composition of the leaves
are what make up her life. The tree is blooming during springtime and she is
obsessed with it. This tree represents love, marriage, and loss of innocence
for Janie. “She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she
wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her,” (11). She observes how it blossoms and the
branches and flowers connect with each other and while she is overwhelmed by
these emotions that the tree provokes, she recieves her first kiss from Johnny Taylor.
From what I've read, Their Eyes Were Watching God is a book that I will probably enjoy. I like how the story started with Janie returning to her town and it continued with a flashback of her life. I look forward to finding out what else has happened in the life of this interesting woman. Janie's character is very interesting for me because she is not afraid to be who she is and say what she feels and I think that her attitude is what will make her story more interesting.
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