Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

[KasieMiehlke]

I was assigned to read this in my Advanced Placement English class in high school and I fell in love with it. The dialect used in the book is what drew me in. The pain and suffering felt throughout the story kept my attention. It became one of my go to reads.

[FKimura]

I would recommend this book as a must read, it was intriguing and very interesting and felt it made a difference in my Life well written and the dialogues is just moving!

[Bigwig1973]

I read this a long time ago in college and recalled that I liked it quite a bit. I found my paper (which wasn't really very good) and reread it and I remember feeling so sorry for Janie. No matter where she goes, or who she tries to have a relationship with, she doesn't fit it. She's not totally African, or totally Caucasian, and as the product of rape, she probably always feels uncertain as to the degree to which she should exist. There's are two lines from the song by Phil Collins "Another Day in Paradise" that reminds me of her situation, "She calls out to the man on the street, Sir, can ya help me? It's cold and I've nowhere to sleep - is there somewhere you can tell me?" As if being the product of rape and not fitting in anywhere is exhausting - her mind never rests. And then a line later "she's probably been moved on from every place, cause' she didn't fit in there". I felt as if she never actually really found or understood herself. I wanted her life to end a little bit happier, or for her to have some sort of a fantastic personal revelation. Or, for her to have a reprieve from the awkward relationships. The lives of women at that time were probably so much different it's really hard to say that she is not a strong person. I also loved that it was written with spelling that sounds like how they spoke. Janie to her dying husband Jody, "But you wasn't satisfied wid me de way Ah was. Naw! Mah own mind had tuh be squeezed and crowded out tuh make room for yours in me." page 82

[Merix]

Eyes were watching God, the almighty aswell. If could comprove positively for God's sake, am sure everything would be gloriously on for it. Its impossible to take whats never yours or ever given legally, u're never gonna stand with that if u don't do it right enough.

[Merix]

Eyes were watching God, the almighty aswell. If could comprove positively for God's sake, am sure everything would be gloriously on for it. Its impossible to take whats never yours or ever given legally, u're never gonna stand with that if u don't do it right enough.