So far, I’ve been more interested
in Their Eyes Were Watching God than
the previous two novels that we’ve read. The reasoning is probably because
there are women characters and a woman is the main character, whereas in the
previous two novels, women played smaller roles. Another thing is that it feels
like a novel I might pick up on my own because the narration is a lot more
straightforward for me. I feel like I understand what is happening in the story
without having to analyze the text for a meaning, which is something that I
personally appreciate.
I will admit that I was slightly
confused at the beginning (probably because I was reading while practically
falling asleep) by who the characters were. After I read it again, I followed
the story better. I like how the characters are introduced because we as
readers can learn a lot about them in the brief moment. I received a clear
image of the ladies that like to gossip and be in everybody’s business. Pheoby,
someone that I like, is like the good friend. She stood up for Janie in a way
and rather than talking about her, brought Janie some food and checked up on
her because she genuinely cared.
I’m really curious about Janie’s
journey. Like in Invisible Man, the
novel seems to start in the present then goes into the past, which is something
that I liked. Chapter three kind of made me sad because Janie clearly wanted
love but was told that she could learn to love in her first marriage. This kind
of reminds me of Native Son with
Bigger and Bessie, especially after reading chapter four. Bessie clearly wants
a good relationship and wants love, however Bigger isn’t the right one for her.
Chapters four and five also
remind me of the Narrator in Invisible
Man in a way. Like both relationships that she has gotten into seem to be
toxic however I’m not sure how much she realizes that, especially in the second
with Joe or Jody. She is kind of blinded by how much better he seems than her
previous marriage. But these are my initial thoughts of Their Eyes Were Watching God.
I also really appreciate women having a bigger part! This is also (not coincidentally) our first female author, which is nice and adds some intersectionality. From the second paragraph's declaration of "women forget all those things they don't want to remember," we see a stark difference between powerful women and the men they deign to interact with. And yet, Hurston still acknowledges the naivete of young Janie too. It seems like the most admirable people in the book are the wise older women like Phoeby and Nanny.
ReplyDeleteI'm really excited for this novel as well, and I think it'll be one of my favorites. As you mentioned, its nice to have a woman-focused novel so we get a bigger picture. I also like the tone of the book in its fairy tale-like narration, and the raw dialogue and dialect. The epilogue pulls you in, and the story is great.
ReplyDeleteI 100% agree that it will be a nice change to have some female characters because like you said, in Native Son and Invisible Man, the only role women play is for a way for the male main character to progress the story (idk if that makes sense). I am also looking forward to not having to analyze every word. Nice post.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that this novel is (personally) more interesting. I liked how you related it with the two novels read thus far. In particular, it reminded me of Bigger and Bessie but I couldn't put my finger on it until your post. I also appreciate how the novel seems like it is (slowly but surely) having Janie grow as a person. Let's stay tuned! (Also really good post!)
ReplyDeleteYay women!! I agree that Janie's marriage thus far have been toxic. Even her most recent one with Tea Cake, as we learned in last night's reading, ends up involving domestic violence, which really sucked. This novel seems to depict the very raw experience of a woman of color in the 1900s. It is a saddening but revealing narrative and is very different from the other two novels we've read.
ReplyDeleteNice post. I also appreciate that this book focuses on a woman! I think your observations about love and Janie being blinded are pretty on point after having finished the book - she ends up becoming disillusioned with him. My question is, why doesn't she do this for Tea Cake?? Is she blinded by that relationship as well? Anyway, nice post!
ReplyDeleteI really like your post, and I've kind of come back here after finishing the novel. So a little bit of afterthought. I agree, it's so refreshing to have a female character, who has a women and the characters really speak for themselves. And having like actually positive relationships is really awesome. But then this weird thing happened where I still felt much closer the the narrator from Invisible Man, and I don't know what to think. Although it would've been nice if the narrator had the same emotional depth as the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God.
ReplyDeleteI agree with that, outside of poetic imagery and useful transitional dialogue, I feel like the narrator is distanced from all that's happening dis proportionality for how much he comments on said happenings. The narrator of their eyes were watching god possesses neither the matter-of-fact-like, analytical speech like the narrator of native son nor the attached-ness of the narrator of invisible man.
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