Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Daneka Romportl

Review of Their Eyes Were Watching God

 

           

            Every person in this world has issues, not everyone is perfect. Experiences and other people greatly influence someone’s perceptive on life as well as cause issues in their life. Some people evolve into healthy able to give to and react in a healthy way to sociality, realizing that they have hurts, pains, and flaws but deal with them so they do not hurt other people. While others let their pain and resentment stay bottled up inside of them that only cause hurt to other people in sociality.  In the book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie goes through many life changing experiences. This character has a life full of trails, sorrow, pain, hurt, as well as adventures, joy, finding true love, and peace. Janie changed mentally and emotionally through all of these experiences that she went through. The experiences Janie met influenced her in many ways which affected and changed her.  

 

            An important but horrible experience which greatly affected and traumatized Janie emotionally, mentally, and psychically was the history of sexual violence in her family. In the first few chapters of this classic novel, it explains the past of sexual violence towards her mother and her grandmother. Once Janie learns about this sad fact, she began to hold feelings of anger and resentment towards the men that hurt her family. Throughout Janie’s life, she held on to the hurt which then influenced her decisions and choices. Although Janie does not express to much her feelings towards her Nanny and mother she eventually says that she “hated” (Hurston 89) her grandmother and for many years “pitied” (89) her as well. Janie never does clearly explain what exactly she pities Nanny for. Unconsciously, Janie in ways mimics some aspects of her mom’s and Nanny’s experiences by marrying more than one man. Janie married Joe Starks and Tea Cake, both who inflicted violence on her at times. Janie endures their abuse. However, insentiently, Janie retaliates against the abusive husbands in her life by different forms of verbal or physical aggression against them. The abuse and sexual violence suffered by Janie’s mother and Nanny caused indirect painful consequences and moments in her life.  The history of sexual violence in her family affected the character Janie greatly emotionally, mentally, and psychically.

 

            The history of sexual violence that was forced on both her grandmother and mother impacted Janie and made her the character she was in, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” This horrible truth in Janie’s past influenced the character unconsciously throughout the entire story. The past pain and hurt may have caused some of the future hurt with her marriages, however, in the end Janie was about to triumph through all the pain and resentment and find peace. Through all the experiences she endured did end up finding her own voice. She dealt with the knowledge of the past as well as with her oppressive and abusive husbands and yet still was able to find a sense of peace and independence for herself. Like, everyone, the protagonist, Janie had issues relating back to her past which did affect her mentally and emotionally which influenced to a great extent the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God.”