Black Culture and Women’s Role in Society as Seen in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Katlyn Barbur
Professor Mathis
LIT 2000
18 March 2015 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, the sport of hitting women is often mentioned. Characters often spoke to one another about how much they enjoyed hitting their wives, or how much
Professor Mathis
LIT 2000
18 March 2015 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, the sport of hitting women is often mentioned. Characters often spoke to one another about how much they enjoyed hitting their wives, or how much