Eyes Were Watching God Reflection

As we have been reading the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, by Zora Neale Hurston, one aspect of the book that I found quite interesting was the idea of the store which is built after Joe decides this new all black town, that he is the mayor of, must have a store to act as a community meeting place. This small feature in this detail-heavy novel has further implications with respect to what it represents and what effect it has on Janie in the years she is married to the man who leads the building of the store and then through the transition to her meeting the man she eventually marries; Vergible Woods, more commonly known as Tea Cake. The way I interpreted the author’s use of the store as well as why she decided to add this element to the story and make it a major part of the town was to add another dimension to the way the
More importantly, while Janie worked in the store, Joe did not allow her to take part in the social aspect of the store, which she held interest in. Rather, she was not allowed to take part in the common porch chat and was “[left standing] in the doorway” of the store while the rest of the townspeople attended the ceremony held for the deceased mule (Hurston, 60). Another idea I had about the store was that Hurston used it to aid in the way the reader is able to see how drastically different Janie is treated in her relationship with Joe Stark and her new relationship with Tea Cake. The latter is the one where she is treated the way she likes, despite the fact that Tea Cake does not have the benefits of an increase in social status or an increase in wealth. This, however, does not phase Janie as she is interested in true love in a person who makes her feel included and equal to