Summary Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By John Sullivan

The Not So Great Nation of the Present
John L. Sullivan would be utterly disappointed if he were living in the America we are today. His writing “The Great Nation of Futurity” was created off of his love for our nation. He says the foundation of our nation was built on “the great principle of human equality,” which is not being displayed today as it were in the 1800’s (Sullivan 4). Sullivan would roll over in his grave had he heard of the mass shooting in Las Vegas last month on October 2nd. At least fifty people were killed and over four-hundred more injured. Sullivan’s idea that a nation should be built on good qualities has been greatly contradicted since he was alive.
We hear about events like mass shootings, the local machete attack, bombings,
When it comes to gender, women were greatly sought out. For centuries, men have been treating women unfairly. This could mean anything from speaking poorly to sexual/physical abuse. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Starks, the main character, gets into a few somewhat serious relationships. She is abused in all three whether it be by words, attempt to control, or actual physical abuse. In her relationship with Jody Starks - her second marriage - she is physically abused many times. Jody saw this as assurance he had control. Today, every one in four women are abused because women have been known to be seen as more of objects than actual people. It was not until 1900 that the New York’s Married Women’s Property Act of 1848 was passed in every state granting married women ‘some’ control and rights to their property and earnings. There is a stereotype for women that still exists today expressing the idea that women are not capable of all of the things men have been said to be. This is expressed in the short film “Supervising Women Workers” made by the government in 1944, around the time women started getting industrial jobs. Men were shown teaching the women how to do their jobs but splitting them into multiple jobs because ‘one woman could not do it alone’. These stereotypes were greatly shot down when Norman Rockwell’s artwork of “Rosie the Riveter” was displayed on the Memorial Day edition of The Saturday Evening Post in 1934. Rosie showed that women could do it all with her rivet gun across her lap and her working overalls and loafers. Her red curly hair gave her a sense of daringness. Standing on Hitler’s book as if she was not scared of anything. With her makeup in her pocket, there was no doubt she was a woman ready to get her hands dirty and show every man up. This artwork is today, and always will be, a cultural icon for all women. No matter race or gender, people are people