Their Eyes Were Watching God Theme

Their Eyes Were Watching God Their Eyes Were Watching God is a story about the life of Janie Crawford and the hardships and triumphs in her three marriages, though there were many more hardships. In this essay I will share with you the setting, some characters, incidents from the plot, the theme, and point of view. This story begins in the 1930’s when Janie returns to her home in Eatonville, Florida. She then begins to recount her life story to her closest friend, Phoeby. The story then shifts on to various cities in South Florida, primarily Eatonville and the Florida Everglades. Janie Crawford, the main character, was a fair-skinned, black woman who was admired by many. She was married three times; her first marriage was at the age
of sixteen which was arranged by her grandmother. Janie displayed a streak of her independence and identity when she left her first husband, and lived alone for months after her second died.
Throughout her life Janie demonstrated a courageous personality as she traveled from marriage to marriage without thinking twice. Tea Cake Woods, Janie’s third husband, was a younger man in his thirties. He was a free-spirited, nomadic person, who’s main source of income was derived from gambling. Tea Cake met his death when in a rabid rage, he was shot in self-defense by Janie. Janie’s first marriage came unexpectedly, she was sixteen years old and forced by her grandmother to “grow up”. She married Logan Killicks, a landowner who forced Janie into hard labor, something she not was accustomed to. This led to her abandoning the marriage and running off to marry Joe Starks, her second husband. Joe Starks, was a wealthy man and promised Janie that if she were his wife she would not be out plowing the fields, but offered her the “key to the kingdom”. In exchange for that Janie had to succumb to demeaning insults and to silence. She lived with Joe Starks for twenty years until he died. Nine months later she married Tea Cake Woods, and moved to the
Everglades. I feel that the theme of this book is attaining self expression, by going out and finding it for yourself. It was something that Janie had wanted her whole life but did not achieve until she met her last husband Tea Cake. The point of view of this story was omniscient. Although the story was being told by Janie Crawford at all times the reader knew what everyone else’s thoughts were. For instance, when Janie went to find the doctor you knew what was happening in the house with Tea Cake. I believe that this was a pretty decent book, at times it was boring and uninteresting, but at other times it was entertaining. In many instances the dialog was hard to understand and follow. I believe that without it the book would not have the same impact on the reader and would lose its life.