Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

Well, by the end I loved the book, but I certainly didn't start off feeling that way about it.

It is the story of a woman's quest for love, and the trial and tribulations that she faces along the way. We meet Janie, who is forced into marrying a much older man by her Grandmother, in an attempt to secure her wealth and security. She leaves him to be with Joe Starks, a self made business man who treats her with disrespect and at times, cruelty. After his passing, she meets Tea Cake, a man around twenty years her junior, who she elopes with. It is only then does she find love and happiness. After Tea Cake dies, in an unfortunate situation involving a rabid dog, a shotgun, and Janie, Janie returns back to the home she once shared with Joe Starks to finish out the remainder of her days.

The characters in the novel are exquisite. Janie is one of the most likeable and personable characters I have ever come across, as is Tea Cake. Hurston builds them up slowly so that you feel as if you have known them your whole life. With the somewhat less likeable characters, such as Joe Starks, she doesn't portray him using only his negative qualities, but rather, lets them be revealed in his actions as he ages. Some of the smaller characters, such as Janie's grandmother, and Janie's first husband - Logan Killicks, are important, so although they are only briefly mentioned Hurston manages to give them depth. I felt in terms of characters, Hurston manages to show us them rather than simply tell us about them.

Love is a rather obvious theme, and one we are presented with at the very start with Janie's revelation beneath the pear tree. As we see her grow older, we are always holding out for that one true love, which eventually comes in the unexpected form of Tea Cake. Another key theme is fate and destiny. Janie's philosophy by the end of the novel is one which accepts the ups and downs of life as all being part of a bigger picture. Religion also comes into the picture, as does the quest for fulfilment. For Joe Starks, fulfilment is power and control, for Janie's Grandmother, relationships, land and stability equate to happiness, whilst for Janie, it is love and independence.

Stylistically, Hurston uses a rural Southern dialect for all the discourse, which is paralleled by high literary narration. Although initially, I really struggled to get to grips with the dialogue, I was drawn to the complexities and how it contrasted to some of the more descriptive paragraphs. It certainly presents the reader with a very clear picture of the people and places which we read about. Furthermore, it means that when Janie refrains from speaking, as she is suppressed by Joe Starks, it is all the more noticeable and profound. The novel starts at the end, with Janie returning home, and then she begins to tell her friend Phoeby her story from beginning to end, so a linear structure is followed.