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A review by steveatwaywords
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Hurston's prose is earthy, sincere, genuine. Her primary characters are complicated, often beyond their ability to articulate it. The challenges which greet them run deeper than the seeming simplicity of their daily lives. Janie's relationship choices and experiences, then, may seem rather straightforward as she moves from one to the next ("from mule to decoration" one writer claims), but Hurston does not allow us to sit so comfortably on such labels or conflicts.
There is little in her prose that--despite its homeyness--permits such basic readings: the details of homes, the treatment of animals, the fights over checkers, all have resonance of thicker layers to Janie's place (and that of those like her). Add to this the racial politics of the American South and the fateful circumstances of the novel's conclusion and we are left with a novel which poses questions of our empathy for others in a universe which may be full of intent or utterly indifferent.
While I was somewhat jarred by the characterizations of a few in the novel, created seemingly more to forward a theme or argument than to be fully human (and seen especially when describing communities as a whole), the personalities in the foreground amply fill this slim novel.
There is little in her prose that--despite its homeyness--permits such basic readings: the details of homes, the treatment of animals, the fights over checkers, all have resonance of thicker layers to Janie's place (and that of those like her). Add to this the racial politics of the American South and the fateful circumstances of the novel's conclusion and we are left with a novel which poses questions of our empathy for others in a universe which may be full of intent or utterly indifferent.
While I was somewhat jarred by the characterizations of a few in the novel, created seemingly more to forward a theme or argument than to be fully human (and seen especially when describing communities as a whole), the personalities in the foreground amply fill this slim novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Death