Reading Journal
This reading journal comes after I have read the first 5 chapters of Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Right off the bat, there are two distinct themes already forming. The first one pertains to the relationship between men and women. The second has to deal with Janie's uncertainty of who she is and where she belongs.
Hurston analyzes the link between men and women, and how one gender is actually needed for the other one to carry out its goals. An example is on the very first page. Hurston describes a man viewing a ship, "until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by time". However, the women forget all those things they don't want to remember. This sharp contrast in description shows the longing men had because they could actually go out and achieve their dreams. Women, like Janie, had to succumb to their husband's will, like she had to for Logan and then Jody. Furthermore, Hurston analyzes this link through parallelism in her dialogue. Starting on page 2, the women begin gossiping about Janie and why she has actually come back to town, but they are only really jealous because as she walks by, the men always notice her. However, some may assume only women gossip to feel better about themselves. On pg. 36 as Hicks and Carter talk about Jody Starks, they too are jealous and just talking to hide the fact. Except this time, they are jealous over Janie. Hurston has started to develop the inner-workings of how men and women react with one another.
Another theme that is emerging is that of Janie's identity. Janie is incredibly unaware of herself, which I expected, with her starting off near my age. However, I was unprepared for how flighty she was. Barely into her marriage with Logan, she leaves him for Jody, and already she is getting sick of Jody. The one factor that is the same is that the men are not allowing her to make her own choices, or to have her own identity. Now she is just the mayor's wife. A way Hurston uses to emerge this theme is the different voices between the dialect and the description. They read as if they are 2 separate identities. One is prim , polished, one is really Janie, and how she talks and thinks. Janie is undergoing this struggle due to the oppression of Jody.
Hurston analyzes the link between men and women, and how one gender is actually needed for the other one to carry out its goals. An example is on the very first page. Hurston describes a man viewing a ship, "until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by time". However, the women forget all those things they don't want to remember. This sharp contrast in description shows the longing men had because they could actually go out and achieve their dreams. Women, like Janie, had to succumb to their husband's will, like she had to for Logan and then Jody. Furthermore, Hurston analyzes this link through parallelism in her dialogue. Starting on page 2, the women begin gossiping about Janie and why she has actually come back to town, but they are only really jealous because as she walks by, the men always notice her. However, some may assume only women gossip to feel better about themselves. On pg. 36 as Hicks and Carter talk about Jody Starks, they too are jealous and just talking to hide the fact. Except this time, they are jealous over Janie. Hurston has started to develop the inner-workings of how men and women react with one another.
Another theme that is emerging is that of Janie's identity. Janie is incredibly unaware of herself, which I expected, with her starting off near my age. However, I was unprepared for how flighty she was. Barely into her marriage with Logan, she leaves him for Jody, and already she is getting sick of Jody. The one factor that is the same is that the men are not allowing her to make her own choices, or to have her own identity. Now she is just the mayor's wife. A way Hurston uses to emerge this theme is the different voices between the dialect and the description. They read as if they are 2 separate identities. One is prim , polished, one is really Janie, and how she talks and thinks. Janie is undergoing this struggle due to the oppression of Jody.