Banned Books: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

             Janie’s been gone for quite some time and the man she ran off with is nowhere to be found. When she comes back to the home she shared with her late husband, gossip ensues. Inquiring minds want to know what’s happened to Janie. And it’s quite a story to tell. In a moment of reflection she divulges to her friend Phoeby what life has really been like for her. Raised by her grandmother and placed in an arranged marriage she didn’t know happiness. When she left him to marry another man with great dreams and ambition she became the mayor’s wife but didn’t have her own identity. It wasn’t until her later years that she found a man that truly made her happy and she was willing to give up all to be with him. 

              Their Eyes Were Watching God is the story of a black woman living in West Florida in the early 20^th century. Janie’s life is not only used as a vehicle to examine her growth but also to examine relationships between races so soon after the Emancipation Proclamation. Janie is told of the horror of slavery from her grandmother, Nanny, who had been a slave. Though her grandmother has Janie’s best interest at heart, she is making decisions without looking at the type of person Janie is. The arranged marriage was made in haste because Nanny wanted to see Janie married before she died. Janie’s happiness wasn’t put into consideration leading Janie to make rash and hurried decisions. How people viewed and considered Janie because she was black and a woman becomes a running theme throughout the novel. She fights to be independent and to be appreciated for who she is. The men she encounters throughout her life become a part of Janie’s struggles in positive and negative ways. Eventually we see Janie begin to establish herself and her value. She stops letting other peoples opinion and perception be a driving force in her life and she finds freedom in that release. 

                After reading this novel by Hurston I can understand why it is such a highly acclaimed novel. It is an in depth analysis of a woman’s life laced with honesty and integrity. While it is not my personal favorite, I did enjoy it and can appreciate its worth. The dialect used throughout the novel is laced with a southern drawl and written as one would speak which takes some getting used to and unfortunately for me it became a distraction. For that reason I am grateful that it wasn’t written in first person. Hurston also chose to highlight the racial relationships within the black community much more than she explored their relationships within the white community at the time. I found that interesting and applaud her for it. I feel like she handled what can be an extremely complicated and deeply felt divide within the black community very tactfully and honestly. Hurston was not in any way afraid to point out and investigate the cause of the divide and jealousy within the black community.

                Their Eyes Were Watching God currently sits on Time magazines “100 Best English Language Novels from 1923 to 2005” but that hasn’t stopped it from being challenged. In 1997 parents tried and failed to ban the book from a High School in Brentsville, Virginia. In 2005 it was challenged yet again in Virginia by parents of students in Advanced English class. Both attempts at banning the book were based off the language and what they considered sexual explicitness. Even though this book has only been challenged, I still felt the need to add it to my Banned Book theme for this year. This is such an iconic book that highlights an important part of our history and even an attempt at banning it prohibits progress. 

http://www.ala.org/bbooks/frequentlychallengedbooks/classics/reasons      Retrieved 04/02/2014

http://www.bannedbooksweek.org/censorship/bannedbooksthatshapedamerica  Retrieved 04/02/2014