preview

Their Eyes Were Watching God

Decent Essays

Harshi Shah Ms. Reid English 3 6 January 2024 Analyze the main themes of the novel. Consider destiny, God, faith, and sight. How do these themes enrich or benefit the overall plot? Their Eyes Were Watching God, written by Zora Neale Hurston, is one of the most popular novels in American literature. Through the journey of Janie, the protagonist, Hurston captivates the readers with an impressive portrayal of themes like love, identity, God, faith, sight, race and challenges of societal pressures. There are various quotes throughout the novel that illustrate the themes. To begin with, this novel majorly revolves around the theme of destiny. The line, “Ships at a distance has every man’s wish on board (Hurston 1).” appears at the beginning of the novel. Here, the image of ships symbolizes a journey, further implying that each person has dreams that they would want to live through their journey of life. It evokes the idea of the human desire to achieve a dream they are looking at from afar. This quote …show more content…

They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” (Hurston 160) This is one of the most crucial moments of the book as it summarizes the conflict between Janie and God. This struggle illustrates the major theme of natural disruption and the power of God. Hurston also finally uses the title in this quote, implying that Janie has experienced a lot of trauma in the past, however this time it is nature or God who becomes the ultimate cause of Tea Cake’s death. Once again, Hurston is drawing a connection between the divine and the natural, as she draws the image of the group facing the hurricane and watching God at the same time. Moreover, this quote also depicts Janie’s strong sense of devotion towards God, since she was looking up at the sky only to convey her struggle to

Get Access