Introduction to Zora Neale Hurston and her Novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston, born on January 7, 1891, was a very important writer and folklorist of the Harlem Renaissance.  However, she was not always a writer.  As a young girl, Hurston joined a Gilbert & Sullivan traveling troupe before she finished high school.  But when she was 26, she decided to go back to high school, so she subtracted ten years off her age to be able to go back!  She did graduate from high school, and she also graduated from Barnard College in 1928.  It was only after she graduated from college that she became a folklorist and writer, and published several novels that sympathetically portrayed black life.  However, Hurston fell out of humor; she died penniless, without even a headsotne.  Luckily, she has been rediscovered, and many books, including Their Eyes Were Watching God, are taught in high schools and colleges.

Their Eyes Were Watching God
Their Eyes Were Watching God is Zora Neale Hurston's second novel, which takes place in Florida.  Janey Woods, the main character, speaks with an accent that was normal for Southern blacks in that time.  Janey had some problems growing up, but she still had a caring grandmother and a loving friend.  The novel tells of Janey's life, explained from Janey's point of view to her friend, Pheobe.  In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janey's life is told, from birth all the way up to the self-discovery that Janey recently made.  Although there is sorrow in Janey's life, this is a positive novel, especially because of what Janey has learned about herself.

Works Cited
~ http://gme.grolier.com/article?assetid=0144010-0
~ http://gme.grolier.com/article?assetid=0287767-0
~ http://scoop.diamondgalleries.com/public/image-browser.asp?ai=74991&whichpage=4&whichimage=179576
~ https://www.floridabooks.net/catalog/images/TheirEyesWereWatchingGod.jpg

25 Random Things About Me

1. When I was little I wanted to be a mailman.
2. I live in the attic of my house.
3. I really cannot handle scary movies.
4. I am a member of 4-H.
5. I work at Broom's Bloom Dairy.
6. I have two Saint Bernards.
7. I have broken my left arm twice and I cracked my head.
8. I got attacked by a sheep when I was little.
9. I got a concussion when I was sledding.
10. I love being organized and like shopping for school supplies.
11. I don't have cable, so I can't watch shows.
12. I visited my aunt in Wyoming and saw a bear.
13. I've never been out of the country, but I want to.
14. I've played lacrosse since second grade.
15. I did gymnastics for a year.
16. I like to read.
17. My initials are R.A.D.
18. I like doing those "click to donate" things.
19. My family does not have video games.
20. I love watching movies with my family at my house.
21. I have a dinosaur phone and I really want a new one.
22. I like playing FarmVille on Facebook.
23. I was super excited for the start of high school.
24. I need a lot of sleep.
25. I love track and I want to have a record before I graduate.

Nora Zeale Hurston: Master of Imagery

Nora Zeale Hurston has some amazing imagery in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God.  Ten of the quotes are below.

“So she went on thinking back to her young years and explaining them to her friend in soft, easy phrases while all around the house, the night time put on flesh and blackness” (page 10).
Janie explains her story to her friend as the evening progresses.

  “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch” (page 11).
Janie is delighted to see a bee pollinate a bloom in the pear tree.

“That was before the golden dust of pollen had beglamored his rags and her eyes” (page 12).
Johnny Taylor wore rags, but the mood that Janie was in—she was happy with everything in springtime—made him look more attractive to her.

“She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether” (page 25).
She knows that the world moves on air—constantly moving, like a stallion rolls in a pasture.

“She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up” (page 25).
She knew that every day was a new day, a new chance.

“It was a citified, stylish dressed man with his hat set at an angle that didn’t belong in these parts. His coat was over his arm, but he didn’t need it to represent his clothes. The shirt with the silk sleeveholders was dazzling enough for the world… He was a seal-brown color…” (page 27).
Her first impression of Joe Starks is that he is an outsider from the city that has a lot of money and a high opinion of himself.

“The noon sun filtered through the leaves of the fine oak tree where she sat and made lacy patterns on the ground” (page 27).
The sunlight looked pretty when it went through the oak tree.

“Joe noted the scant dozen of shame-faced houses scattered in the sand and palmetto roots…” (page 34).
There were little houses that were scattered everywhere, without much regard to urban planning.

“They cut all sorts of capers and whiffed the meat as it slowly came to perfection with the seasoning penetrating to the bone” (page 45).
The men got excited as the pig was roasting.

"A circle, a swoop and a hop with spread-out wings. Close in, close in till some of the more hungry or daring perched on the carcass” (page 61).
The vultures are getting ready to eat the dead mule.

http://www.forestwander.com/wp-content/main/2009_04/white-pear-flowers-bloom.jpg

Symbols- Hidden Meanings

Just as Zora Neale Hurston is a master of imagery, she is also very good at making seemingly innocent things into complex symbols, which are objects that stand for themselves as well as another meaning.  Below are ten of the symbols in Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Janie's Hair
Janie's hair is a powerful symbol, representing her freedom.  Men are attracted to her because of her hair, and they also find her independence fascinating.  Joe Starks tries to control Janie, so he makes her tie her hair back.





  
 The Pear Tree
The blooming pear tree represents growing up to Janie.  When she was 16, she saw a pear tree as a being with freedom, with life, that was growing up, and she desperately wanted to be a tree in bloom as well.

The Mule
The black woman was the mule of society in this book.  She had to carry the burdens that were passed down to her by her higher-ups: the white man, the white women, and then the black man.

The Gate
The gate symbolizes opportunity for Janie.  When she was 16, she gave her first kiss to Johnny Taylor over the gate.  Also, when she was unhappily married to Logan Killicks, she would wait at the gate post for new opportunities to be happy; and along came Joe Starks.
 



Head Rag
Joe makes Janie wear a head rag when she works at the store.  In doing so, Joe expresses his control over Janie, because he is making her cover her hair, and thus losing her freedom.

Sun-Up
For Janie, sun-up is a new day, filled with new opportunities.  Yesterday is in the past, and Janie has a whole new world ahead of her.





The Lamppost
The lamppost symbolizes Joe Starks and his power over the new town of Eatonville.  Just like a lamp lights up the dark, Joe accomplishes a lot of things in the new town.  The change is so profound it is like going from a dark room to bright day.







Joe Starks's House
Joe Starks has a big white house that diminishes everything else.  His house is showy and expensive.  It is also white; Joe Starks is a black man but he acts like a white man, and makes the other houses look like slave quarters.



The High Chair
Joe constantly references a "high chair."  This high chair is a seat of power, like a throne, and Joe Starks, the king of Eatonville, wants a throne.

Gold Tobacco Spittoon
Joe's gold spittoon is just another symbol of his wealth and power.  Other normal people would be happy to have it sitting on their mantle, but Joe would not be content with that; he, being above everyone else, has to spit in it, showing that he is special.


Works Cited
~http://www.folica.com/images/reviews/7/2797-sedu.jpg
~http://www.forestwander.com/wp-content/main/2009_04/white-pear-flowers-bloom.jpg
~http://www.urbin.net/EWW/images/ypics/end-mule.jpg
~http://www.southernexposurestourism.com/SET/Images/gate.jpg
~http://www.flickr.com/photos/9494078@N05/3695761514/
~http://images.paraorkut.com/img/wallpapers/1600x1200/s/sunrise-633.jpg
~http://www.tenayatravels.com/images/October%202006/Hoorn/lamppost.jpg
~http://www.hamptonconservatories.co.uk/images/sce/country-house/001-large.jpg
~http://i117.photobucket.com/albums/o69/Yduke23/throne.jpg
~http://www.flickr.com/photos/drs2biz/4275934124/

My Name: Rebecca Ann Driver

All names are special.  My name, Rebecca Ann Driver, is very special—it is laced with family history, as well as my parents' personal preference.  Interestingly, my sister, Sarah Anne Driver, also has my middle name, except hers has an extra e on the end.  Both my grandmothers are named “Ann” or “Anne;” my parents liked the name, but they did not want to play favorites.

My last name also has a lot of history.  “Driver” is, of coures,  my dad’s orginal name.  It is also an English name.  One site says that there was one hundred one Drivers that came from England, and twenty-seven alone came in the year 1854.

Although my parents considered my middle name, it was my first name that took the most consideration.  My father’s great-grandmother, Rebecca, was a very respectable lady, and that is who I am named after, even though there are many other "Rebecca"s in my family.  Although my parents liked my name, they also considered the names “Grace” and “Isabelle.”  Personally, I am glad my name is Rebecca. I like the name, and I feel that it fits me.  The only thing that I don’t particulary like is that there seem to be several Rebecca’s (but of course, that's not my fault).  However, that is still okay, because there are several nicknames for Rebecca: Bec, Becca, Becky—I’ve even met someone named “Bekah.”  The nicknames help distinguish me—all the people I know are either called Becca or Becky, so I am the only “Rebecca.”  Officially, at least.  A lot of people call me Bec or Becca, but as long as it is not Becky, I don’t mind. Bec and Becca are just abbreviated names, like they whispered the first part but I couldn’t hear. But Becky is completely different, so I don’t like it.  Overall, I like my whole name.  My initials are even RAD!  I am glad that I was named after family.  If I was named Bella or Cullen or something because my parents were obsessed with Twilight, I would be very embarrassed, and would not like it.

The one thing that my family did not pick—besides my last name—is the meaning of my name.  There are several meanings to my name, Rebecca.  One site says that it has hebrew origin, and means "Servant of God."  Another website also says that it has Hebrew origin—after, the Biblical Rebecca was the wife of Isaac in the Old Testament, and the mother of Jacob and Esau—but the meaning is very different: Rebecca means "to tie."  (For some reason, I thought my name meant "beautiful" or "princess" or something.)  The same site also says that the original name Rebecca, originated from Rivka.  Not that Rivka is a bad name, but I am glad that I am named Rebecca.

Works Cited
http://www.name-meanings.com/search.php
http://www.ancestry.com/facts/Driver-places-origin.ashx
http://www.searchforancestors.com/surnames/origin/d/driver.php