Their Eyes Were Watching God Seminar

Reflection
A common theme suggested throughout the seminar was that
the novel was more of feminist novel than racially focused and
although it depicted an African American protagonist, it centered on
her journey to becoming an independent woman. I personally agree
with this view as Hurston wrote about the main characters path
through love and life and self-discovery of her strength and
independence as a woman. As Ellie expressed, the novel was Janies
journey to rise above being the burden of a man. Jessica also stated
something similar suggesting the book shows the evolution of a
women. Largely discussed throughout the seminar was the concept
that Janie slowly accepted herself as an individual who didnt need a
man to be happy and didnt need to define herself throughout her
experiences with men and her love interests. As Bryce stated, Janie
was finally strong on her own in the end, a statement that I agree with
based on how events played out and the decisions Janie made in the
end.
A question briefly posed that intrigued me was why did Janies interest
in Jody ultimately diminish? I pondered this a lot while reading the
book but ultimately I believe it was because Jody only respected Janie
as an object that enhanced him and an ideal that he wanted to create
rather than who she truly was. Jody in a sense manipulated her into
leaving Logan, her first husband, for a luxurious life with him. At first
Jody made many tempting promises such as, A pretty doll lak you is
made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yoself and eat ptaters
dat other folks plant just special for you, enticing her believe she
would live a work free luxurious life with him. He also told Janie if you
think Ah aim to tole you off and make a dog outa ya, youse wrong. Ah
wants to make a wife outa you, furthering her expectations of a
lifestyle she would not end up living with Jody. This did not play out as
ultimately, he forced her to work in the store and lead a traditional
housewifes life of cooking and cleaning.
Throughout their marriage Jody became highly jealous and controlling
of Janie, as he molded her to his needs and took possession of her. He
set her apart from the towns people so that he was seen as having a
woman who was above the rest. For example, Jody forbid Janie from
indulging in conversation with the towns citizens due to the fact he
didnt want her talking after such trashy people. He also required her
to wrap her beautiful long hair up when working at the store due to his
jealously and paranoia of other men. As Hurston writes, she was in
the store for him to look at, not those others. Jody started degrading
her more progressively as a woman by making comments such as

somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows.
I god, they sho dont think none themselves. They ceased to sleep
together and towards the end of the marriage he made demeaning
comments about her age and looks largely to enhance himself at her
expense, such as youse uh ole hen now. Essentially the marriage
was an empty promise progressively growing abusive and ending up
leaving Jody and Janie to resent each other.

During the marriage, Janie still held out a part of herself from Jody and
tried to cling to her identity. She had a secret self that she hid from
him that was rebellious but outwardly, she was servile. It is not until
Janie was out from under Jodys control that she began her liberation.
In the face of the town peoples disgust, she took up with a younger
man, Tea Cup, who helped show her the path to a new life. Janie
obviously didnt care what people thought and she was determined to
pursue a new direction for her life in which she became more of an
equal partner with her man.
Hurstons writing is relatable because on some level women still
experience certain injustices, discrimination and oppression. Although,
not nearly as severe as Janies treatment as a women, I have been
victim to similar snarky, degrading comments and others actions that
make me feel like nothing more than an object or working mule, similar
to how Logan and Jody made Janie feel. I do think men would have
treated Janie much worse if she had darker skin and her mixed heritage
gave her more prestige than other African American women. I think
every woman can relate to Janies treatment and journey in Their Eyes
Were Watching God, and gain a sense of liberation from this early and
unusual feminist novel.
Our seminar also furthered my questions of what became of Janie. I
wonder if she truly came to the realization and acceptance at the end
that she didnt need a man to make her happy and support her? I also
wonder if in the end she truly had the respect for herself that she had
been lacking for the majority of the book? Since these questions cant
be answered in the book one can only surmise what became of Janie.
One question that I have not been able to resolve is how this book
relates to the environment with the exception of the hurricane and
tying it back to the beginning paragraph. I plan to do some research
online to see how others have analyzed the book as it relates to the
environment. This book leaves me with some new sense of direction
along with many unanswered questions left to the imagination.

Self-Assessment

Perspective: I believe I deserve a B because I offered my opinions

and thoughts and spoke on topic. I also responded to multiple peers
ideas and attempted to challenge them by offering my own ideas.
Evidence/Text Reference: I deserve a B on this as well because I
backed up my claims/opinions with evidence and for seminar prepared
many quotes from the text to use as evidence. Also, all of my text
connections seemed to be relevant.
Communication and Clarification: I deserve a C in this because I
actively listened to my peers, tried to move the conversation, didnt
monopolize the seminar, connected back to the question, defined
concepts, and asked clarifying questions. I did not however
consistently clarify other students ideas nor did I consistently invite
others into the conversation.
Connections: I deserve a B in this because I connected the text back
to many personal and real world connections. I, however, did not make
a connection to other classes although I did connect it to other content
that weve learned in Humanities.
Seminar Leadership: I deserve a B because I did drop intellectual
bombs, posed original questions, and I tried to clear up confusion. I did
not fully help others participate, and keep the group on topic. I tend to
fail in these categories, but I am still improving!