BekahKuster

TheirEyesWereWatchingGodSeminarReflection
IthinkbecausethiswasourlastHonorsseminaroftheyearweweremorerelaxedand
spokemorecasuallyandfreely.ThisleadtowhatIbelievewasaninterestingseminar,
yetnotasdenseordeepasthepreviousseminarsaboutKurtVonnegutsCatsCradle
andEdwardAbbeysTheMonkeyWrenchGang.Nevertheless,thereweremany
interestingpointspeoplebroughtintotheconversationonebeingtheimpressionthe
accentsgave.Ididntnoticemuchabouttheaccentsbesidesthefactthattheybroughtus
tothetimeperiodandplacethecharacterswerein.Thishowever,wasnotwhatseveral
othersthought,whichmademerethinktheuseofaccents.Liasaidthattheaccentsgave
thepeopleaweirdimpressionandmaybethiswaswhatRichardWrightwastalking
aboutinhiscriticismofthenovel.Hebelievedthatthebookwassettingtheraceback,
portrayingthemasuneducated,whichcouldbeattributedtotheaccentsHurstonchoseto
useaswellasthetowninwhichtheylived.AlthoughIdontagreewitheverythingthat
RichardWrighthadtosayaboutthenovel,Icanseehowthebookseemstobeaccepting
stereotypesthatcouldsettheraceback.Thediscussionsthroughouttheseminar
coincidentlyledustocreatesomewhatofatimelineofJanieslifeandhowshegrewas
anindividual.Itwasfascinatingtoseehergrowthandstrengththatshedeveloped.As
Ellensaid,itsajourney.
Manyofuswonderedwhatthisbookwasreallyabout.Wasitaboutwomen
empowerment?Wasitaboutempowermentofblackpeopleintheearly1900s?Tomost
ofus,morethananything,itwasanovelaboutacharactersjourney.Janiegrewasa
characterthroughoutthebook,becomingstrongandempowered.Aswereadeach
chapter,weallnoticedthatJaniebecameamoredevelopedcharacter,takingmorerisks
andnobeingafraidtodisappointothers.Whenweallthoughtofthespecificmoment
JaniestartedtodefypeopleexpectationitwasthemomentwhenJaniemarriedTeaCake
shortlyafterJodyhaddied..ThiswholebookseemedtobeaboutJaniestransformation
fromwhatotherpeoplewantedhertodo,tofinallydoingthingsforherself.Intheend,it
seemedshemadedecisionswithoutworryingaboutthedisappointmentorjudgmentof
others.ForexamplewhenPheobyandJanieweretalkingaboutthemourningofJody,
JaniewasntafraidtospeakhermindevenafterPheobyexpressedherconcernsabout
whatthepublicwouldsay.Letemsaywhutdewantstuh,Pheoby.Tomythinkin
mourningoughtnttuhlastnolongergrief.Thiswasoneofthemomentsthatwe
noticedJanieevolvingasacharacter.Shewasnolongerdoingandsayingthingsfor
others.HerindependenceasacharacterwasevidentwhenshemetTeaCakeandmoved
onfromJody.However,werealizedthiswasntthefirsttimeJaniemadeadecisionin
thefaceofjudgment.Shehadbeendefyingpeopleherentirelifefromthemomentshe
foughtwithhergrandmaandrefusedtomarryLogan,tothemomentsheranawaywith
Jody.BythetimeshemarriedTeaCake,shehadalreadybeendoingthingsforherself.
Wasthisstillanovelofacharactersevolution?
AsceneinthebookremindedmeofourstudiesofthemovieCrash.Thescenewaswhen
JaniewastalkingtoMrs.TurnerwhowasblackbutstillputdownAfricanAmericans

BekahKuster
whoweredarkerthanher.InthemovieCrash,oneofthebiggestthemesInoticedwas
thatracismisnotexclusivetoonlywhites,allracesareracistinsomewayoranother.
Evenracesthathavefeltoppressedthemselves,oppressotherminorityraces.This
surprisedmeduringthefilmandIwasagainsurprisedreadingaboutMrs.Turnerand
howshewasracisttowardspeopleofherownrace.AnotherthingIlearnedfrom
studyingtheCrashfilmandthisbookisthatstereotypesandoppressionbasedonrace
havenotdecreasedassignificantlyaswethoughtorhopedduringthecourseofhistory.
Nomatterifweadmititornot,thereisalwayssubconsciousracismthataffectsour
perspectivesanddecisions.Thisisspecificallyshownaswecomparethisscenefrom
HurstonsbooktotheCrashfilm.
IwouldliketoknowhowHurstonwouldofdescribedherbookandherpurposefor
writingit.
IamnotsurehowIwouldgoaboutfindingthisout,butIguessknowingwhatwas
goingoninhistoryatthattimewouldbehelpfultoknowifshewastryingtoaddressa
specificsocialissue.
IwouldliketoknowiftherewereactuallytownsliketheonethatJanieandJodymoved
to.
Iwouldhavetodoresearchonthistimeperiodtofigurethisout.