Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: Literary Analysis

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Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston has one of the most unique points of view in all of literature. Throughout the novel, we get to be in the head of Janie and see what she see’s, but there are times when she is not even present in certain circumstances yet we get told every little detail. The point of view in this book falls somewhere between omniscient and limited omniscient. The narrator herself is Janie, and we know everything about her; however, there are other characters and events that are revealed and explained to the reader by an all knowing source. There are many strengths that go with this point of view; not only that, but there are rarely any weaknesses. Many people would think that this wouldn’t work and would just be a mess. It allows the reader access to the actions of all characters; also, every event is revealed, and what we are not told keeps us in suspense throughout the novel. Throughout the entire novel, we are always in the loop with every event; whether Janie is present at the time or not. The events she is present bears no surprise to the reader that she explains them in detail to us; it is the events she is not at that we still hear about that makes this such an original point of view in this novel. There are times when Janie …show more content…
I believe the most important, however, is the point of view used to tell this story. The narrator reveals to the reader every action by the many different characters and almost every event is explained in detail even without the presence of Janie. The few times the reader is not informed on something is when the author purposefully does so to keep us intrigued and unknowing of the ultimate outcome. There are so many strengths to this point of view and it comes with few to no weaknesses. Although some people may think this mix of omniscient and limited omniscient may not work, it is the perfect way to structure this great American
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