Their Eyes Were Watching God Critical Analysis

A Unique Portrayal of Harlem As we journey through the tale of Janie’s life that Hurston shares with her readers through her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, we gain insight on many developed ideas of Harlem throughout it, however also varies from the idea of Harlem to a great extent moreover. Zora Neale Hurston's writing is a reflection of and a departure from the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance. Within the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston expresses through the story of Janie’s life and the struggles she endured growing up in a place such as Harlem, we see many ideas of Harlem through this, however it also differs vastly from the idea of Harlem concurrently. Hurston shows us Janie’s struggles from childhood to adult, the people …show more content…
In the beginning of the novel, as Janie is introduced as well as the story itself, a wonderful line of Hurston’s greatly displays how her writing is a departure of Harlem. Zora states, “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon” (1). This quote expresses a much deeper meaning than some may think, especially for it being the first sentence to start off the book with. With this sentence, Hurston expresses an image of Janie’s life right from the beginning. We are brought into a whole other world, a time. In my opinion, it expresses a struggle in life of people, specifically Janie, how they dream of this world, of building this life, however with some they find it easily, but others they spend their whole lives struggling to find that oasis in their minds they have created. In Their Eyes Were Watching God there were many struggles people were faced with, however some people had it easier and were able to find peace easier than others, however many others instead struggled through this time in their lives. All in all, this struggle into a changed more confident women that Janie becomes and figure is an departure of

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