Eyes Journal 7

Theme Words:

• Wait
• Fear
• Hard work
• Jealousy
• Tired uh waitin'
• Remembrance
• Absence

Waiting: By showing how much time and suffering Janie goes through to find that "idealistic love", Hurston suggests that if you are truly committed to something and are willing to sacrifice enough, you will get what you are searching for.

Jealousy: Hurston shows us just how devastating jealousy can be to a relationship, it can cause on going problems that are never solved. As was the case with Nunkie and Mr. Turner in Janie and Tea Cake's relationship, jealousy can put a lot of strain on a couple.

Absence: Through Janie's loveless relationships, the conclusion can be drawn that the absence of something that one greatly desires will not discourage a person, rather it will motivate them even more to obtain whatever they may yearn for.

Eyes Journal 6

I. The purpose of this passage, as Hurston intended it to be, is to show that Janie has been waiting for her "perfect love", and perhaps Janie has been waiting just a little bit too long, for Janie feels as if she has wasted her time waiting around for this love.

II. Hurston uses the stark similarities between Janie's and Annie Tyler's situations in the first paragraph to show the beginning of the regret that Janie is starting to feel.

III. Hurston uses the beginning of the second paragraph to show that Janie truly believes that she is in a "worst-case" scenario.

IV. Hurston not only switches the point of view from third to first person in the end of the second paragraph, but she also lets us hear Janie's prayer, that way we can get a glimpse into just how desperate Janie is feeling.

V. In the last paragraph of the passage, Hurston continues to show Janie's distress by telling us how she "dozed off", implying that she cried herself to sleep.



To Jessica:
I really like how you pointed out the ambiguity of the words "thing" and "it".

I thought that Hurston really leaves the interpretation of those words up to the reader, but of course whatever the interpretation is it is bound to be of a fearful mood.

I thought that the "thing" that haunts Janie are her thoughts about her worst-case scenario: Tea Cake abandoning her.

To Olivia:
I think you interpreted Hurston's tone very well. I agree with you that at the beginning Hurston creates a very "somber" mood. I also like how you picked up the fact that the mood changes throughout the passage. In my opinion, I thought that the mood became more distressed.

To Cierra:
I really liked your analysis on the first sentence of the second paragraph: "The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long." You nailed it when you said that that sentence was filled with imagery. I thought that the imagery was a little more specific towards how Janie was feeling. I thought that sentence showed that Janie was afraid of Tea Cake leaving her, and that she could not get rid of that nagging fear.

Eyes Journal 5

They put her to bed and sent for her married daughter from up around Ocala to come see about her.  The daughter came as soon as she could and took Annie Tyler away to die in peace.  She had waited all her life or something, and it had killed her when it found her.
      The thing made itself into pictures and hung around Janie's bedside all night long.  Anyhow, she wasn't going back to Eatonville to be laughed at and pitied.  She had ten dollars in her pocket and twelve hundred in the bank.  But oh God, don't let Tea Cake be off somewhere hurt and Ah not know nothing about it.  And God, please suh, don't let him love nobody else but me.  Maybe Ah'm is uf fool, Lawd, lad dey say, but Lawd, Ah been so lonesome, and Ah been waitin', Jesus.  Ah done waited uh long time.      Janie dozed off to sleep but she woke up in time to see the sun sending up spies ahead of him to mark out the road through the dark.  he peeped up over the door sill of the world and made a little foolishness with red.  but pretty soon, he laid all that aside and went about his business dressed all in white.  But it was always going to be dark to Janie if Tea Cake didn't soon come back.  She got out of the bed but a chair couldn't hold her.  she dwindled down on the floor her head in a rocking chair.

Waiting/Time: Throughout this passage Hurston references to time and waiting a lot. Perhaps that is to emphasize the fact that when waiting for something, time seems to go by very slowly. The novel plays with time quite often; while Tea Cake was courting Janie time was flying by, but while Janie is playing with the notion that Tea Cake may be gone forever, time is going by slower for her and the torture she is enduring seems to last forever. Hurston uses time and waiting when it is involved with love. Drawing parallels between the two creates the effect of us almost using the two almost interchangeably.

 Prayer: In the middle of this passage Janie breaks her thought process to do what appears to be praying. However, Hurston does not make this dialogue so she is, in essence, giving the reader the liberty to decide whether it is a prayer or not. Jumping to the conclusion that it is prayer would not be very difficult because Hurston makes many references to religion. This passage clearly continues the motif of religion. By having Janie pray in such a time of crisis for her, Hurston is saying that we should rely on God in our times of difficulty. Hurston is likely saying this from experience because she was a very religious woman herself.

Thoughts vs. Actions: The second paragraph of this passage mostly consists of Janie's thoughts. It seems to me as if her thoughts are racing, almost as if she is in a panic. However, unlike the second paragraph, the third mostly consists of what Janie is doing, or what she is noticing in the physical world. The reason that Hurston would repeat what Janie is doing, just in different ways seems to me to be because she wants to be sure to create the mood that she feels is necessary for the reader to get. Hurston is trying to portray the mood as being dark and distressed, and to make sure the reader comprehends that she "doubles-up" her paragraphs that would relate to the mood.

Eyes Journal 4

So Eric started to ponder about Hate. Hate, the terrible feeling consisting of anger and loathing that resided deep within the mind. The overwhelming one who stayed in your soul like someone who broke your heart. What purpose does Hate have for manifesting itself in people, and what can we do to stop him? He lies in his lowly dungeon where evil is planned. Lies silent and rigid into the night with his eyes wide open, hoping for a persons heart to grant him entry. Been lying there before there were humans or an earth or time. The humans were likely to find some Hatred within their own souls eventually. The humans were vulnerable and unsuspecting as well. Poor children! The children  should not have to be born into a world of Hatred. The humans attempted to protest Hate, but Peace never prevailed. These protesters were good in theory, but they were unaware of the "real world". The humans would rid themselves of hate when pigs flew. The humans would never get rid of hate. That's not what they thought though. The media talked about "world peace", so they believed. And if they had never heard, they would have conceived it themselves, because people started to come together in the large place called Earth. People who would not have thought to come to Earth had they known. They just sat on Earth and waited. Hate, that evil wrath, had came over the globe.

Eyes Journal 3

In chapter 6 of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Daisy Blunt is portrayed as a very feminine, beautiful woman. We know this because Hurston simply tells us. "She is black and she knows that white clothes look good on her, so she wears them for dress up. She’s got those big black eyes with plenty shiny white in them that makes them shine like brand new money and she knows what God gave women eyelashes for, too"(67). Hurston also goes even further in emphasising this by showing just how crazy the men of Eatonville go over her. "All the rest of the single men have crowded around Daisy by this time"(68). Hurston naming Daisy after a flower was no coincidence. Hurston gives Daisy her name, and gives her a particular set of qualities for a reason. The reason is shown multiple times throughout the rest of the chapter. Hurston uses flower metaphors to show the love, or lack thereof in Janie's marriage. "The bed was no longer a daisy-field for her and Joe to play in. It was a place where she went and laid down when she was sleepy and tired. She wasn’t petal-open anymore with him"(71). All the men love Daisy, and Janie's marriage is starting to become loveless so the best way for Hurston to make a connection between the two is through flowers. "She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man"(72). Although Hurston does not directly relate to daisies in this quote it is still quite apparent to the reader that she is referencing to flowers. Hurston characterizes Daisy as a woman who is loved by men, beautiful, and feminine, in order to relate to the lack of love in Janie's marriage through flowers.

Eyes Journal 2

For my passage analysis, I chose the third paragraph on page 45.


"Folkses, de sun is goin' down... All we can do, if we want any light after the settin' or befo' de risin', is tuh make some light ourselves" (45). In this paragraph Hurston mentions multiple times the setting and rising of the sun on the horizon. The setting and rising of the sun on the horizon also occurs countless times throughout the novel, therefore it is a motif. Hurston uses this motif in this paragraph to represent opportunity for Janie. Up to this point in the novel the real, natural sun has represented opportunity; but now there is somewhat of an artificial sun, the street lamp. The street lamp was purchased by Joe for the town. It is almost as if Hurston is trying to tell us that Joe is opening doors of opportunity for Janie, she could ride along with Joe and continue to gain power or wealth if those were things that she desired.


"De first street lamp in uh colored town" (45). This paragraph shows us some of the differences between whites and blacks, for example the whites have street lamps and the blacks do not. The street lamp that the blacks have is a symbol of them closing the gap of differences between the whites and blacks.

"And when Ah touch de match tuh dat lamp-wick let de light penetrate inside of yuh, and let it shine, let it shine, let it shine” (45). Hurston repeats the phrase "let it shine" for emphasis. In the paragraph it is almost as if Joe's speech is not a mayoral speech at all, but instead a sermon. He reminds me of a preacher telling his congregation to let Jesus shine in your life. Hurston makes many religious references throughout the novel, however in this case she uses repetition to make Joe seem more powerful. In his speech, Joe is setting himself apart from the regular townspeople, and using repetition on a reference to God, is a great way for Joe to do that.

The mood of this passage is excited. The townspeople are excited that they have something that is not only practical, but they also have something that no other black man has, something that only the whites have. To an all-black audience, closing a racial gap would be very exciting.

Hurston's tone is this passage is serious and intimate. In the passage she is trying to convey many important symbols. The best way for Hurston to make sure that the reader catches those symbols is to have a serious and intimate tone with the reader.

The purpose of this passage is to simply show that Janie has an opportunity. She can choose to indulge into Joe's lifestyle of wealth and power or she can continue to be the Janie that her grandmother raised. Hurston used this passage to convey to the reader that Janie has a choice to make.

Eyes Journal 1

In the first four pages of the novel, Hurston uses language that has to do with peoples' mouths. Hurston uses this language to show what people are saying, "And ah reckon they got me up in they mouth now" (5). This use of the word mouth is simply used to state what people are talking about; but Hurston uses mouths in an even more important way: to show people's emotions and thoughts. "nobody moved, nobody spoke, nobody even thought to swallow spit until after the gate slammed behind her" (2). Hurston seems to think that by telling us what is going on in a persons mouth that we can tell what is going on in their head. "Logan held his tobacco real still in his jaw like a thermometer of his feelings while he studied Janie's face and waited for her to say something" (27). Hurston uses the human mouth as an excellent way to 'show rather than to tell', and it is because of this continual use of it that we can conclude that Hurston uses the motif of mouths as a sort of symbol of ones mind.

I have never thought of the happenings of someone's mouth as anything significant. However, Hurston shows us that that is not always the case. I know that in psychology you can tell how people feel by some of their outward movements, such as a nervous twitch; can the same be said for the mouth? Can you actually tell how a person feels by what goes on in someone's mouth? In today's society we do not think twice about the movements of someone's mouth. Was it different back in the 1920's? Did people back then actually  take into consideration someone's mouth while they were having a conversation with them? Also, I wonder if there will be additional meanings to one's mouth, other than speech and thoughts, later in the novel.

I noticed in the first few pages that Hurston made, what seemed to me, to be a few references about slavery. These references were quite subtle, and one may even be able to debate whether these have any link to slavery at all. "A mood come alive. Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in a song" (2). This seems to be saying that once there is no master, that the slave then comes alive. Also, the "harmony in a song" made me think of a slave song. Back during slavery, slave songs were often a way to communicate with other slaves. Perhaps the "harmony in a song" means more than just the musical meaning, it could very possibly include the mental harmony that slaves had while they sung. This quote will make the reader think more deeply about slavery throughout the novel. After reading this quote, it will be apparent that Hurston has strong feelings regarding slavery, and that she may be inclined to potentially use more figurative language involving slavery.

Hurston seems to care about slavery a great deal. Was her life personally affected by slavery? Did she have a relative who was a slave? When this book was published in the 1930's was slavery still a topic on everyone's mind? Was it, perhaps even controversial for her to write about? I wonder if Hurston had any opinions on the differences between slave labor and the black labor that quite resembled slavery after the Civil War. It will be interesting to look for those differences as the book goes on.

Hurston spends a lot of time talking about Janie's transition to womanhood. While explaining it she uses many metaphors, some being more obvious than others. "For a long time she sat rocking with the girl held tightly to her sunken breast. Janie's long legs dangled over one arm of the chair and the long braids of her hair swung low on the other side" (14). In this implied metaphor Hurston paints the picture of a balance, with her long legs and her long braids on either side. However, the meaning is deeper than just the position she is sitting in. This balance seems to be the balance between childhood and womanhood for Janie. Also, in this implied metaphor are Janie's long braids, which throughout the novel symbolize her womanhood. In the end, Janie realizes that it will be impossible for her to be both a girl and a woman, that the balancing act is not possible, and it is at that time when she becomes a woman.

Hurston lingers on the transition from a girl to a woman. Was this transition especially hard on her in her younger years? Also, is the way that this transition occurred going to be relevant to Janie's love life later in the story? In today's society, by age sixteen a girl has long considered herself a woman. Were things different back then? Did it actually take 16 years before a girls first kiss?