Their Eyes Were Watching God is an amazing book! I think it’s one that everyone should read. I wasn’t sure what to expect when I started reading it; I had to read this book for a class. This book goes through the four stages of Janie Crawford’s life. Janie is the narrator telling her story to her friend Pheoby after she finally comes back to Eatonville after running away with a younger man.
Janie starts her story during her teen years living with her Grandmother, Nanny, who tells Janie that she must get married after seeing her kiss a man named Johnny Taylor. Nanny doesn’t want Janie to end up with a man like Johnny, and tells Janie that she must marry a man named Logan Killicks.
The Logan Killicks marriage is Janie’s “apron” stage of her life. Killicks makes her work hard and do whatever he wants. Janie grows tired of this life and throws her apron in the bushes to move on with a man name Joe Starks.
Janie’s marriage to Joe Starks is sort of known as her “head-rag” period. Starks makes her wear a head-rag because he wants to be the only person to look at and touch Janie’s beautiful hair. Starks pushes Janie to the side to concentrate on being mayor of Eatonville. He grows to resent marrying Janie after she publicly yells at him. He wishes her dead just before his death. After his death Janie gets rid of her head-rag and finally feels free to do more of what she wants.
Janie’s final marriage is to a young man named Tea Cake. Her marriage to Tea Cake is the most loving of her marriages. Janie finally feels comfortable to do what she wants. Things start to get bad in their marriage only after he gets bitten by a rabid dog.
I won’t spoil anymore of the book, because what happens after Tea Cake gets bitten is some of the most tense and amazing scenes I’ve ever read. Janie is a character that doesn’t know much about herself, and seems to be seeking herself in the arms of the men she marries. She finally learns all about herself and what she loves through her marriage to Tea Cake. The dialect in this book took a few chapters for me to get used to, but it helps the book.