Cultural Analysis Paper

Abbey Dahl

ANT 220

November 22, 2011

Ms. Reeves

Hope and Freedom

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a culturally enriched book written by Zora Neale Hurston. I chose this book because of all the positive feedback that I was told about when I mentioned that I might be reading Their Eyes Were Watching God for an assignment. The setting of the story takes place primarily during the 1920’s in Florida after the Civil War has taken place. Since the war is over, there is a sense of freedom that the African Americans have not been able to feel until that point. The African American race is the cultural group that gives this book so much depth, and meaning. A cultural analysis of Their Eyes Were Watching God reveals that the style of which the book is written, the determination for the American Dream, the meaningful examples of ethnocentrism, and the incorporation of feministic struggles are what make this story so empowering and culturally extraordinary.

In the beginning reading a book like Their Eyes Were Watching God can be very overwhelming and intimidating. The dialogue was especially difficult to comprehend at first when it was constructed using very broken English. Although it may have been frustrating at times, Hurston did an amazing job with making sure the diction the characters used was exactly how it would have sounded. She used AAEV that also can be called Ebonics. Ebonics “has deep roots in the African American community, particularly among rural and urban working-class blacks,” (Nanda/Warms 75). During this harsh time period white people were considered more civilized and were, “associated with higher socioeconomic status,” (Nanda/Warms 75) so, they could speak what was qualified as “proper” English. The African Americans suffered from this terrible judgment and established their own kind of language that was shared within their own community. Hurston’s entire book revolves around Ebonics. Sentences like, “Us lived dere havin’ fun till the chillun at school got to teasin’ me ‘bout livin’ in de white folks’ back-yard,” (Hurston 9) were puzzling at first, but by the end of the book it was like second nature to understand exactly what Hurston’s characters were trying to explain. Even though this kind of language was said to be for the lower class African American there was still one particular character, Jody, who strived to become more important in society, and work hard for their version of the American Dream.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Jody was a man with an American Dream, and, “he had always wanted to be a big voice,” (Hurston 28) in society. Along with being Janie’s husband, he became the Mayor of Eatonville. His strong determination allowed him to open up a General Store in the center of town, put up street lamps, and announced that he wanted to build a post office for the small, domesticated town. Jody Starks’s, “social position is based on achieved status,” (Nanda/Warms 75) which ultimately means he made himself into what he wanted to become. Unlike being born into an ascribed status, Jody had to work very hard for what he wanted. Unfortunately because he wanted to become something important in society so badly, he lost the Jody that Janie so quickly fell in love with, and their love diminished. It was great to see the freedom that was finally granted to African Americans used in such a magnificent way. Sadly everyone cannot be like this, and there are those who refuse to believe and accept that humans should all be treated equal no matter what race or class system they are apart of.

Ethnocentrism “is simply the belief that one’s own culture is better than any other,” (Nanda/Warms 50). Mrs. Turner is a woman that lived in the Everglades with all the other African Americans who were harvesting beans in order to sell them at market for a high profit. Janie came, “to be visiting friends,” (Hurston 138) with Mrs. Turner. Tea Cake, Janie’s third and last husband, did not appreciate how Mrs. Turner spoke about the African American race, and how she frequently attempted to persuade Janie to leave Tea Cake and marry her brother. She thought that because, “her nose was slightly pointed,” (Hurston 140) and she had thin lips that she was better off than all the African Americans. She didn’t, “blame de white folks from hatin’ em’ ‘cause,” (Hurston 141) because she couldn’t stand them herself. Janie never agreed with Mrs. Turner, and she rarely spoke because Mrs. Turner always went on and on preaching that, “if it wuzn’t for so many black folks it wouldn’t be no race problem,” (Hurston 141). Mrs. Turner did not accept their cultural differences, and thought African Americans to be a nuisance. Since Mrs. Turner was a woman Tea Cake went to her husband to tell him that she needed to stop coming over. This was typical in this time period for the women to be inferior to men. Only after the civil rights movement did woman start to make a heavy significant difference in society.

From the beginning to the end of Their Eyes Were Watching God Hurston made a clear distinction between the male role and female role in this kind of society. Throughout the entire story the society was a patriarchy. A patriarchy is, “a male-dominated society in which all important public and private power is held by men,” (Nanda/Warms 193). From Janie’s first husband, Logan Killicks, to Joe, to Tea Cake, it was apparent that the male made all the decisions. It was demonstrated when Logan asked her to do something around the house it was like demand, when Joe silenced Janie from making a speech when the lamp post was up, and when Tea Cake told Janie they were moving to the Everglades. These were all signs of male dominance. When Janie worked in the General Store under Joe, it seemed like she was treated equal, but then Joe would make it look like Janie was not fit to do the job. It was upsetting to see that this was how our society once was, but society had to learn from its mistakes about woman to make things better for them in the future.

Their Eyes Were Watching God was such an enlightening tale. There was not anything it the story that did not have an important meaning behind it. From the Ebonics, to the gender roles it was all a part of a wonderful story that will be defined as a culturally, eye opening tale.

Word Count: 1,089

Works Cited

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: HarperCollins

Publishers, 1937. Print.

Nanda, Serene and Warms, Richard. Culture Counts; A Concise Introduction To Cultural

Anthropology. California: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009, Print.