While reading this book it was very apparent to me that Hurston was not displaying black people like any of the other readings we have read so far. The focus in this book as not the way that black people were being oppressed, it instead displayed the way that they lived their lives as if they did not face many of these problems. It displayed racism as if it were not a problem they had to deal with in this community they were in. This was in great contrast to the other writer’s stories we have read during this semester. For example Wright displayed many of the hardships that black people faced during the time of the Jim Crow laws. He displayed how unequal black people were and how badly they were treated by the white people. Their Eyes Were Watching God only had one example of this type of behavior. When Janie and Tea Cake went outside of the community, they briefly felt the problem of racism. Tea Cake was approached by two white men with rifles that wanted him to help clean up the mess left behind by the storm. They approached him by saying “Hello, there, Jim,” (p. 169) which Tea Cake obviously took as very disrespectful. They quickly made him start cleaning up the area and burying the dead bodies that were laying around. Eventually Tea Cake thought of Janie worrying about him, and took off running in order to escape the situation and find her.
It was much different to read about a community of black people that did not have to face the hardships of racism. It was a much more positive representation of way black people were able to live during this time period. However, it seems as though this was only the case because no white people lived in this community. I liked reading about a situation during this time that didn’t focus on the hardships that black people faced. Instead it showed how some people were able to settle in areas that allowed them to live life with almost complete freedom. It also focused more on other hardships such as gender relations and physical abuse. I’m sure if this situation were analyzed further racism still was a factor in their life, but this community they lived in seemed to have sheltered them from the problems that other areas were dealing with.
7 comments:
I agree that it was a nice change to read about the lives of African Americans without having to dwell on racism. Although ignoring the problematic nature of segregation and racism, as some accuse Hurston of doing, might not have been the most accurate approach to presenting blacks during the early 1900s, Hurston does allow readers to see other dimensions of black life. She shows other problems, such as the domestic violence you mention, that the black community faced, which broadened our view of the South. Previous African American authors, such as Douglass and Wright, seem to suggest that the problems of blacks had roots in their oppression by whites. Hurston, however, by largely omitting whites from her novel, allows us to see that blacks had problems all on their own, as any group of people do. Domestic violence was simply typical of this time period as other works, such as A Streetcar Named Desire, indicate to us.
Hurston, by not dwelling on racism, also provides us with some insight into positive aspects of African culture, through her depictions of folklore and of black music and dance when Janie lives with Tea Cake. Also, because white leaders are not present to dictate the lives of blacks, Hurston is able to show the rise of black leaders, first Joe and then more informally, Tea Cake. Thus, the segregation that is implicitly shown in this novel is not presented as the negative force Wright depicted it to be.
I also found it really intresting that Hurston focused so little on race issues, when every other peice of literature has. If anything it made the situations pop out more to me, and seem more monumental since there was no experience of any racial issues until the end really. they werent just discrimination either, they were segregation and really harsh rascism. they wouldnt allow the black men and women who were killed by the storm a casket... that to me is really a low blow.
I also thought that "Their Eyes Were Watching God" was a nice change from our usual readings. Instead of reading about the hardships that black people went through, we got to read about a black woman named Janie who lived a very ineteresting life. I enjoyed reading this story very much because it didn't show how badly black people were treated like in Frederick Douglass and Richard Wright. Even though Janie's husband Tea Cake died in the end, I was still happy that Janie was able to find true love, that was what she was searching for throughout the entire story. Along the way she also found out who she was.
I agree that Hurston's writings greatly contrasted Wright's writings. Hurston was more focused on the lives of blacks as individual people. Wright looked at the lives of blacks in comparison to whites. According to Wright, blacks were defined by white people and their attitudes. By doing this, Hurston gave us a better insight into black communities and not just a look at the issue of racism.
I think that this book was a really good piece to try to make a change. While other books we read were talking about differences. between races, this one gave an attitude of indifference. The people in the town could have been black, white, asian, or from any other ethnic background, and it would not have had to change the story. The characters were portrayed as just normal people, not rising above, and not falling behind from the norm. I learned in one of my Psychology classes that the way to stop segregation is not to celebrate differences, but to celebrate similarities as Hurston did.
I totaly agree with you this was definetly different than the other stories because racism wasnt explained in such a bad way. She ignored the fact people were racist. She looked at it as if people were missing out on her. She was proud to be black. This book was about relationships. And its like you dont even see black or white because some relationships are all the same in many different ways.
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