


The novel also addresses issues that many critics of African American literature have overlooked. Their Eyes Were Watching God includes parallels to her own life, through Janie, as well as the people of Eatonville, Florida. She uses her knowledge of African American culture, beliefs, myths, and dialect to shape the characters in her novels. Hurston’s novels are works of anthropology. She gives her late husband a lavish funeral and soon leaves their homestead, ultimately ending up in Eatonville where she is telling her story to Phoeby.

She was put on trial for murder and, despite opposition from Tea Cake’s friends, was found not guilty. While their marriage is marked with good and bad times, it ultimately ends with Janie shooting her husband he had been bitten by a rabid dog, contracting the disease himself, and threatened Janie’s life. She turns town many suitors, ultimately falling in love with Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake. After Killicks passes away from a kidney disease, Janie prospers from his estate and is finally able to choose for herself a marriage based on love. Again, Janie is left wanting more from her relationship with her second husband. Janie ran away from her husband with Joe Starks, a man who marries her for the sake of appearances. Janie believed a marriage should involve love, so her relationship with Logan Killicks left both parties wanting more. Janie’s first marriage was thrust upon her by her grandmother she believed her granddaughter needed the stability that a good marriage could provide. Ultimately, Janie’s mother abandoned her into the care of her now-freed grandmother. Janie’s grandmother was raped as a slave, giving birth to Janie’s mother for as much as the former tried to protect the latter, she too was raped, resulting in Janie’s birth. The memories focus on Janie’s marriages to three different men, each marking different key parts of her life. Throughout the text of Their Eyes were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the reader learns of the life of the main character, Janie Crawford, through a narrative she gives to her friend, Phoeby Watson. A Summary of Their Eyes Were Watching God An essay on a Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary examines the literature novel by Zora Neale Hurston.
