Review: Their Eyes Were Watching God

 On Zora Neale Hurston's literary choice for freedom

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston´s most known work of fiction, the main character, Jeanie, must endure all the different forms of oppression society in 1937 had to offer. Be that the realization of being a black girl in a white community and the consequent exile; being wed off as an adolescent to a much older man just to preserve her reputation, or the abuse and mistreatment suffered at the hands of men for being a woman.

Gender roles and race are the foundations of this novel, and Jeanie´s life is marked by what means to be a black female in a world whose purpose seems to be to put her down in every possible way. So why is this book also a lyrical revindication of beauty and joy? Because it portrays a protagonist that affirms her individuality and wishes above all the misfortune and disappointments she endures. Janie refuses to accept a loveless life, despite it being comfortable or filled with riches. Her journey from a lost child to a determined woman is moved by the simple yet essential need for freedom and her own definition of fulfilled happiness, no matter the cost or the preconceived ideas of the time. Janie Crawford and Zora Neale Hurston always knew what they were after: a blossoming pear tree and the liberty of their spirits.