Imagery in Their Eyes Were Watching God

            Imagery is “figurative or descriptive language in a literary work” (dictionary.reference.com). It is sensory writing and used in many pieces of literature. In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Hurston enhances her writing by using evocative words to make the readers use their senses to create mental images in their brains.

Chapter 1

1. “the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume,” Description of Janie’s hair, which is a big symbol in the novel. Page 2

2. “time makes everything old so the kissing, young darkness became a montropolous old thing while Janie talked.” Time loomed on as Janie told her story to Phoeby. Page 7

Chapter 2

1. “She had glossy leave and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her.” This compares Janie to the blooming pear tree and how it is blooming as she is growing up and becoming a woman. Page 11

2. “Mind- pictures brought feelings, and feelings dragged out dramas from the hollows of her heart.” Nanny is trying to raise Janie while remembering the past things from her life, and trying to do better this time. Page 16

Chapter 3

1. “The new moon had been up and down three times before she got worried in mind.” It had been a long time before Janie started to worry that she wasn’t falling in love with Logan as she hoped she would with time. Page 22

2. “She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether.” Life is fast changing and constantly moving. Page 25

Chapter 4

1.”He did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon.” Joe Starks was a man that lived on his own limits and made his own rules. Page 29

2. “They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.” This is symbolizing the start of a new day, and Janie has a new start for happiness. Page 33

Chapter 5

1. “She must look on herself as the bell-cow, the other women were the gang.” Janie had to work at the store like she was of higher class than anybody else. She was different from the other women because she was Joe’s wife. Page 41

2. “Speakin’ of winds, he’s de wind and we’se de grass. We bend whichever way he blows.” Joe controls the people in his town to get what he wants. He takes advantage of people. Page 49

Chapter 6

1.”Every morning the world flung itself over and exposed the town to the sun.” The townspeople were busy during the day. Page 51

2. “That was the rock she was battered against.” Joe allowed Janie to waste her time arguing over dilemmas in the store. That was one of her few privileges. Page 54

Chapter 7

1. “The years took all the fight out of Janie’s face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul.” Janie became stoic and stopped talking to Joe. She stopped trying to fight him and gave him the silent treatment. Page 76

2. “For the first time she could see a man’s head naked of its skull. Saw the cunning thoughts race in and out through the caves and promontories of his mind long before they darted out of the tunnel of his mouth.” Janie easily predicted what Joe would say or do before he did anything. Page77

Chapter 8

1. “But the stillness was the sleep of swords.” Although it looked quiet and peaceful from a stranger’s view, Janie and Jody’s relationship was chaotic. When they didn’t talk to each other, it meant that they were furious with each other. Page 81

2. “The icy sword of the square-toed one had cut off his breath and left his hands in a pose of agonizing protest.” Death caught Joe off-guard while he was arguing with Janie. Page 87

Chapter 9

1. “She had been getting ready for her great journey to the horizons in search of people; it was important to all the world that she should find them and they find her. But she had been whipped like a cur dog, and run off down a back road after things.” Janie was on her way to her horizon, but Nanny had taken it away from her by making her live the way Nanny wanted her to. It threw her off-track. Page 89

2. “Like all the other tumbling mud-balls, Janie had tried to show her shine.” Janie tried to live the way she wanted. Page 90

Chapter 10

1. “Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day.” The moon lit up the night and put out the need for daytime. Page 99

Chapter 11

1. “You got de keys to de kingdom.” Janie had everything she needed to win the keys to Tea Cake’s heart. Page 109

2.”He did not return that night nor the next and so she plunged into the abyss and descended to the ninth darkness where light has never been.” Janie hadn’t seen Tea Cake for a while, so she began to worry and became fearful of all of the circumstances that she created in her head. Page 108

Chapter 12

1. “Ah jus lak uh chicken. Chicken drink water, but he don’t pee-pee.” Phoeby tells Janie that she can be told something and not spread it around to everyone. She can keep secrets. Page 114

2. “So Ah got up on de high stool lak she told me, but Phoeby, Ah done nearly languished tuh death up dere.” When Janie did what Nanny wanted her to do, she suffered and felt like she didn’t belong. Page 114

Chapter 13

1. “He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.” Janie fell in love with Tea Cake and finally felt like she belonged with someone. Page 128

2. “But, don’t care how firm your determination is, you can’t keep turning round in one place like a horse grinding sugar cane.” Everywhere Janie looked, she could not find the money. She kept looking in the same places hopelessly. Page 118

Chapter 14

1. “Work all day for money, fight all night for love.” During the day, the people would work, and during nighttime, people would live their lives. Page 131

2. “It’s hard trying to follow your shoe instead of your shoe following you.” It is harder to be struggling while looking for the best way to get money than to have money come to you easily. Page 131

Chapter 15

1.”A little seed of fear was growing into a tree.” Janie became scared that Tea Cake was cheating on her. She became jealous and just kept getting more and more jealous. Page 136

Chapter 16

1. “Janie’s coffee-and-cream complexion and her luxurious hair made Mrs. Turner forgive her for wearing overalls like the other women who worked in the fields.” Janie had a white person’s features and Mrs. Turner was fascinated by her hair and complexion. Mrs. Turner was so distracted by her beautiful features that she didn’t mind her working side. Page 140

2.”Just like he had been sand-papered down to a long oval mass.” Tea Cake was sorry for Mr. Turner because he felt that Mr. Turner was easily controlled by Mrs. Turner. Page 144

Chapter 17

1. “A great deal of the old crowd were back. But there were lots of new ones too.” Many men and women cause jealousies to form in Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship. Some of the people had caused problems before, but new people had joined in. Page 147

2. “It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom.” Having fear is normal and important for people to have. It is an emotion needed for humans. Page 145

Chapter 18

1. “They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” They were praying to God to give them a chance to live in the darkness of the night. Page 160

2. “It woke up old Okechobee and the monster began to roll in his bed.” The hurricane began to build up in the lake. Page 158

Chapter 19

1. “And then again Him-with-the-square-toes had gone back to his house.” Death had come and gone. Page 168

2.”Somewhere up there beyond blue ether’s bosom sat He.” God was watching everything happening. Page 178

Chapter 20

1. “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” Love changes and it is different for every person. Page 191

2. “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see.” Janie lived a fulfilling life. She had already chased her dreams and accomplished them and now she could reflect on the things that she had done. Page 193

Seashore
http://www.freefoto.com/preview/9907-09-4/Seashore

            My favorite example of imagery in this book is “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore,” (191). I like it because it tells the reader a simile about love. It is also one of the ideal messages in the book. Janie experience many different kinds of love with different people, but only one person truly made her happy with her life. Love is different with every person it touches.