"Their Eyes Were Watching God" Question 5

How does this novel reflect the history, behavior and social issues of the time period and setting?  Usually this question gets me.  It took me literally like three days to answer this for "The Old Man and the Sea."  So I'm pretty pumped to answer it for this book because the possible answers are quite numerous.  For starters, this novel reflects the relationships between men and women of the time beautifully.  Well, as far as I know.  I wasn't really there but from history class and research and such I can deduct that this represents it pretty sufficiently.  At a young age Janie is married off to Logan Killicks despite the fact she does not love him.  Then, once she is married to him must deal with his various insufferable actions towards her.  He is a man so he automatically gets to control her.  The same things happens in her next marriage.  Joe is the man in the relationship, so automatically he can silence her whenever she speaks, hide her beautiful hair, and prevent her from attending any social events.  When Janie is married to Joe, he is obsessed with material objects and having power in money, which is dominantly the reason he moves to an up and coming town completely built with black people.  Once Joe and Janie get there he quickly buys land, a lot of it, and builds up the town.  It does not take long for him to become a very influential figure in the town.  Next, he is elected mayor unanimously by the town.  It's all find and dandy for a while until the power gets to Joe's head and the towns people begin to realize what a dictator he really is.  This seems like typical behavior of this time period.  It could also be related to this time, but I think more so of post Civil War era.  The person with the most land and money and the prettiest girl automatically gets to order everyone around.  Not only that, but people go with it.  No one ever opposed Joe or his corrupted ways.  They simply gossiped about is and hoped of change.  What is the books symbolic and thematic significance?  This book teaches of love and that it is not an easy game to play.  No matter what, it is always an obstacle course, but if you persevere as well as Janie did, you will find there is always an end to the obstacle course.  


Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.