"Their Eyes Were Watching God' Question 6

Why do we still read this book?  Easy.  Love.  Love is the strongest thing in this world, and the most constant.  People are always finding love, always loosing love, and always prospering in love.  It is a constant thing in this world, something that has always been here and always will be here.  Love is timeless.  "Their Eyes Were Watching God" is a book dedicated to telling the trials and tribulations of a women in her search to find true love.  No matter what time period you set this book in, it is still about love, and will therefore always be current.  Janie is a hard core romantic.  From sixteen and on she is obsessed completely with the idea of love and what it can bring.  We all have a little bit of a romantic in us, so we can all relate to little Janie and her need for love.  We all want to root for Janie and we all want her to find love because she is a sweet women who deserves it.  No matter what time period it is, people always want something to root for, and this book offers it.  What can we learn from this book?  As a female, you can learn all about independence.  Janie doesn't necessarily give us an example of what to do, but what NOT to do.  She shows us that no matter what anyone say you cannot find love from marriage.  If a man tries to belittle you, love will definitely not be found.  You must remain yourself.  If you cannot stand by yourself, you most definitely cannot stand with someone who tries to stand ON you.  We can also learn that love is by no easy to find, nor maintain.  Janie goes through ITALICIZE ME two marriages for heavens sake before she finally finds the one.  Even then, it doesn't really end on the best terms, but Janie is able to make the best of it.  She thanks Tea Cake for helping her to finally start living and satisfying her need for love even if it didn't work out in the end how she imagined.  She can still savor what she had when she had it.  She shows us, you must always find the positive side of a situation, no matter how hard it is to find.  



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