The Hurricane and flood in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston illuminates the similarity between the novel and the natural disaster that occurred in south Florida in 1992. In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the protagonist, Janie has one main life goal, to try and find her true self. She marries and remarries three times in hope of finding the right man who can help her find herself. Hurricane Andrew that took place in south Florida in 1992 has a correlation with the hurricane in the novel. In the end Janie is able to overcome the hurricane and finally accomplishes her lifelong goal. The hurricane that took place in 1992 and the one that Janie had to fight against, so differently yet so similarly draw out
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The hurricane Janie has to walk through is a representation of destruction and God’s power. The hurricane shows how damaging the world can be but afterwards it brings hope and restoration. The title “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, comes from this connection between God and the hurricane. While the hurricane is occurring, Janie and Tea Cake are seeking him (God) searching for answers to the destruction about to happen. After the hurricane, even though the town is destructed there’s much hope for Janie. Although she loses her true love Tea Cake she finally accomplishes her main goal in life. All the men she married, the controlling ways she had to put up with, living with someone she was forced to marry, in the end all the suffering Janie had to go through was worth it because now not only does she return to her hometown Eatonville but she returns with her goal being accomplished. All the whispers she hears, the negative talk about her, none of this matters at this point. She still has her good friend Phoebe back home and achieved her dream. Hurricane Andrew was likewise a major destruction but at the end it brought hope. Even though it brought much destruction to Florida, the same way as the hurricane Janie walked through, once it was over there was still hope for those living in Florida. “Twenty-five thousand people were left homeless after the hurricane, but it did not take long-scarcely two weeks-for Miami Herald to declare that things were back in normal in the city” (Steinberg 419). Even though the city was destroyed, there was going to be an end to it eventually. Like the quote says, “For
The hurricane Janie has to walk through is a representation of destruction and God’s power. The hurricane shows how damaging the world can be but afterwards it brings hope and restoration. The title “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, comes from this connection between God and the hurricane. While the hurricane is occurring, Janie and Tea Cake are seeking him (God) searching for answers to the destruction about to happen. After the hurricane, even though the town is destructed there’s much hope for Janie. Although she loses her true love Tea Cake she finally accomplishes her main goal in life. All the men she married, the controlling ways she had to put up with, living with someone she was forced to marry, in the end all the suffering Janie had to go through was worth it because now not only does she return to her hometown Eatonville but she returns with her goal being accomplished. All the whispers she hears, the negative talk about her, none of this matters at this point. She still has her good friend Phoebe back home and achieved her dream. Hurricane Andrew was likewise a major destruction but at the end it brought hope. Even though it brought much destruction to Florida, the same way as the hurricane Janie walked through, once it was over there was still hope for those living in Florida. “Twenty-five thousand people were left homeless after the hurricane, but it did not take long-scarcely two weeks-for Miami Herald to declare that things were back in normal in the city” (Steinberg 419). Even though the city was destroyed, there was going to be an end to it eventually. Like the quote says, “For