Their Eyes Were Watching God Allegory

Society has the tendency to worship famous or well achieved people, but do those celebrities really deserve to get that credit? Even above God? The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, is set in a post slavery time before the Great Depression. The central character, Janie Crawford, grew up in Florida as a member of the low class, because she and her family are black. Her only family is her nanny who encourages her to get married and have a life she believes Janie deserves, but her first marriage does not go well and she runs away. Janie’s second marriage is not much better, but it gives her the opportunity to rise above the black class in society, and become looked up to by others in her community. With a lack of belief …show more content…
In the end of the world there will be many years of chaos where many will die. The hurricane in this novel is an allegory of these end days in the Bible. The storm represents this chaos where everyone is fighting for themselves. After the chaos there will be a period of peace before every person is judged. When every person is judged he or she will stand before God as He will go through his or her life and determine their outcome. In the novel Janie and Tea Cake stand in the storm and “They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God”(Hurston 160). The “dark” is the unknown which would be the uncertain outcome in their future after judgement. As each person stands before God all they can do is stand there with “their eyes...watching God.” They will be judged according to their deeds during life. The outcome of their deeds could either be everlasting life or eternal pain and suffering. If they follow God and not rely on themselves then they will live in eternal Joy and peace. The other possibility is that they set themselves first as their own god and they will suffer for eternity. This evidence goes to prove that society should follow God in order to gain eternal