When I Met Her Eyes Are Watching God Thematic Essay

In this novel, the main theme is that even if you seem to be overshadowed and unseen, you can still sparkle and people can still see you for who you are. Sydney had always been outshined, even though her brother had done something and is now infamous for it. Initially, her parents are oblivious to how anguished Sydney’s feeling at the moment. “‘Sydney?’ she asked me suddenly. I looked up ‘Everything okay?’ I met her eyes, saying nothing but wishing she would. That somehow, in the midst of all her grief and distraction, she might be able to see me, if not hear the words I couldn’t speak aloud. A beat passed, then another. From the open doorway, my dad was watching me, too. ‘Yeah,’ I told them. ‘I’m fine.’”(93) This event plays a very significant role in the theme, supporting how Sydney, even …show more content…
Subsequently, Sydney’s friend, Layla’s brother Mac was the first one, in Sydney’s point of view, to see her and not disregard her from his life. Sydney eventually realizes that sometimes, being invisible isn’t, surprisingly, that unfortunate. “How strange it must be to go from looking one way to such a vastly different other. For the attention to change and still not feel better. Maybe the invisible place wasn’t all bad, all the time.”(248) Surprised, that for once, it looks as if being invisible to others that you care about, isn’t such a horrible place to be, Sydney finally feels embraced. Irrevocably, Sydney finally feels seen and visible among her mother. She’s with the one caring friend that sees her and her mother realizes the truth of how Sydney’s been all these years. “Peyton had always been there, coloring the view. Big, vibrant colors first, then the grays and darkness of the last couple of years. But in that moment, surrounded by people she didn’t know in a strange room and place, I was the opposite of invisible, the sole thing she