Eatonville

In this section of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston characterizes Eatonville and the people within as very religious, competitive, traditionally and ethically involved, and unified. With the use of hyperbole, personification, idiom, and metaphors, Hurston develops these complex characteristics. Starting off, the author compares the arguments of Sam and Lige to a “contest in hyperbole” (page 63). This metaphor showcases how the people in the town always try to show off for others. Hurston, point blank, says that their arguments are pointless except to garner them an audience. This portrays the town in a negative light because it suggests argumentation is for a person’s self-fulfillment instead of that person’s gain of knowledge. Since arguing is seen as a form of entertainment for others, Eatonville is also portrayed as an easygoing town. Continuing through the argument of Sam and Lige, Sam personifies God by stating that Lige “talks inside business” with Him. With this device, Sam portrays God as an…

Janie returns to her hometown in Eatonville, Florida. Her neighbors are curious to know where she has been and what has happened to her. In chapter 4 Janie starts to develop a relationship with Logan and that’s where it seems like things are getting a little “off”. Joe and Janie met basically everyday. Janie has a talk with Logan and says that she might run off and leave him. He even felt some way about it and took it to the heart but he just laughs at the idea and tells her that if she did, she…

Jody’s actions as mayor towards the black community in Eatonville highlight the themes of power and control. When Janie and Jody arrive in this town, Jody purchases 200 acres of land to establish his power and gain his “big voice” (28). Because he shows his affluence to the people in the town, they consider Jody superior to them. Even though Tony Taylor, a townsperson, is the designated assembly leader, Jody usurps his power and “[does] all the talking” since he “[takes] the center of the floor”…

the Eatonville Anthology, african-american Zora Neale Hurtson writes about people in Eatonville, Florida. Being that Hurtson herself, was from Eatonville she knew most of the people in this town. Having a new love interest for books and writing, she decided to write this story about her hometown. Considering the time she wrote this book was 1926, most of americans were still very racist to black people. Most of the south cities, including Eatonville, was all black people. But, one of the most…

impact on both the storyline and characters. Janie spends her life in both rural and urban parts of the state of Florida. The urban place she lived in is called Eatonville, and the rural place is called “The Muck.” One of the settings, Eatonville is the center of vice and corruption. It represents Janie’s confinement and sadness while she lived with her second husband, Jody Starks. Eatonville is so small that everyone would gossip about one other. The second setting, the Everglades, is the…

Harlem was one one of the many cities African American migrants migrated to during the great migration, in desire to escape from oppressive economic condition. Hurston writes “Kept hearin’ ‘bout them buildin’ a new state down heah in Floridy and sort of wanted to come. But he was makin’ money where he was. But when he heard all about ‘em makin’ a town all outa colored folks, he knowed dat was de place he wanted to be. “(Hurston, Their eyes were watching god, pg. 28). This preceding passage…

story about a controlling father and the growing of his young black daughter. Hurston made an innovative link between some of her works. Like no other place Eatonville, Florida seems to have had the most influence on Zora during her whole life ("Zora and Janie - a comparison"). She was raised there up until her mother’s passing, and the town later becomes part of the setting in Their Eyes Were Watching God. For Huston herself Eatonville was the place of her carefree and happy childhood. Janie…

Colored me is a descriptive essay that outlines Zora’s journey to self discovery and self pride. Zora Hurston wrote during a time that racism was a prominent part of society and oppression was seemingly undaunting. Within the autobiographical essay “ How it Feels to be Colored me” , Zora was known as “everybody’s Zora” without ever being differentiated based on her pigmentation, thus she did not really know the real issues of racism until the age of 13; nonetheless, she began to view life…

United States called Eatonville. Eatonville was a small town founded by African Americans in 1887. Even though this was a small town, it was still a decent place to live. “It was a Negro yard around a Negro house in a Negro settlement that looked to the payroll of the G and G Fertilizer works for its support. But there was something happy about the place” (Hurston 727). This short story does not state the name of the town it takes place in in the beginning, but at the end of the story the…

Zora Neale Hurston wrote “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” The book was published in 1937 after the Harlem Renaissance even though the book is most associated with this type of literature. Hurston wrote the book in just seven short weeks when she was in Haiti researching obeah and voodoo. When she was a toddler, Hurston’s family moved to Eatonville, Florida which was an all-black town. Her father served several terms as Mayor for this town. Eatonville, Florida is a town in the book that…