Their Eyes Were Watching God, Pt. 2

I'll just start off by saying that the more I read in this novel, the easier it is for me to read the dialect fluently. When we first started reading Hurston's novel, each page took me approximately three times longer to read than a normal page of text. However, now when I read, I find that I'm sort of in the mindset of the southern, black dialect and I understand almost everything that the characters are saying.

Secondly, I'm experiencing VERY mixed feelings about the presence of Tea Cake in Janie's life. I think that I've become fairly attached to Janie, and this surprises me because she isn't necessarily the kind of character I connect to in novels -- sometimes when I don't agree with the decisions characters make, it is hard for me to empathize with them, but I feel a special bond with Janie. Anyway, as I read, I feel like I AM Phoeby, and that Janie is telling her story to me, which is why I have so much apprehension about her new marriage to Tea Cake. By the time Janie meets him, she is already in the process of defining herself as an individual, separate from the controlling natures of her last two husbands. Janie had progressed to the point where she could make decisions about when to close and open the store, and was regaining the sense of freedom and individuality that she possessed when she was younger. It really seemed like she didn't need another man in her life, but, naturally, the young, handsome Tea Cake comes along and charms his way into her life. I guess at this point in their relationship, I sort of have a pro/con list about Tea Cake, so that, if Janie asked me, I would be able to tell her my thoughts:

Pro
-Tea Cake is pretty open-minded and progressive...he believes that women should be able to do all the same activities as men. In fact, he goes so far as to teach Janie how to play checkers and says, "you gointuh be uh good player too, after a while" (96).
-Tea Cake encourages Janie to express her feminine side whenever she wants to. Jody made her tie up her beautiful, long hair, but Tea Cake does not appear to be intimidated by her beauty.
-Generally, Tea Cake seems to have a true love for Janie, proclaiming that her age doesn't matter and that he would never cheat.

Con
-He DOES cheat, sort of. I'm not exactly sure what happened with Nunkie out in the fields in chapter 15 -- it wasn't really cheating, but it definitely was suspicious.
-Tea Cake steals from Janie! He justified stealing with a big story, and Janie didn't seem upset. This really surprised me and made me wonder if, in a way, Tea Cake is breaking her down without Janie realizing it.
-I'm still curious about his true intentions with Janie -- even if Tea Cake says he doesn't care about her age, I think he might still be after her money.

Of course, Janie isn't going to ask ME for advice about this, but I wish that Phoeby had stepped in and tried to be more convincing than she was in the novel. I just get a bad feeling about Tea Cake because Janie seems to have a life pattern of unhealthy, viral relationships. We will see as we read on...

Their Eyes Were Watching God, Pt. 1

First of all, I'll just start off by saying that, so far, this novel is unlike anything else I've ever read. During my junior year of high school, my English class read and analyzed Toni Morrison's Beloved, and her novel, Sula, was one of the texts that I used for my AP Lit test last year. I thought those were difficult to approach, but Hurston's novel is on an entirely different level of complication. The essential plot line thus far is not confusing, but the surrounding narrative and -- especially -- the black vernacular lead the reader astray from what could be a simplistic plot line.

Some of Hurston's word choices and the imagery she paints reminds me of scenes directly out of Toomer's Cane. Just like Toomer, Hurston paints beautiful images of the lazy, lush Southern landscape, and, in a very dichotic nature, pairs these images with anecdotes of trauma and pain. The events in chapter two pose a perfect example of this. As the chapter opens, Janie is pondering questions of love and marriage while relaxing under a pear tree. Hurston describes the beauty of the tree and of the outdoor nature in detail, writing, "she was...soaking in the alto chant of the visiting bees, the gold of the sun and the panting breath of the breeze when the inaudible voice of it all came to her" (11). Hurston goes on to use phrases like, "love embrace and...ecstatic shiver of the tree," and describes the setting as "a revelation" (11). For the next page, Janie simply basks in the beauty of rural Florida, and the reader feels a very positive, warm vibe from the narrator's diction.

However, suddenly, the tone and message of the novel take a sharp twist as Nanny scolds Janie for kissing Johnny Taylor on the street. Nanny launches into the story of Janie's mother's downfall in life, and a dark shadow seems to pass over the chapter. Nanny shares anecdotes of abuse and rape, and how these hardships penetrate generations, continuing to cause pain.

Hurston's ability to show such a contrast in a small portion of the novel really stood out to me. At times, her writing style models that of Toomer (especially when she describes the beauty of the South), and at other times, her darker topics remind me some of McKay/Cullen's more serious topics. Although every single page of this novel takes me a little longer to read because of the black dialect, I'm fascinated by Hurston's writing style. I'm interested to see where the novel goes next.

Quick prediction: The tree that Hurston describes seems to be a developing theme related to Janie's life and development emotionally and sexually. I wonder if the tree motif will continue to appear as the novel progresses?

Langston Hughes

While reading Hughes' poetry, I found myself stumbling upon an abundance of connections to other pieces of literature. One particularly interesting connection came to me while I was re-reading "Mother to Son" on page 30.

Well, son, I'll tell you:
Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.
It's had tacks in it,
And splinters,
And boards torn up,
And places with no carpet on the floor --
Bare.
But all the time
I'se been a-climbin' on,
And reachin' landin's,
And turnin' corners,
And sometimes goin' in the dark
Where there ain't been no light.
So boy, don't you turn back.
Don't you set down on the steps
'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.
Don't you fall now --
For I'se still goin', honey,
I'se still climbin',
And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.

In this poem, an older mother discusses the difficult life she's had, describing her life-long struggles as a winding, twisty staircase, but not a crystal one. Rather, the staircase "had tacks in it,/And splinters,/And boards torn up,/And places with no carpet on the floor -/Bare." Speaking in a "Negro dialect," she encourages her son not to give up or "turn back," and not allow the hardships that he may go through to changes his hopes and dreams.

The poem reminded me a lot of "The Heritage" from The Brownies' Book, because this poem shared the same kind of message, and possessed a similar tone and diction. Both the mother in this story and Mother Mason from The Brownies' Book send young adults the same advice: stay focused and motivated and take advantage of all the opportunities in their lives, which their parents and grandparents didn't necessarily have access to. I think that both this poem and the "The Heritage" are more than simple reminders to African American children to stay in school or keep dreams in sight. I actually view both of the mothers as a collective voice -- the voices of many mother, fathers, grandmothers, and grandfathers -- representing numerous generations who's slave lives were "no crystal stair." Both this poem and the story from The Brownies' Book are definite motivators for youth.

This is one of Hughes' earlier poems, and I wonder how much time he had spent, at this point in his life, pondering over what kind of a poet he was going to be? Even some of Countee Cullen's poems are centered around his confusion over race representation, and therefore often addressed him questioning himself as a man, as a poet, as a black, male, poet. However, Hughes' poems, so far, seem much lighter than that. Often, they do not even specifically focus on "the race question." I'm wondering if these subjects will change at all as we read further into his anthology of poetry.

Countee Cullen

First of all, I'd like to open with this thought: the poems of Countee Cullen are, as we discussed in class, a bit more rigid and traditional in form. However, in my opinion, they are some of the most emotionally loaded poems that we've addressed so far, because Cullen seems to have so much saddness and anger that comes across in the stories he tells. Out of all the poems we read in this packet, "Incident" stood out most. In fact, I found myself coming back to the poem's story over and over again because it was just so tragically beautiful. I will post it here, just in case anyone doesn't remember the poem.

Incident

Once riding in old Baltimore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Baltimorean
Keep looking straight at me.

Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and called me, "Nigger."

I saw the whole of Baltimore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That's all that I remember.

This poem addresses a problem on two different levels, and I would like to examine both of them briefly. First of all, the very obvious problem this touches on is the effect that racism has on young children affected by it. I view this poem as a sort of testimony to the long-lasting effects of racism. Cullen points out that racist names and jokes were thrown around, and that it was not uncommon to hear "nigger" ringing through the streets. The poem is not adorned with poetric elements -- rather it is fairly straight-forward, and I believe that Cullen follows a traditional structural form intentionally. The straight-foward nature of the poem makes the little boy's story both blunt and poignent at the same time. I know that their stories are not EXACLTY the same, but the little boy in "Incident" reminds me of Ruby Bridges and all of the rude, blatantly racist comments made to her when she tried to do something very common: walk from her home to her first day of elementary school. I imagine that the comments made to Ruby stuck with her more than anything she ever learned in school.

Secondly, on a bit deeper level, I think Cullen's poem transcends racism, and communicates how any feelings of hatred last more than feelings of happiness. I feel like this is a poem that everyone, race aside, can connect to. Personally, I can recall the time when a girl who I thought was my best friend tell me that I was fat on the playground in approximately second grade. I don't remember anything else that happened in our friendship except that. I'm sure that many people can think of a similar situation where all that sticks out in their mind is the negative aspect.

I think that if I were in the position of the speaker, "nigger" would be the only thing I could remember, too.