Since the beginning of this novel, I've been wondering about the meaning of the novel's title. Until a direct mention on page 160, where Hurston writes, "The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God," (160).
In my opinion, there are two particularly striking words in the title, one of which is, "Their." In a novel focusing primarily on the life process of an individual, Janie. However, the novel is also about the influences of community and unity, and how the presence and opinions of others affects Janie as she progresses through her life. At the particular part of the novel where the title is referenced, Janie, Tea Cake, and Motor Boat are working together in an attempt to overcome the "triple fury" of the hurricane attacking the Everglades. For one of the first and only times in the novel, Janie's very existence is crucial to her ability to utilize the community around her. And while, because of their togetherness, all three survive the hurricane, Hurston's use of the word "their" seems fragile and short-lived when Janie is forced to kill her husband.
The second word that jumped out at me was "God." Throughout the course of this novel, Hurston doesn't portray the protagonist, Janie, as a religious individual. Really, the only definition of God comes when the reader is introduced to the character of Ms. Turner, a very conservative and racially driven individual who equates God with suffering. Other than that, God and religion aren't mentioned much at all in the novel; perhaps because Janie is on a voyage of self-discovery, not religious discovery. However, Janie's life has been full of suffering, arguably allowing her to achieve a connection with Ms. Turner's version of God.
I guess that I still cannot pinpoint the direct meaning of the novel's title. However, much of Hurston's writing is ambigious, and therefore, the title is probably up for open interpretation.
Any other ideas?
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I agree that Hurston’s writing is very open. It seems that you can pretty much pull apart each chapter to interpret into many directions and meanings. I like how you took apart the title of the book. I was thinking that “Their” refers to the communities that Janie is apart of from in the beginning living with her grandmother to the end in the Everglades. She is a part of many different peoples lives making a collective whole and the “watching God” part I was thinking that Janie seems to be on this mission to find her self and many times people seem to find God in that process. So I was thinking the title is in reference to the community looking to God to see who, what, and how they should be, act, etc.
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