Zora Neale Hurston’s bildungsroman is packed with educational value, especially for such a slender text. It addresses multiple significant social issues, such as gender equality, power differences, and racism, on both an individual and global scale and does so in a way that allows students to relate the novel’s conflicts and themes to modern personal and societal problems.
Students will truly enjoy the novel, especially for its portrayal of Janie’s resilience through multiple difficult marriages on her journey to find true love. Readers will grow to love and root for Janie, the strong female protagonist, who not only strives for true love in a relationship, but also for the freedom to choose that love. Young adults will especially relate to Janie’s relationship with Joe Starks, who unjustly chastises Janie for acting too young. Today’s social climate calls for focus on a novel like Hurston’s that addresses feminist ideas.
Their Eyes Were Watching God accurately depicts life in the dawn of the 20th century, while at the same time continues to resonate with readers today. Be prepared to discuss why with your class: How does this depiction of a small Floridian town reflect bigger places and/or broader ideas?
Discover more about teaching Their Eyes Were Watching God below.
Their Eyes Were Watching God
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Summary of Their Eyes Were Watching God
Key Facts
- Publication Date: 1937
- Length: 219 pages
- Lexile Measure: 1080
- Recommended Grade Band: 11-12
Their Eyes Were Watching God chronicles the life of Janie Crawford, a girl of mixed race who lives with her grandmother in a small house in rural Florida. She is one day married off to Logan Killicks, a man who can provide for her, but the marriage is abusive and loveless. The end of this union leads Janie to two more marriages. Her attempts to build a life with these men lead to Janie’s emotional growth and self-discovery.
Content Warning: Their Eyes Were Watching God contains racial slurs and sexist language, as well as moments of violence and abuse.
What Your Students Will Love About Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Following the harrowing and introspective journey of Janie’s maturation
- The strong female protagonist
Potential Student Struggles With Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Instances of racism, abuse, and gender inequality
- The unique Southern dialect of the 1930s
Learning Objectives for Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Define bildungsroman and highlight moments that Janie has learned from her life experiences.
- List the qualities of the ideal woman in the early 20th century and discuss how women defy expectations as the novel progresses.
- Understand Janie’s relationships with her husbands and the constantly shifting power-dynamic.
- Identify instances of race and gender issues and how they influence the actions of the characters.
- Determine whether fate or free will is the ultimate factor that influences Janie’s story.
Literary Elements in Their Eyes Were Watching God
- Bildungsroman
- Conflict
- Folklore
- Foreshadowing
- Frame Narrative
- Irony
- Metaphor
- Personification
- Symbolism
- Theme
- And more!
Major Themes in Their Eyes Were Watching God
Freedom — African Americans of the time sought freedom from oppression, just as Janie strives for physical, mental, and emotional autonomy.
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Gender — Characters place significant emphasis on marriage and gendered expectations within marriages in order to convey the time period’s strict limitations, which especially affected women.
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Love — Janie’s ultimate goal is to find the romantic love she has idealized since she was a child, but every relationship threatens her identity and autonomy, both of which she is unwilling to sacrifice.
Related Works:
Other Resources for Their Eyes Were Watching God
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This free guide was originally posted in March 2018. It has been updated as of July 2019.