Hypothesis

speak the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

One would wonder what the impact of this trial was on Janie. It was such an impact that it ends her speech within the rest of the book.

Perhaps it was feeling important for the first time in her life. More important than she did when Joe, full of money and ambition, took her to be his wife. More important than being the mayor’s wife. More important than Teacake truly loving her.

This feeling of importance was granted by thirteen white strangers, and all it took was for them to listen.

It’s a bold statement about race made by Hurston. The power of color silenced Janie for the rest of the book. While the book doesn’t make much of a race narrative as Janie lives in a majority if not completely Black community for most of her written life, there are moments in her childhood that speak on race. The moment in the courts, when an all white jury and judge listen to her, makes me believe that Janie has never seen a white person or white man as an equal to her.

This is not unexpected. While she is resistant and fights for herself at times, we see her allow men to control her throughout the entire book. We also see the moment she realizes she is not like the other girls at school. This moment isn’t just a realization, it is a change in mindset.

I thought throughout my reading of Their Eyes Were Watching God that the book made many more statements about gender and gender roles than race. It was a story about Janie’s various relationships, abuse endured, moments of love, and failed marriages. It still is a story about this. My only difference in perception now is that this moment has created a narrative in my mind about Janie. It has made me realize how she sees and places herself in this world and in a social hierarchy. She sees herself at the very bottom, and regardless of the moments of fire we see within her, she treats herself like she belongs there.

Annotators

URL

Annotators

URL