The Novel: Their Eyes Were Watching God by: Zora Neale Hurston Zora Neale Hurston is the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God. She was directly associated with the Harlem Renaissance and has influenced such writers as Ralph Ellison, Toni Morrison, Gayle Jones, Alice Walker, and Toni Cade Bambara. According to Robert Hemenway, Zora "helped to remind the Renaissance--especially its more bourgeois members--of the richness in the racial heritage.“ Zora Neale Hurston used her talents to make a name for herself into the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s, making friends with people such as poet Langston Hughes and admired singer and actress Ethel Waters. When her autobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road, was published in 1942, Hurston finally received the well-earned acclaim that had long eluded her. When Hurston died, her neighbors had to take up a collection for her funeral because she never received any large amount of money from her incredible works.
Her incredible work, Their Eyes Are Watching God, is a classical novel. The main character is a women with a strong personality named Janie Crawford. She takes us on her journey through life as a mixed race women, trying to find her inner self. She deals with love, passion, budding sexuality, abuse, and will power. The dialect that Mrs. Hurston embedded into this novel is incredible and her imagery is exquisite. Take a journey through 20th century life with Janie Crawford and her ultimate goal to find true love and happiness.
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