Book report -- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
a. identify climax, major conflict, resolution or denouement, what type of plot (see page of literary terms)
-The climax of the novel is when Janie shoots Tea Cake. By murdering Tea Cake in order to protect herself from Tea Cake’s insanity, Janie finally completes her transformation into an independent woman. Although Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake is better than the other two she has with Jody and Logan, she still is not on her own, and she nevertheless faces difficulties with Tea Cake regardless of the true love Janie finds through Tea Cake. There are three major conflicts in this novel. She faces each conflict every time she enters a new marriage with a different person. First conflict occurs when Janie is forced into the marriage with Logan, an old, wealthy man, whom Janie’s grandmother thinks will provide Janie with protection, money, and status. However, Janie finds herself unhappy in this marriage simply because she does not love Logan. Through her complaints about her dull marriage with Logan shows us that Janie is in fact repelled by her first husband. The second conflict takes place when Janie marries Jody, someone who Janie thinks is her true love. But, Janie’s earlier belief that Jody is her true love, for which she has been waiting for such a long time, turns out to be wrong because Janie discovers herself suppressed by Jody’s ambitious character. These two conflicts finally seem to resolve when Janie meets Tea Cake, but this is yet another major conflict in the novel. That is, Janie still undergoes difficult time with Tea Cake because he leaves with her money and even beats her, which shows the readers that Janie’s last marriage with Tea Cake, whom she loves so much, is not ideal unlike our prediction at the beginning of their marriage. Resolution seems to take place when Janie marries Tea Cake, but the real resolution happens when Janie goes back to her hometown, facing people’s criticisms yet finding independence and confidence in herself regardless of her unsuccessful marriages. This novel has a chronological plot because the plot is what Janie tells her best friend, Pheoby, about her life up until she arrives at her hometown from when she married Logan.
b. comment about setting
-The setting of the story changes every time Janie marries another man. Of all the places different segments of the story take place in, the most significant place that carries the most meaning throughout the plot would be the porch or the center of the town, where everybody gathers around to socialize with others. Interestingly, this place is paradoxical: at the beginning of the story when Janie finally comes back to her hometown after Tea Cake’s death, Pheoby’s porch is full of townspeople who take advantage of Janie’s situation in order to provide themselves with the source for gossip. Here, the porch only appears to hurt Janie. However, looking into Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake, Janie’s porch is always full of people who visit her and Tea Cake because Tea Cake is such an outgoing, entertaining, and friendly person in town. Therefore, the porch in this case adds to the happiness Janie is already enjoying because of Tea Cake’s respectful, caring, and thoughtful nature. In my opinion, the porch represents Janie’s personal transitions through her contrasting experiences that she gains from multiple marriages.
c. identify one major symbol and one minor
-One major symbol is the pear tree Janie loves to lie under, enjoying the nature. This pear tree or the nature as a whole symbolizes the brevity of the nature because Janie, who dreams of finding her true love, realizes that no love, whether true or not, can be everlasting just like the nature although the nature's tranquility makes it seem to last forever. However, just as human intervention does constant damage to the environment, Janie's seeking for her true love turns out to be a disillusionment every time she marries a new person. One minor symbol is the mule. The mule represents Janie because Logan treats her like a property, not as a person. Just as people buy a mule to make it do all the labor and chores, Logan "buys" Janie with his wealth because he needs someone to look after him and take care of the house. Logan also wants his status to increase by marrying the prettiest black woman (Janie) in town, and this is very much like people buying mules to increase their social status because property usually determined people's class during these days.
d. discuss two characters. Label as round or flat, dynamic or static. Are they archetypal or foils?
-Two most important characters in this novel are Janie and Tea Cake. Janie is a dynamic character, for she grows up to become a mature, independent woman as the story progresses along her different marriages. At first, Janie is very idealistic. She frequently dreams of becoming a wife, finding her true love, and leading an everlasting, happy marital life with her true love. However, she becomes disillusioned as she gets to experience different love with three men until she finally realizes that she cannot always depend on someone else for her own life, and that she needs to stand up for and look after herself because she knows herself better than anyone else. She also learns not to care so much about what other people think about her current status as a widow; unlike when her grandmother was alive and she was not married yet, Janie now understands that she and only she has the right to make decisions for herself, and that she needs not to be shaken by others’ opinions or demands. She is stronger, more courageous, more independent, and freer than she was ever before. Janie is archetypal because she portrays the typical black woman who is suppressed by the male, who supposes himself to be in charge of his wife all the time and who has lost her voice due to male dominance and women’s powerless position caused by societal customs, especially that of black women. Janie, although presumably subdued by her husbands, is still full of desires to be free and self-reliant on her inner side, which is mostly the same with other black women in a similar position in male-oriented society. On the other hand, Tea Cake is a static character because he remains the same person until he dies. He continues to be fun, friendly, gracious, supportive, and affectionate. These qualities contrast starkly with Janie’s two former husbands, who were domineering, controlling, suppressive, and subordinative. Therefore, Tea Cake is a foil character, whose characteristics are greatly emphasized by their distinctness from other husbands’ typical masculine qualities prevalent in this time when women were looked down upon with contempt.
e. Open to the exact middle. What page? Write one paragraph about how this one page relates thematically, symbolically, or other (just not all plot) to the rest of the book
-Page 92 is the exact middle, and this page describes the incident when Janie and Tea Cake meet each other for the first time. It is also the very moment when Janie falls in love with Tea Cake due to his unusually enthusiastic and encouraging manner that she did not get to experience from her other husbands. This page is particularly important to the themes of the novel, which are discovering one's true love and male dominance. Unlike Jody and Logan, Tea Cake actually invites her to the board game that Janie never got a chance to learn how to play. Janie feels important because someone actually asks her to join the game and play with other people. Because she was not able to do this before she meets Tea Cake because both of her earlier husbands thought Janie is not smart enough to even learn how to play the game, Tea Cake's offer to join the game is refreshing and novel to Janie, making her give much of her attention to Tea Cake as a man. Here, Janie finally finds her real true love and unexpectedly obtains a chance to become a part of the society and gain respect from a male for the first time. This single page is a big leap from Janie's former life that was full of subordination and inferiority merely because she is a woman. Isn't it interesting how often the idea of respect looms large?
f. Tell me one thing other that really only someone who has read the book will get
-Someone who has read the book will get the transitions and gradual transformation that Janie takes through her marriages. This book is not just about a woman marrying more than once to find her true love. It is rather showing Janie's personal growth and development of her maturity and independence. This book also does a very good job incorporating Janie's situations with the time frame in which this novel is set, and someone who has read the book will get a better understanding of what women's lives were like, especially those of black women, when they were not given the full rights and respect.
Book report -- Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
a. identify climax, major conflict, resolution or denouement, what type of plot (see page of literary terms)
-The climax of the novel is when Janie shoots Tea Cake. By murdering Tea Cake in order to protect herself from Tea Cake’s insanity, Janie finally completes her transformation into an independent woman. Although Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake is better than the other two she has with Jody and Logan, she still is not on her own, and she nevertheless faces difficulties with Tea Cake regardless of the true love Janie finds through Tea Cake. There are three major conflicts in this novel. She faces each conflict every time she enters a new marriage with a different person. First conflict occurs when Janie is forced into the marriage with Logan, an old, wealthy man, whom Janie’s grandmother thinks will provide Janie with protection, money, and status. However, Janie finds herself unhappy in this marriage simply because she does not love Logan. Through her complaints about her dull marriage with Logan shows us that Janie is in fact repelled by her first husband. The second conflict takes place when Janie marries Jody, someone who Janie thinks is her true love. But, Janie’s earlier belief that Jody is her true love, for which she has been waiting for such a long time, turns out to be wrong because Janie discovers herself suppressed by Jody’s ambitious character. These two conflicts finally seem to resolve when Janie meets Tea Cake, but this is yet another major conflict in the novel. That is, Janie still undergoes difficult time with Tea Cake because he leaves with her money and even beats her, which shows the readers that Janie’s last marriage with Tea Cake, whom she loves so much, is not ideal unlike our prediction at the beginning of their marriage. Resolution seems to take place when Janie marries Tea Cake, but the real resolution happens when Janie goes back to her hometown, facing people’s criticisms yet finding independence and confidence in herself regardless of her unsuccessful marriages. This novel has a chronological plot because the plot is what Janie tells her best friend, Pheoby, about her life up until she arrives at her hometown from when she married Logan.b. comment about setting
-The setting of the story changes every time Janie marries another man. Of all the places different segments of the story take place in, the most significant place that carries the most meaning throughout the plot would be the porch or the center of the town, where everybody gathers around to socialize with others. Interestingly, this place is paradoxical: at the beginning of the story when Janie finally comes back to her hometown after Tea Cake’s death, Pheoby’s porch is full of townspeople who take advantage of Janie’s situation in order to provide themselves with the source for gossip. Here, the porch only appears to hurt Janie. However, looking into Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake, Janie’s porch is always full of people who visit her and Tea Cake because Tea Cake is such an outgoing, entertaining, and friendly person in town. Therefore, the porch in this case adds to the happiness Janie is already enjoying because of Tea Cake’s respectful, caring, and thoughtful nature. In my opinion, the porch represents Janie’s personal transitions through her contrasting experiences that she gains from multiple marriages.c. identify one major symbol and one minor
-One major symbol is the pear tree Janie loves to lie under, enjoying the nature. This pear tree or the nature as a whole symbolizes the brevity of the nature because Janie, who dreams of finding her true love, realizes that no love, whether true or not, can be everlasting just like the nature although the nature's tranquility makes it seem to last forever. However, just as human intervention does constant damage to the environment, Janie's seeking for her true love turns out to be a disillusionment every time she marries a new person. One minor symbol is the mule. The mule represents Janie because Logan treats her like a property, not as a person. Just as people buy a mule to make it do all the labor and chores, Logan "buys" Janie with his wealth because he needs someone to look after him and take care of the house. Logan also wants his status to increase by marrying the prettiest black woman (Janie) in town, and this is very much like people buying mules to increase their social status because property usually determined people's class during these days.d. discuss two characters. Label as round or flat, dynamic or static. Are they archetypal or foils?
-Two most important characters in this novel are Janie and Tea Cake. Janie is a dynamic character, for she grows up to become a mature, independent woman as the story progresses along her different marriages. At first, Janie is very idealistic. She frequently dreams of becoming a wife, finding her true love, and leading an everlasting, happy marital life with her true love. However, she becomes disillusioned as she gets to experience different love with three men until she finally realizes that she cannot always depend on someone else for her own life, and that she needs to stand up for and look after herself because she knows herself better than anyone else. She also learns not to care so much about what other people think about her current status as a widow; unlike when her grandmother was alive and she was not married yet, Janie now understands that she and only she has the right to make decisions for herself, and that she needs not to be shaken by others’ opinions or demands. She is stronger, more courageous, more independent, and freer than she was ever before. Janie is archetypal because she portrays the typical black woman who is suppressed by the male, who supposes himself to be in charge of his wife all the time and who has lost her voice due to male dominance and women’s powerless position caused by societal customs, especially that of black women. Janie, although presumably subdued by her husbands, is still full of desires to be free and self-reliant on her inner side, which is mostly the same with other black women in a similar position in male-oriented society. On the other hand, Tea Cake is a static character because he remains the same person until he dies. He continues to be fun, friendly, gracious, supportive, and affectionate. These qualities contrast starkly with Janie’s two former husbands, who were domineering, controlling, suppressive, and subordinative. Therefore, Tea Cake is a foil character, whose characteristics are greatly emphasized by their distinctness from other husbands’ typical masculine qualities prevalent in this time when women were looked down upon with contempt.e. Open to the exact middle. What page? Write one paragraph about how this one page relates thematically, symbolically, or other (just not all plot) to the rest of the book
-Page 92 is the exact middle, and this page describes the incident when Janie and Tea Cake meet each other for the first time. It is also the very moment when Janie falls in love with Tea Cake due to his unusually enthusiastic and encouraging manner that she did not get to experience from her other husbands. This page is particularly important to the themes of the novel, which are discovering one's true love and male dominance. Unlike Jody and Logan, Tea Cake actually invites her to the board game that Janie never got a chance to learn how to play. Janie feels important because someone actually asks her to join the game and play with other people. Because she was not able to do this before she meets Tea Cake because both of her earlier husbands thought Janie is not smart enough to even learn how to play the game, Tea Cake's offer to join the game is refreshing and novel to Janie, making her give much of her attention to Tea Cake as a man. Here, Janie finally finds her real true love and unexpectedly obtains a chance to become a part of the society and gain respect from a male for the first time. This single page is a big leap from Janie's former life that was full of subordination and inferiority merely because she is a woman. Isn't it interesting how often the idea of respect looms large?f. Tell me one thing other that really only someone who has read the book will get
-Someone who has read the book will get the transitions and gradual transformation that Janie takes through her marriages. This book is not just about a woman marrying more than once to find her true love. It is rather showing Janie's personal growth and development of her maturity and independence. This book also does a very good job incorporating Janie's situations with the time frame in which this novel is set, and someone who has read the book will get a better understanding of what women's lives were like, especially those of black women, when they were not given the full rights and respect.12/12