Thursday, February 10, 2011

Their Eyes Were Watching God - Journal 4

Identify three patterns that appear in these chapters (but may extend through the entire book) and record the examples for each (include page numbers)

1. A recurring image seems to be the sun, specifically the sun in how it is described as having power and control over people due to the giving of light. This is first seen in the very first page of the book "But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human." (p.1) This also appears in the fifth chapter of the book during the lamp lighting ceremony. "Folkses, de sun is goin' down. [...] Us poor weak humans can't do nothin' tuh hurry it up nor slow it down." (p. 45)

2. A second pattern I seemed to notice is the description of people as animals. It shows up in chapter six when describing the Eatonville residents' reactions to Joe and Janie's new home. "It was like seeing your sister turn into the 'gator. A familiar strangeness." (p. 48) Just like the first pattern, it appears in the opening page of the book. "Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins" (p.1)

3. Finally, a recurring idea seems to be the word "bloom" as Janie's representation of love and marriage, rather than just blossoming as it is typically used. It is first used when Janie has her "revelation" under the pear tree. "She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; [...] So this was a marriage!" (p.11) Then later Hurston uses the word bloom in a way that makes little sense if thought of as blossoming/growing. "It must have been the way Joe spoke out without giving her a chance to say anything one way or another that took the bloom off of things." (p.43)

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