Their Eyes Were Watching God is a novel by the African American author Zora Neale Hurston. The book, published in 1937, is considered the finest of Hurston’s four novels and a classic of feminist literature. Feminism is the belief that women should have economic, political, and social equality with men.
The novel takes place within rural Black communities of the South and is mostly told using the dialect of that region. The central character is Janie Crawford. The book describes how Janie survives marriages to two domineering husbands. She finally marries a migrant crop picker and gambler named Tea Cake. They share a fulfilling love and work together in the fields of Florida, but she is forced to kill Tea Cake in self-defense after he goes mad with rabies. Rabies is a disease that destroys the nerve cells of part of the brain. Although local Black residents do not support her, an all-white male jury acquits Janie of murder. The novel closes with her return to her hometown, where she narrates the entire story to a long-time Black female friend.
Their Eyes Were Watching God has been praised for its positive portrayal of a working-class Black woman whose adventurous attitude toward life helps her triumph over male oppression. African American folk culture and rural communities help her sustain her self-respect and maintain her independence as a non-traditional woman.
See also American literature (The Harlem Renaissance).
