Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Reflective Analysis and Review

           Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God is truly a literary masterpiece, bundled with brilliant imagery, beautiful symbolic and metaphorical language, and an inspiring story.  Hurston captured African American culture, crunched it all together, and released it all into this novel.  The people, the dialogue, and the way of life were all flawlessly illustrated by Hurston.  Personally, I thought that the novel gives a very inspiring and motivating message.  Janie's grandmother was raped, which led to her pregnancy with Janie's mother.  Janie's mother was raped by her schoolteacher, gave birth to Janie, and ran off.  She was never heard from or seen by her family again.  Janie's family obviously had a rough past; however, that did not stop Janie from aspiring to do what she wanted.  She wanted to find love and travel to the horizon and back.  After two failed marriages, Janie finally found true love with her soulmate, Tea Cake.  At the end of the story, she had accomplished what she wanted in life and was at last fulfilled.  I find Janie's adventure through life to be very inspiring.  Even through her most difficult hardships, Janie did not lose hope and motivation to do what she wanted to do.  Janie's story shows us that if we keep searching for our own new horizons and continue to push our own limits, it will all pay off in the end in the form of self-fulfillment and true happiness.
           Their Eyes Were Watching God is the first Zora Neale Hurston novel I have read; however, just from reading this book, I can already sense Hurston's extremely developed form of writing, as well as her immense talent as a writer.  I absolutely admire her varied and common use of vivid imagery to enhance the reading experience.  I would definitely recommend Their Eyes Were Watching God to teenage readers.  I think the varied themes of the novel (romance, abuse, and et cetera) will appeal to teenagers everywhere.  I give Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God five out of five stars.  

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