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Looking Back on Their Eyes were Watching God

Throughout the course of our English class, we have spent a good amount of time reflecting on books we have previously read, comparing their messages to other books. This is a very important process, and I think one book, Their Eyes were Watching God hasn’t gotten enough attention. It’s setting, a rural town with a population only of black people is completely unique. But the idea of creating an area completely focused on black people, with white people only appearing in minor roles, is actually played out in Beloved as well, and I would like to compare the two. I see Their Eyes were Watching God as using this black-only setting like an experiment. Hurston places her characters in this world and sees what situations arise. She still creates conflict, and the setting is not devoid of race, but she clearly distinguishes it from a novel like Native Son, rejecting any obligations to write protest literature, and simply writing an interesting story. Beloved appears to use this idea spec...
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Naming in Beloved

In Beloved, we see 2 characters who declare their own names, these being Baby Suggs and Stamp Paid. They are both former slaves, changing their names at some point after they are freed. Baby Suggs names herself because Suggs was her husband's name, and he always called her Baby. She holds on to the hope that he will somehow show up in Cincinnati, and she is afraid that he won't recognize her if not for her name. Stamp Paid also creates his own name, for an even more tragic reason. His wife is taken from him by the son of his slave master. He wants to kill someone, even himself, but his wife convinces him to stay calm, telling him that he needs to be there when she gets free. Stamp Paid views the loss of his wife as a kind of payment to all slave owners, and he decides that he no longer owes anything to them. Hence the name, Stamp Paid. There is a very interesting contrast between the way the 2 characters name themselves, despite similar circumstances. Overall, it is easy to say...
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The Fate of Tea Cake

At the very end of Their Eyes were Watching God , Tea Cake undergoes a transformation of his character, as rabies twists his brain, making him suspicious of everything and everyone, especially Janie. This suspicion shifts to absolute rage, culminating in him trying to shoot Janie, and Janie killing him. This fate, I think, is an incredibly close parallel to the fate of Joe Starks, but the speeds at which each person changed were quite different. Joe Starks impressed Janie with his promises of status and of change to Janies dull life with Logan. But, once they were married, it didn't take long for him to start abusing her, and, as they age, his treatment of her gets worse and worse. Tea Cake, on the other hand, changes his character over the course of days, but he undergoes the same sorts of changes to his personality. The difference being, we view the Tea Cake infected with rabies as not his true self, the actual Tea Cake would never do such a thing. But with Jody, we see the shift...
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The Role of Brockway in Invisible Man

Lucius Brockway is a strange character in Invisible Man. He seems to be the heart of Liberty Paints. He makes clear that, without him, Liberty Paints would not work. He also seems to have a fairly inspiring history, having worked his way up the system. Despite this, he seems very uncertain of his position in his company. He is paranoid, and he is constantly worried about losing his job to the narrator, or to the union. He is very proud of his story, but at the same time he doesn't really seem comfortable with his position. He has climbed to the top of the company, but he is still stuck at the very bottom basement. In these ways, he is a very ironic character, which makes it hard to determine his role in the novel. Is his paranoia or his pride more important to his character, for example. On one hand, you could consider his pride more important, and see him as the embodiment of white nationalism, keeping America "pure", and concealing all that is dark and black with a coat...
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"Invisibility" in Native Son

Invisibility has already become a key topic in Invisible Man . The reason for the Narrator's invisibility, and the Narrators understanding of his place in society as an invisible man, are the key questions that the book seeks to answer. Native Son , however, has no mention of invisibility. In fact, it seems to seek to be as visible as possible. Bigger is constantly under the microscope while he's in the white neighborhoods. He is also aware of this, and he, almost instinctively, tries to be as invisible as possible. He wonders if every action will make him more seen by the whites, or less. After the murder, while he is being interrogated by Britten, Bigger seems to realize that he has the ability to make himself somewhat invisible. The shock of this murder, combined with his previous bias, clouds the judgement of Britten and Mr. Dalton. Bigger is able to redirect the spotlight onto Jan. This "power" goes to Bigger's head. He convinces himself that he is a stone co...
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