Journal #1: Their Eyes Were Watching God

I perceive Janie as a woman with high self-esteem and little regard for what other people think of her.  This is expressed in the writing by the way she carries herself. "The men noticed her firm buttocks like she had grapefruits in her hip pockets; the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume; then her pugnacious breasts trying to bore holes in her shirt.  They, the men, were saving with the mind what they lost with the eye.  The women took the faded shirt and muddy overalls and laid them away for rememberance.  It was a weapon against her strength and if it turned out of no significance, still it was a hope that she might fall to their level some day" (pg2).  The words words strong, great, plume, pugnacious, bore, and strength all have similar connotations relating to strength and respect.  She carried herself with these traits even though she was dresses only in muddy overalls and a faded shirt.  The onlookers may have talked down about her, but this was only done behind her back, and done with a hint of jealousy "still it was a hope that she might fall to their level some day" (pg 2).

The narrator seems to be reflecting back on her life through the story she is narrating.  "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.  For some they come in with the tide.  For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.  That is the life of men" (pg 1).  Zora Neale Hurston is trying to say something about the nature of men that most likely stems from her own life experiences.  She had multiple husbands, and her last love was a much younger man who had to leave her because of occupational disputes.  She was alluding to him when she included the part about men's eyes always being on the horizon (her love's job prospects).  Hurston then goes on to say that "women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget.  The dream is the truth.  Then they act and do things accordingly" (pg 1).  This part states that women do the things that need to be done, while the men just chase their "mocking" dreams.  The mood of these two passages is one of irritation, because Hurston was unhappily looking back at the situation that was ruined by her love.