Zora Neale Hurston
Their Eyes Were Watching God
language
( June 1, 2020)
“Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.”—Ch. 20.
In the beginning, there was Nanny. Nanny knew what it meant to be a slave to men. And Nanny had a daughter. She saw what happened to her, how she chose to escape pain in oblivion. And Nanny was scared. She was so scared that she wanted to prevent the same thing from happening to her daughter’s daughter, even if it meant that she had to force her grandchild to be unhappy. As long as she was unhappy in a different, secure way, with an old and stable man by her side.
That is the background of Janie Crawford’s story. She is in her early forties, and starts telling a friend her life story in beautiful, colloquial language. And what a life it is! So common and typical, and yet individually painful and loving.
In the beginning, there was Nanny. Nanny knew what it meant to be a slave to men. And Nanny had a daughter. She saw what happened to her, how she chose to escape pain in oblivion. And Nanny was scared. She was so scared that she wanted to prevent the same thing from happening to her daughter’s daughter, even if it meant that she had to force her grandchild to be unhappy. As long as she was unhappy in a different, secure way, with an old and stable man by her side.
That is the background of Janie Crawford’s story. She is in her early forties, and starts telling a friend her life story in beautiful, colloquial language. And what a life it is! So common and typical, and yet individually painful and loving.
Enjoy reading Their Eyes Were Watching God? You may also like these books
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Jonah's Gourd Vine----mules and Men----their Eyes Were Watching God
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Three Classic Works: Their Eyes Were Watching God. Dust Tracks on a Road. Mules and Men
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Folklore, Memoirs and Other Writings: Mules and Men / Tell My Horse / Dust Tracks on a Road / Selected Articles
Hardcover (Library of America March 15, 1995)
