Their Eyes Were Watching God Chapter 1 Analysis
Chapters 1 & 2
Pages 1-20
In the first two chapters, the dialect was a little unusual and odd when I started reading, but once I kept reading I got used to it. You can tell the book was set in an older time period than now, and that it is in a small town. The book begins in an omniscient, third-person narrator’s voice, and one that is decidedly literary and intellectual, full of metaphors, figurative language, and other poetic devices. Hurston splits the narrative between this voice and long passages of dialogue uninterrupted by any comment from the narrator. These passages are marked by their highly colloquial language, colorful folksy aphorisms (“Unless you see de fur, a mink skin ain’t no different from a coon hide”), and avoidance of standard …show more content…
Janie first met him while he was buying a pack of cigarettes in her convenience store. They sparked up a casual conversation and Tea Cake immediately amused Janie with his humorous small talk. Tea Cake asked her to play checkers, and for some reason, this made her feel respected; something she hadn’t felt in a while. Janie felt like Tea Cake was someone who would never treat her with the lack of respect that Jody did, and she appreciated that. Tea Cake charmed her by his flirty attitude and sweet talks, and made her feel like she was equal, unlike Jody who used his dominance over her. The way the narrator describes Tea Cake makes me think him and Janie will have a strong relationship in future chapters. His creativity makes him seem like a person who enjoys life to the fullest involving love and emotion, which amuses Janie. Janie explains that his comical acting involving things such as him talking to nobody and hiding behind an invisible lamppost amuses her. Jody’s life revolved around his need for power and egotism and fulfilling materialist goals, which Janie did not like at all. Tea Cakes creativity and respect shows us that he knows more to life than
Pages 1-20
In the first two chapters, the dialect was a little unusual and odd when I started reading, but once I kept reading I got used to it. You can tell the book was set in an older time period than now, and that it is in a small town. The book begins in an omniscient, third-person narrator’s voice, and one that is decidedly literary and intellectual, full of metaphors, figurative language, and other poetic devices. Hurston splits the narrative between this voice and long passages of dialogue uninterrupted by any comment from the narrator. These passages are marked by their highly colloquial language, colorful folksy aphorisms (“Unless you see de fur, a mink skin ain’t no different from a coon hide”), and avoidance of standard …show more content…
Janie first met him while he was buying a pack of cigarettes in her convenience store. They sparked up a casual conversation and Tea Cake immediately amused Janie with his humorous small talk. Tea Cake asked her to play checkers, and for some reason, this made her feel respected; something she hadn’t felt in a while. Janie felt like Tea Cake was someone who would never treat her with the lack of respect that Jody did, and she appreciated that. Tea Cake charmed her by his flirty attitude and sweet talks, and made her feel like she was equal, unlike Jody who used his dominance over her. The way the narrator describes Tea Cake makes me think him and Janie will have a strong relationship in future chapters. His creativity makes him seem like a person who enjoys life to the fullest involving love and emotion, which amuses Janie. Janie explains that his comical acting involving things such as him talking to nobody and hiding behind an invisible lamppost amuses her. Jody’s life revolved around his need for power and egotism and fulfilling materialist goals, which Janie did not like at all. Tea Cakes creativity and respect shows us that he knows more to life than