"Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Recently, I read a book titled "Ther Eyes Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston. It's an absolutely great book, and no matter your sex, race, or religious beliefs, I would say you should really give this book a try. In fact, since it was written during the years of the Harlem Rennaisance, many people view it as a black feminist book, but it speaks more to the whole of humanity. And although the title alludes to God, it is much more spiritualistic in nature than religious.

First and foremost, it is Janie Crawford's search for "life" and love; for independence and self-enlightening. Although this book is truly a tender love story at heart, I feel that the main characther's search for love is simply her personal way of discovering "life", and everybody's search for self-enlightenment takes them down a different dirt-beaten path. The definition of "life" will vary from person to person, and while Janies search spanned nearly forty years of her life, some people's journeys will take longer or shorter amounts of time. It is in this sense that the book finds its spritualistic nature. Here and again God will be alluded to, but the actual name only appears about two ore three times from cover to cover in the 193 page book, and the word or concept of God seems to be meant more as a wordly force or spirit that guides and taunts Janie simultaneously. Sometimes though, I do get a feeling that that is exactly what God does to people.

Referring again to my English class's two essential questions: What is our world like? and how should we live in it?, while reading this book, I have came to the realization that although it uses the pronoun "we", it should be asked in a much more personal form. Because although we all live in the same world, we all choose to live in it differently, and "should" is a highly subjective word.