In 1937, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God was published for the first time. It was over three decades later, in 1973, when the novel was “rediscovered” by Alice Walker, a novelist. Since the time when Walker wrote a magazine article about Hurston, the novel sold over one million copies. In 1937, the book “sold fewer than 5,000 copies”(Holmes, 2). What was it, in particular, that during Hurston’s time made the novel such a bad seller? Reviews made the novel a fast-forgotten piece of fiction. Bad reviews were given to the book mostly by black intellectuals. Richard Wright delivered the harshest words about the novel. He said that Their Eyes Were Watching God carries “‘no theme, no message, no thought’”(Haddox, 1). Other critics complained that the book contained too much feminism and racism. Hurston presented the issues ahead of her time.

Feminism is a movement to win equal rights for women. In Hurston’s book, Janie, the main character, tries hard to find her place in the world. She has a dream of a perfect life, where a woman and a man share joy in a marriage. Throughout the book, Janie seeks a husband who would respect her as

The other issue that many critics of Hurston’s time disliked was the issue of racism. Richard Wright said that Hurston wrote the novel only to satisfy white people who like to see “Negro live [through] laughter and tears”(Haddox, 1). Wright said that Hurston’s novel “evokes a piteous smile on the lips of the ‘superior’ race”(Rider, 1).

Indeed, when first published, Their Eyes Were Watching God seemed like an offensive piece of fiction. Finally, forty years later, people realized that this book is really important to American lives. The novel tackled the issues of civil rights and women’s rights. It became a core to the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement. All the issues that were addressed during the 1960’s were already presented in Hurston’s book: women struggle to find their place in society, African-Americans strain to achieve total freedom. While in 1930’s that book was viewed as offensive, now-a-days it is viewed as a work of art by a great and resourceful writer.

Janie stays silent most of the time in conversations held by the town folks. Janie either finds power in staying silent, or she is put to silence by her first and second husbands. Janie’s first marriage to Logan is a forced marriage. Logan forbids her doing physical work. He says that Janie was not made for labor, and that her place is in a kitchen. Janie’s second husband, Jody, treats her like she is his property. He also forbids her doing a man’s physical work. He doesn’t allow her to play checkers. He doesn’t like it when she tries to help him in politics. Jody says that her role as a woman is to be a good, mayor’s wife. It is as if Jody and Janie battle each other’s means of finding fulfillment. Jody believes that he can control Janie, and the world around him - that is the vision he struggles toward in life. Janie shatters that image by fighting back through the use of her tongue. She embarrasses her husband in front of the town folks, because his goal in life counteracts with her goal in lif

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