Wright's Criticism of TEWWG
Of the three books that we have read so far, I think Their Eyes Were Watching God falls on a different spectrum that Native Son and Invisible Man because the focus of the book is different. As we mentioned in class, the emphasis of race is minimal and not a central theme of Their Eyes Were Watching God. While race still plays a role in the novel, especially with the character of Ms. Turner, Hurston's general goal of the novel is to depict love and how it relates to one's identity.
I think Hurston's deviation from the "traditional" discussion of race through an African-American main character explains Wright's criticism of the novel. Wright is unable to comprehend that a story can still be good even if it doesn't follow the story of a black man who discovers his identity through learning about his race. This is the main fault in Wright's review of the novel because he only sees it as a superficial love story that has no deeper meaning. If Wright had gone past the surface, he would realize that Hurston is reflecting on another big topic of growth and love, something that deserves just as much conversation as race. However, I think Wright overlooks that race underhandedly does play a big role in Janie's development. By having Janie come from a line of black women that were slaves who were raped by their white masters, Hurston shows how Janie never completely fit in anywhere since she was half-white and half-black. Even though this isn't a fact that Hurston lords over the entire novel, the fact that it's always there following Janie is every single one of her relationships sticks with the readers and affects our interpretation of the novel. I think this is a key understanding that Wright missed because if he had made that connection, he wouldn't characterize the novel as nothing else beyond a simple love story with no greater significance.
That said, I also partly agree with Wright that the main readers for the novel are white. Because of the way Hurston writes Ms. Turner's character, it does seem like she is there simply for the comical appeal of the white readers. When reading Wright's opinion how "the novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy," I thought of the scenes where Ms. Turner belittles Jody simply because he is black. The way Hurston has Ms. Turner place white beauty on a different standard than black beauty shows Wright's interpretation that the novel is meant as a form of entertainment for white people. While reading the scenes with Ms. Turner and then reading this review by Wright, I also think Wright makes a somewhat accurate point when saying this isn't for black readers because it seems like black readers, especially those who could relate to the time, could become offended by how Ms. Turner acts towards Jody.
Overall, I really like Their Eyes Were Watching God, especially in the way Hurston shows Janie's different roles in society in each of her marriages. It was an interesting take on a trivial everyday topic like love that really appealed and connected to me.
I think Hurston's deviation from the "traditional" discussion of race through an African-American main character explains Wright's criticism of the novel. Wright is unable to comprehend that a story can still be good even if it doesn't follow the story of a black man who discovers his identity through learning about his race. This is the main fault in Wright's review of the novel because he only sees it as a superficial love story that has no deeper meaning. If Wright had gone past the surface, he would realize that Hurston is reflecting on another big topic of growth and love, something that deserves just as much conversation as race. However, I think Wright overlooks that race underhandedly does play a big role in Janie's development. By having Janie come from a line of black women that were slaves who were raped by their white masters, Hurston shows how Janie never completely fit in anywhere since she was half-white and half-black. Even though this isn't a fact that Hurston lords over the entire novel, the fact that it's always there following Janie is every single one of her relationships sticks with the readers and affects our interpretation of the novel. I think this is a key understanding that Wright missed because if he had made that connection, he wouldn't characterize the novel as nothing else beyond a simple love story with no greater significance.
That said, I also partly agree with Wright that the main readers for the novel are white. Because of the way Hurston writes Ms. Turner's character, it does seem like she is there simply for the comical appeal of the white readers. When reading Wright's opinion how "the novel is not addressed to the Negro, but to a white audience whose chauvinistic tastes she knows how to satisfy," I thought of the scenes where Ms. Turner belittles Jody simply because he is black. The way Hurston has Ms. Turner place white beauty on a different standard than black beauty shows Wright's interpretation that the novel is meant as a form of entertainment for white people. While reading the scenes with Ms. Turner and then reading this review by Wright, I also think Wright makes a somewhat accurate point when saying this isn't for black readers because it seems like black readers, especially those who could relate to the time, could become offended by how Ms. Turner acts towards Jody.
Overall, I really like Their Eyes Were Watching God, especially in the way Hurston shows Janie's different roles in society in each of her marriages. It was an interesting take on a trivial everyday topic like love that really appealed and connected to me.
I suspect you're using the phrase with some irony directed at Wright, but I think a big part of the point made by Hurston's defenders is that there is nothing "trivial" about a topic like love--precisely *because* it is an "everyday" topic that affects everyone and which, especially for a young woman in Janie's time and place, plays a definitive role in what her everyday life will be like. If we take Wright's dismissal of love and romance as a non-"serious" topic for literature, we also have to discount reams of poetry, drama, and fiction written since the Renaissance (and earlier) that takes love as a deeply serious subject. Because of the centrality of marriage to women's experience over the last five hundred years, it's perhaps an especially "serious" subject when it comes to women's literature. Most Victorian novels come down, at some level, to questions about who will marry whom, and will it be an appropriate match. Hurston's novel can be seen as a modern entry in a long tradition--I've had students in class compare her to Jane Austen before, whose novels also tend to hinge on questions of a female protagonist searching for a suitable partner.
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