Where's the racism?

We touched on this idea a little bit in class. The role of racism in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Or lack thereof. Thinking back on Native Son and Invisible Man the authors made it very clear that our protagonists were pitted against societal oppression. Bigger with his revelation about becoming a pilot and the Narrator with his scholarship receiving experience. Here though, like Mr. Mitchell said, it looks like racism "takes a step back". Everyone Janie has met so far has been black and so we are given a novel that is more focused on economic situations and value systems of a people from the humble town of Eatonville.

We can see this idea of contrasting values in the relationship between Janie and her grandmother. Both have radically different versions of the 'ideal' marriage. Janie wants romance, something that no amount of money can buy, someone to love for his person. The grandmother wants something tangible, something that shows her marriage was 'worth it'. It's why she pushed Janie to marry Lewis, a wealthy landowner.

Seeing how the reduced role of racism opens the door for many other personal and more intimate issues is interesting. When the whole racism aspect doesn't drown out the characters, it looks like a complete opposite of Invisible Man in which the individuals themselves didn't matter. What do you guys think? Are there any other parallels between this book and others we've read this year? Comment below!


Comments

  1. Nabeel BashirOctober 18, 2019 at 7:06 PM

    This is very interesting, hadn't really thought about it before. With this in mind, do you think this novel could be a form of literature that isn't protesting anything, as opposed to Invisible Man and Native Son?

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  2. Neha AluruOctober 19, 2019 at 11:43 PM

    I agree with your general point but I don't necessarily think that the aspect of racism drowns out the characters in the other two novels. Especially in Invisible Man, the concept of racism play a major role in the narrator discovering himself. That said, it does seem like Janie as an individual matters more than Bigger Thomas or the narrator.

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  3. SimonOctober 20, 2019 at 4:37 PM

    I think the point of the book is that racism doesn’t really play a role. Instead of the book being about racism, I think Hurston is trying to make the book about sexism and the absurdities surrounding marriage at the time. That’s partly why we haven’t met any white characters yet, Hurston wants to keep the message from being muddled by all of the complex issues surrounding race.

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  4. Eric RothOctober 20, 2019 at 8:45 PM

    I really think that although it looks like racism takes a back seat, it is still lurking in the background and subtext. For example, at one point I remember 2 guys talking and saying that they weren't poor because of the white man, but because of each other. Even though it puts the blame on tensions within the black community, it also references the white community as well. Despite the novel taking a big step back from talking about racism as much as Invisible Man and Native Son, it's still implicitly there.

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  5. Phong: Hakuna MatataOctober 20, 2019 at 9:15 PM

    This novel definitely has more of a laid back attitude to racism then the novels we've read so far. The reason is because the previous novels has been white and black interaction: Bigger and Mary, the narrator and Jack. While this novel has mostly black characters interacting with each other. As you have mentioned, this novel deals with more of the social norms within the African American community.

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  6. MarianoOctober 20, 2019 at 10:18 PM

    Like you said, I've felt like the racism in "Their Eyes Were Watching God" has been more subtle. What I find somewhat odd is that Hurston starts Janie's story by mentioning her upbringing in a white family. From Janie's experiences, it sounds like, similar with a lot of race-based stories, there's an internal struggle for Janie. Janie's values are constantly challenged by what other want to view her as. Her grandma sees an opportunity for class lifting, her husbands see her as a tool they can use to better themselves. I keeping coming back to the idea Roshan brought up. This story is more about gender relations more than racial.

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  7. RoshanOctober 21, 2019 at 5:39 PM

    I think racism still exists in this novel, but to a much lower extent. I remember a couple of times in the book when the townspeople talk about Janie and Jody using racist slurs or bringing up their race as a criticism, even though they are also Black. I just thought I would point out that the only times you see racism as really a thing is sort of just one internalized part of the town's larger problems with Janie or Jodie. I think Hurston is acknowledging that race will always be a factor especially for Black WOMEN but that isn't what she wants to focus on.

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  8. Joanna's BlogOctober 22, 2019 at 2:26 PM

    I think that this novel focuses on other issues- although racism is presented as an issue. In the Everglades, colorism is a prevalent issue. MRs. Turner talks to Janie only for her light complexion and doesn't think that Tea Cake is good enough for her, being darker skinned. In this, she is blatantly colorist which goes to show that internalized racism can exist even in predominantly Black communities. I think that Hurston does show important issues, they're just not as in the open as in novels such as Invisible Man.

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