Their Eyes Were Watching God Part 2

Hello dear Readers,

As promised this is the follow-up to part 1.  These are some of the passages I marked and enjoyed while reading the book.  Hope you liked them also.

This is the beginning paragraph and what can give you a better view of life than this?

Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.  For some they come in with the tide.  For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.  That is the life of men.

This paragraph in Zora’s infinite wisdom tells us we really have no control over the things that are not ours to control like the sun, moon, stars, and weather.  Yet, we as men want to believe we can be the sun-maker or weather maker. 

Folkses, de sun is goin’down.  De Sun-maker brings it up in de mornin’ and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night.  Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up nor to slow it doen.  All we can do, if we want any light after de settin or befo’ de risin, is tuh make some light ourselves. 

Zora’s ability to paint pictures of the people’s lives is amazing and so poetic. I want this porch!  This from the first paragraph in Chapter 6:

When the people sat around on the porch and pssed around the pictures of their thoughts for the others to look at and see, it was nice.  The fact that the thought picures were always crayon enlargement of life made it even nicer to listen to. 

Chapter 16 discusses the fact that black people admire or want to be lighter skinned or ‘high yellow’ or something they are not and that somehow would change who they are or their opportunities.  I am always fascinated by this discussion since most of us would love to have something we don’t and isn’t it all about envy – not necessarily opportunity?  However, most black people don’t seem to assess it this way. 

 Now we come to the end of the book and I think there are two great philosophies shared on the last pages.  Love, life and living, what more can we ask for?

Love is lak de sea.  It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore. 

Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves.  They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin fuh theyselves.

Happy Reading ya’ll,

Barbara

PS:  What are you reading now?