Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Zora Neale Hurston’s 1937 novel, ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God,’ is an American classic. This powerful and brilliant novel tells the story of Janie Mae Crawford and her search for self-actualization as a black woman in the early twentieth century. Hurston was raised in Eatonville, Florida, and sets her novel in rural Florida, a place she described in a letter where ‘the air is sweet, yes, literally sweet.’ This guided discussion will thus pay close attention to the role of place in the novel and offer an overview of the novel’s thematic concerns and ideas, as well as present more in-depth analyses of various textual moments. Participants are encouraged to read the novel before the discussion. Space is limited. ‘More classes with Sika and more classes like this, please!’- OLLI Patron