There were many examples of imagery throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. Imagery is the product of image makers; the art of making images; pictures produced by an imaging system; figurative language. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/imagery) Hurston's writing was definitely an art. She beautifully wrote about Janie and the situations she encountered. She gave the reader a vivid image in his or her head. These are some of the images throughout the novel.
1.“the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume,” Description of Janie’s hair, which is a big symbol in the novel. Page 2
2. “time makes everything old so the kissing, young darkness became a montropolous old thing while Janie talked.” Time loomed on as Janie told her story to Phoeby. Page 7
3. “She had glossy leave and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her.” This compares Janie to the blooming pear tree and how it is blooming as she is growing up and becoming a woman. Page 11
4. “Mind- pictures brought feelings, and feelings dragged out dramas from the hollows of her heart.” Nanny is trying to raise Janie while remembering the past things from her life, and trying to do better this time. Page 16
5. “They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth from which the night emerged.” This is symbolizing the start of a new day, and Janie has a new start for happiness. Page 33
6. “The fact that the thought pictures were always crayon enlargements of life made it even nicer to listen.” Listening to stories and talking makes life seem a lot better than it is to Janie; it idealizes things. Page 51
7. “The new moon had been up and down three times before she got worried in mind.” It had been a long time before Janie started to worry that she wasn’t falling in love with Logan as she hoped she would with time. Page 22
8. “She knew the world was a stallion rolling in the blue pasture of ether.” Life is fast changing and constantly moving. Page 25
9. “Words walking without masters; walking altogether like harmony in song.” People are talking about Janie and her coming home. They are being extremely rude. Page 2
10.”He looked like some ole skullhead in de grave yard.” This is Janie description of Logan Killicks. She thinks that he is old and ugly. Page 13
11. “It was a lonesome place like a stump in the middle of the woods where nobody had ever been.” This describes Logan Killicks house and how awful it was for Janie. Page 22
12.”From now until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything.” Janie was very excited and relieved to be with Joe Starks. It made her feel great. Page 32
13. “…he’s de wind and we’se de grass. We bend which ever way he blows.” This describes the townspeople because the listen and follow whatever bossy command Joe tells them. Page 49
14. “She had no more blossomy openings dusting pollen over her man, neither any glistening young fruit where the petals used to be.” This describes how Janie is losing her relationship with Joe and how she does not love him anymore. Page 72
15. “There was already something dead about him. He didn’t rear back in his knees any longer. He squatted over his ankles when he walked. That stillness at the back of his neck.” This is describing how Joe is getting older. Page 77
16. “A deep sob came out of Jody’s weak frame. It was like beating a bass drum in a hen-house. This is describing Joe toward the end of his life while Janie was trying to talk to him. Page 86
17. “Most of the day she was at the store, but at night she was there in the big house and sometimes it creaked and cried all night under the weight of lonesomeness.” After Joe’s death, Janie became little lonesome, especially at night. Page 89
18. “Those full, lazy eyes with the lashes curling sharply away like drawn scimitars. The lean, over-padded shoulders and narrow waist.” Janie was describing Tea Cake the first time she saw him. Page 96.
19. “So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day.” This is describing the change of day to night. Page 99
20. “He could be a bee to a blossom-a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God.” This describes how Janie feels about Tea Cake. Page 106
21. “Janie awoke the next morning feeling Tea Cake almost kissing her breath away. Holding her and caressing her as if he feared she might escape his grasp and fly away.” This describes how Tea Cake is holding Janie. It shows how much Tea Cake likes her. Page 107
22. “Done took to high heel slippers and a ten dollar hat! Looking like some young girl, always in blue because Tea Cake told her to wear it.” The reader gets an image of Janie looking prettier and younger than she had with Joe. Page 110
23. “The next morning Pheoby picked her way over to Janie’s house like a hen to a neighbor’s garden.” This describes how Pheoby must have looked on her way to tell Janie about what people think of her relationship with Tea Cake. Page 112
24. “The train beat on itself and danced on the shiny steel rails mile after mile.” This describes the train Janie took to meet Tea Cake. Page 116.
25. “Her chin hung from her ears and rippled down her neck like drapes.” This describes Annie Tyler, the old woman who Janie relates to. Page 119
26. “Weed that did well to grow waist high up the state were eight and often ten feet tall down there. Ground so rich that everything went wild. Volunteer cane just taking the place.” This is Janie’s description of the Everglades. Page 129
27. “All night now the jooks clanged and clamored. Pianos living three lifetimes in one. Blues made and used right on the spot. Dancing, fighting, singing, crying, laughing, winning and losing love every hour.” This describes nights in the muck. Page 131
28. “She began to be snappish a little. A little seed of fear was growing into a tree.” This describes Janie’s reaction to Nunkie and Tea Cake. Page 136
29. “Mrs. Turner was a milky sort of woman that belonged to child-bed. Her shoulders rounded a little, and she must have been conscious of her pelvis because she kept it stuck out in front of her so she could always see it” This describes Mrs. Turner, the racist old woman in the muck. Page 139
30. “Her nose was slightly pointed and she was proud. Her thin lips were an ever delight to her eyes. Even her buttocks in bas-relief were a source of pride.” This is Mrs. Turner description of herself. Page 140
31. “By dusk dark Belle Glade was full of loud-talking, staggering men. Plenty women had gotten their knots charged too.” This describes the Saturday night after a long weeks work. Page 149
32. “…she was down there under all the fighting, and broken dishes and crippled up tables and broken-off chair legs and window panes and such things. It got so that the floor was knee-deep with something no matter where you put your foot down.” This describes what Mrs. Turner’s restaurant looked like after the big fight. Page 152
33. “Morning came without motion. The winds, to the tiniest, lisping baby breath had left the earth. Even before the sun gave light, dead day was creeping from bush to bush watching man.” This describes the morning a few days before the big hurricane. Page 155
34. “It woke up old Okechobee and the monster began to roll in his bed. Began to roll and complain like a peevish world on a grumble.” This describes the storm that was coming and how bad it was going to be. Page 158
35. “He stood once more and again in his high flat house without sides to it and without a roof with his soulless sword standing upright in his hand. His pale white horse galloped over waters and thundered over the land.” This is describing Death. It is right after the hurricane and there are many dead people that need to be buried. Page 168
36. “Packed tight like a case of celery, only much darker than that.” This describes the black people in the court room during Janie’s trial. Page 185
37. “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.” Janie is describing her interpretation of love from what she was learned with Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake. Page 191
38. “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around her waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder.” This is describing how Janie was at
peace at the end of the day and how her life finally came together. Page 193
There are many wonderful examples of imagery in this novel, but my favorite is when Janie is falling in love with Tea Cake. Janie says, “He could be a bee to a blossom-a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God.” (pg. 106) I love this quote so much because it connects back to the theme of a pear tree and is explaining how in love Janie is with Tea Cake.
