“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board.”

Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston was one novel that I had mixed reviews about. I despised the treacherous dialect and syntax the author uses in this book but I enjoyed the story by itself. In most African American novels such as Their eyes were watching God, A Raisin in the Sun, The Piano Lesson, The language and dialect depicts their culture, background, tone, and setting. It is important to be familiar to the language in order to be able to connect with the characters. For me, Their eyes were watching God was one of the most difficult books I’ve read throughout my life. I can even understand Shakespeare more than Hurston. The author in this book writes like how the people speak. I am a Chinese-American. My native dialect is mandarin and it was a challenge for me to comprehend the novel since it’s in a southern slang dialect. Hurston modifies how the character speaks. Like Janie, instead of using “the”, she would replace it with “duh”.

 Many African American novels have cultural significance and usually rooted back to slavery times. In The Piano Lesson, the carvings on the piano represent the struggles boy Willy’s dad had endured and wanted to sell the piano in order to buy back the freedom. What I like about the Piano lesson is that it has the element of supernatural. This makes the play more interesting for me so I don’t get bored reading a few guys arguing over a piano.

In the opening lines of Their Eyes Were Watching God, A black man’s wish is to escape and be free. The closer the ship gets, freedom becomes a possibility. This quote also emphasizes the theme in the novel. Janie’s search for fulfillment and completeness is compared to a man’s desire on a ship. In A raisin in the sun and The Piano Lesson, The themes of these play focuses on the American Dream. Instead of searching for freedom, you live your freedom by achieving your goals. Boy Willy dreams to sell the piano in order to buy back the freedom and land that his father harvested. In A Raisin in the sun, the dream of all the characters (especially Mama) is to keep the family together and have a safe place to live.

Their Eyes Were Watching God has many historical approaches including the rejection of the Racial Uplift Program and the Harlem Renaissance. It received many racist, sexist, and political criticism. I see myself as the “voiceless” person trying to find my place in society despite what others view me as.