Definition of imagery: “The formation of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things, or of such images” (dictionary.com)
Imagery is extremely present in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. The use of imagery helps the reader make mental images of what is actually happening in the story. It also helps the reader visualize exactly what the author wants them to. Also, using imagery makes the writer more relatable to the reader and usually the author who uses more imagery is more liked because the readers have such vivid mental pictures.
Imagery for Their Eyes Were Watching God
1. “Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board”(page 1). The ships are the dreams that every man wants to have so they want to be on board with their dreams.
2. “The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly” (page 1). Whenever someone has a dream that they want to reach it’s the only thing that they are thinking about and they will do anything to reach that dream and they are always acting on trying to reach it.
3. “Janie saw her life like a great tree in leaf with the things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone” (page 8). This is about all the different things in life all the things that people enjoy, things that they suffer from, and the things that are done and undone.
4. “Dawn and doom was in the branches” (page 8). Bad things and sadness will always come in life, you can never get away from them.
5. “There are years that ask questions and years that answer” (page 20). Sometimes in life you are always questioning why something has happened. But, then later on in life something will happen that will make you realize why the thing before happened.
6. “Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a women” (page 24) when Janie realized that she would never reach her first dream, she had to become a women to cope with that thought.
7. “They sat on the boarding house porch and saw the sun plunge into the same crack in the earth which the night had emerged” (page 31). Night brings darkness and the sun brings light, so the sun in life was coming up and overcoming the darkness in life.
8. “From now until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything” (page 31). Spring time brings new life, so the spring will always be over her now because she has a new life starting.
9. “They bowed down to him rather, because he was all these things, and then again he was these things because the town bowed down” (page 47). Joe gave all these stuff to the town and was constantly spending money it, so all the towns’ people loved him for that. But he liked how they praised him for it a little to much so he just kept doing more and more things and was trying to rule the place.
10. “The rest of the town looked like servants’’ quarters surrounding the ‘big house’” (page 44). Joe made such a big deal about how he was mayor that he had such a bigger house then everyone else it was almost like he was the plantation owner and everyone else was his slaves.
11. “Every morning the world flung its self over and exposed the town to the sun” (page 48) Everyday was a new day with a new beginning.
12. “Something like a hungry cat whens somebody approaches her pan with meat” (page 69). People are always eager to get or try new things. Sometimes it might not be the best for them but they will do it anyways.
13. “Somebody near about making summertime out of lonesomeness” (page 73). She is so lonely that she was imagining summer, which would be a better time for her.
14. “The icy sword of the square- toed one had cut off his breath and left his hands in a pose of agonizing protest” (page 82). Death is a sharp sword that can catch you at the worst times and when you least expect it.
15. “Year ago, she had told her girl self to wait for her in the looking glass” (page 83). There comes a time when you have to go away from your little kid self and have to grow up, even if it is for a short time and end up coming back to the childish side.
16. “Some people could look at a mud puddle and see an ocean” (page 84). Some people can look at something and see it as much more beautiful and much more than it really is. While others look at things and see only what is there and not what could be there.
17. “She had hated her grandmother and had hidden it from herself all these years under a cloak of pity” (page 85). Janie hated her grandmother but was always trying to cover it up because she knows that her grandmother just wanted the best for her and if she told anyone she hated her then Janie would feel bad.
18. “Janie stretched and ironed her face and came set in the funeral behind her veil” (page 84). Janie was not exactly mourning that Joey was dead, but if people really knew that then she would be looked down upon so she had to set her face into an emotionless look.
19. “Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, and quenching the thirst of the day” (page 95). The night was ending and the sun was coming up and a new day was coming.
20. “jes lak a lil girl wid her Easter dress on” (page 94). Janie was acting as if she was at Easter and needed to be extra well-mannered.
21. “It was so crazy digging worms by lamp light and setting out for Lake Sabelia after midnight that she felt like a child breaking the rules” (page 98). Janie had never done that before with anybody and she would have never thought to do it, so she felt like she was breaking the rules.
22. “You got de keys to de kingdom” (page 104). She could do anything and be with anyone she wanted.
23. “Ah jus lak uh chicken. Chicken drink water, but he don’t pee-pee” (page 109). She is like a chicken because she will hear these things from Janie but she won’t go tell everyone in town.
24. “Bet he turns over in his grave everyday” (page 105). He is so mad that even when he is dead he is restless.
25. “The train beat itself and danced on shiny steel rails mile after mile” (Page 111). Janie was so happy to be leaving that she felt like the train she was on was dancing.
26. “So her soul crawled out from its hiding place” (page 122). Janie couldn’t liver her life and act like she wanted to for so long her soul had basically gone away. Now that she was with Tea Cake, she could let her soul be free and act and live the way she wanted.
27. “Ground so rich that everything went wild” (page 123). The ground at the Muck was so rich and fertile that anything planted would just keep growing.
28. “Ah can look through muddy water and se dry land” (page 128). You can look at something not so good and dirty and end up seeing something clean and promising.
29. “A little seed of fear was growing into a tree” (page 130). A little bit of something can always grow into something much larger.
30. “He gave his powerless laugh again and Tea Cake and the boy joined in with him” (page 138). The type of laugh that has no feeling behind it. When people feel like they have to laugh at something but they don’t really think it’s funny.
31. “Ah didn’t git her outa de middle uh de road” (page 141). She didn’t come from the lowest place possible to live and she knows how to act like women.
32. “Plenty women had gotten their knots charged too” (page 142) The women also got drunk.
33. “The wind swung it back and forth like a might ax” (page 156). The wind was blowing so fast that it was spinning and was like an ax in motion.
34. “Wind and rain beating on old folks and beating on babies” (page 155). The rain had no mercy. It was pouring down on everyone even the babies and old people.
35. “The winds, to the tiniest, lisping baby breath and left the earth” (page 146). The wind was completely gone, there was not even the slightest wind out there.
36. “Even before the sun gave light, dead day was creeping from bush to bush watching man” (Page 146). The day came when people knew that a lot of people where going to die. It was as if death was a person and was sneaking around the muck.
37. “And then again Him-with-the-square-toes had gone back to his house” (page 160). All the killings from the hurricane where over and death once again came and left.
38. “No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep” (page 175). There is never a right time to die, but when someone does die their loved ones have the right to be sad and crying.
39. “She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net” (page 184). Janie looked back on life and saw that she had experienced true love, and that is all that she needed.
40. “She called in her soul to come and see” (page 184). She brought he soul back into herself and to show herself that she had experienced life to the fullest.
My favorite example of imagery in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” was in chapter 3 on page 20: “There are years that ask questions and years that answer.” This is my favorite example of imagery because it is extremely true and it is something that, even ten years from now, will always be true. Sometimes when something does not go right for a people they are constantly asking god questions. But, then a little while later they realize why god made this happen to them. So, some years ask questions with “why?” and others answer questions with “because”.
