There are many aspects of Hurston’s novel that reflect her own personal life. Hurston uses her hometown of Eatonville, Florida as the town that the characters Janie and Joe move to, to make a new life for themselves. It’s fascinating to think about whether the townspeople were based off of people Hurston actually knew. I wonder if there was someone like Joe, who came in to Eatonville and “fixed it up”, and if some events in her story actually took place while she grew up there.
Not only does Hurston’s hometown appear in her novel, but the “road” also. In Hurston’s childhood, there was a road that she used to look up and down, right outside her house, where travelers would pass by. This road is where Hurston “ran away” for a while. She would take rides for about half a mile or so and then walk back home. It was almost as if Hurston wanted to get away and wander into the unknown. She was longing for bizarre adventures, and this road seems to have the same meaning in her novel.
First, Janie meets Johnny Taylor. Nanny had seen “…Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost” (Hurston, 10). It didn’t exactly bring love, but it did bring a form of romance. The second time, though a different “road”, as it seemed to Janie, she found love through that road. “Joe Starks was the name, yeah Joe Starks from in and through Georgy” (Hurston, 28). Her marrige to Logan Killicks, who she was never truly in love with, was transient as she left her him to run away with Joe to Eatonville. Janie meeting Joe on this road outside her house and “running away” on an “adventure” seems to connect with Hurston’s wishes as a child, as shown by her stories of that “road”.
Not only does Hurston’s hometown appear in her novel, but the “road” also. In Hurston’s childhood, there was a road that she used to look up and down, right outside her house, where travelers would pass by. This road is where Hurston “ran away” for a while. She would take rides for about half a mile or so and then walk back home. It was almost as if Hurston wanted to get away and wander into the unknown. She was longing for bizarre adventures, and this road seems to have the same meaning in her novel.
First, Janie meets Johnny Taylor. Nanny had seen “…Janie letting Johnny Taylor kiss her over the gatepost” (Hurston, 10). It didn’t exactly bring love, but it did bring a form of romance. The second time, though a different “road”, as it seemed to Janie, she found love through that road. “Joe Starks was the name, yeah Joe Starks from in and through Georgy” (Hurston, 28). Her marrige to Logan Killicks, who she was never truly in love with, was transient as she left her him to run away with Joe to Eatonville. Janie meeting Joe on this road outside her house and “running away” on an “adventure” seems to connect with Hurston’s wishes as a child, as shown by her stories of that “road”.
Possibly, the idea of the "road" may become a symbol for journey, discovery, passion, or adventure. In Hurston's history, that is what the "road" meant to her, and she incorporates it into her novel to give Janie something to lead her down the right path.
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