"It was the time for sitting on porches beside the road. It was the time to hear things and talk... They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgement."
Hurston uses this quote to give a sense of the atmosphere down south and the culture of the African American people, especially the women, who live there. The town is full of gossip; it is what these women live for and it is what entertains them. With no TV at night for occupation of their time, the women instead sit on porches and watch the world go by, in turn judging the world and it's travelers as they pass. Dusk becomes a time for storytelling and a time for people to engage in conversation. As the quote says, "They sat in judgment," which means that as people pass, the women in turn share what they have heard about the person or what is suspected about them. Each person is scrutinized by the women who sit on the porch. This quote gives insight into the lives of these women who work with their hands in the day, and converse about all that is suspected about the people in their town by night. The town is small, so everyone knows everyone else which makes the town close and also makes rumors very easy to spread. In chapter 1, the women on the porch converse about Janie and begin to make up stories about what they believe could have happened between her and Tea Cake. The women of Eatonville enjoy gossip and the description of them sitting on the porch at sunset gives insight into Eatonville as a small and isolated town that sees few outsiders. The women clearly know little about the outside world, but they are content to judge and speculate about what they see in their small town and the people who live there.
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