Imagery: God

The image of God is shown numerous times throughout the text. God is a guiding figure throughout the book, and though the residents of the Everglades rely on themselves, they also rely on God to give them a push along. One particular reference I'd like to focus upon occurs during the hurricane, when Tea Cake remarks that Janie must have preferred to stay in her big white house rather than to embrace nature's fury with him. Janie disagrees, adding, "If you kin see the light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people never seen de light at all. Ah wuz fumblin' round and God opened the door" (159). Janie sees that she tried to be in love with several other men before, but she is the most content with Tea Cake. She was blinding searching in the dark until God let her see the light and led her to Tea Cake.

I'm not sure how religious our C block is, but I myself am a devout believer in atheism. I was admittedly slightly puzzled about all the personifications of God until I fully realized how deeply spiritual the townsfolk are. I skimmed over the hackneyed "my God"s and "thank God"s and "so help me God"s, but I started to pay attention when Hurston added in the "watching God" and "questioning God". They "watch" God with every step, not with really with their eyes, but with their hearts. They "question" God at every fork in the road, not with their tongues, but with their hearts (or souls, or spirits. I'm not quite certain about the logistics). God gives them guidance to brace the hurricane. Whereas without Him, they would be in darkness without the courage to go on, they indeed do battle it through when He shows them the light.

For Janie, Tea Cake is a true "a glance from God" (106) because He tips the odds so that she can meet him. In an earlier chapter, Hurston describes Janie's love as something that God built, writing, "She knew that God tore down the old world every evening and built a new one by sun-up. It was wonderful to see it take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making. The familiar people and things had failed her so she hug over the gate and looked up the roads towards way off. She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie's first dream was dead, so she became a woman" (25). Hurston is essentially remarking that given the death of a dream, it takes God to help pick oneself up and build a new one. she describes the coming of age of Janie because she has seen reality; her dreams and loves will not always carry through for her. However, Hurston also adds an element of hope, that God can nudge oneself back up. With God's guidance, one can mature and and find a better life. This better life for Janie is her life with Tea Cake. Even though her first love with Jonny Taylor does not work out, Janie has faith and waits for God to introduce her to Tea Cake. Thus, Hurston deviates from the conventional God references and crafts her own unique personifications of Him.