"This is Water" in "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

Considering our discussion, how could Wallace’s theory apply to Their Eyes Were Watching God?

In what ways could this novel specifically develop empathy and emotional intelligence, as well as contribute to the self-awareness of the reader?

Challenge yourself to make connections to Hurston’s purpose in how she crafts Janie’s journey of self-discovery “tuh de horizon and back”.

In the commencement speech entitled, This is Water, David Foster Wallace presents the theory that true freedom acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious, self aware and sympathetic. Written as a ‘coming of age’ novel, this same ideology can be identified throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by the way the author, Hurston, constructs her plot to fit to her specific purpose. An African American herself, Hurston did not consider it her duty to contribute to the political cause of the Harlem Renaissance, where Africa Americans endeavoured to live life outside the privy of white stereotypes. Instead she chose to focus on the journey of Janie, a lighter skinned African American, and her search for self-expression “tuh de horizon and back.” Hurston uses the novel to present a holistic viewpoint on African American culture, highlighting both the positive and negative aspects. This approach enables the reader to become self-aware that race and racism are prevalent issues present even within communities of the same colour, wherein people utilise jealousy, strife and ambition to set a precedent of prejudices, where every individual endeavours to exercise superiority over one another. Hurston even claims that she is “not tragically coloured,” thus presenting a contradicting clause to what most African Americans were conveying at the time. This is not to say that race doesn’t play a part in her novel. She skilfully disperses the effect of racism in many instances, such as when Janie’s grandmother, Nanny, a victim of slavery, was raped by her owner and when after a hurricane, black peopler’s corpses where thrown into a pit, whereas the whites received gravestones. In these specific times, the reader is able to empathise with the characters, resulting in a profound impact on the audience, where they are able to develop their emotional intelligence. However, racism is not the driving factor in the novel. Hurston focuses more on human experience and questioning our ‘default stting’ so to say. Relating back to Janie’s journey “tuh de horizon and back,” Hurston actually takes Janie across many experiences of love and hate, which shape her until she finally takes a step back and realises that she is satisfied with herself and what she has accomplished. That recognition is another factor that contributes the the theory presented in This is Water, since Janie’s realisation develops her emotional intelligence and in turn, the reader experiences the same.