Community in "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

In my last post, I talked about Americans’ interactions with society and the negative energy and ideas that are a result of this.  The motive for Americans’ interaction with society comes from a need to associate their ideas and beliefs with others so that they feel accepted, supported, and “normal.”  Society portrays a standard of “normal,” however most Americans don’t fit into this mold and therefore do not feel accepted or supported by others.  Because of this, many Americans looked to the people directly surrounding them for examples of living and also for the same values of acceptance, support, and normalcy.  This sense of community is much more welcoming than the ideals of society, and plenty of Americans use this environment to help them sustain success.

In the book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston shows the concept of community through the relationship between two women, Pheoby and Janie.  Hurston starts the scene with Pheoby having just arrived at Janie’s house after leaving the clique of women who represent society.  They discuss the habits of the clique, and Pheoby says, “Most of dese zigaboos is so het up over yo’ business till the liable to hurry theyself to Judgement to find out about you if they don’t soon know.”  Pheoby knows that these women will do anything they can to get their hands on other people’s business, and she also knows that they will twist it around and make it sound bad.  Because Pheoby knows how the clique works, she wants to protect her friend, Janie, from getting hurt by them.  She knows Janie has had a rough life and sometimes people need to talk about their experiences.  To keep Janie from telling the clique her entire life story, Pheoby offers to talk to Janie when she says, “It’s hard for me to understand what you mean, de way you tell it.  And then again Ah’m hard of understandin’ sometimes.”  Pheoby’s words reveal that she and Janie have had conversations like these before.  Her willingness to hear Janie’s story again, as well as her desire to understand her better this time show that their relationship is always evolving and she hopes to strengthen it and support Janie more every day.  The pair’s friendship parallels many relationships that are prevalent in communities in America.  Americans look to members of their community for honest advice on business, raising a family, religion, politics, and finance- all components to life in America.  Those relationships that are fostered in communities are like Janie’s and Pheoby’s.  Americans are always trying to help each other succeed and live happy lives.  Society offers criticism that only weakens people’s self-esteem, but people in communities are there to give constructive criticism so that all Americans can experience the benefits and support found in “sibling” relationships.