Their Eyes Were Watching God was an eye opening novel that helped me begin to understand American Black culture at its roots. It helped me understand a great many things that I had not previously understood about the role of Black women in the deep south, religion, and the dynamic between Blacks and race. 
 The book is the story of Janie and while it's loaded with a great many characters at first, there are only two the matter in the end, Janie and her husband, Tea Cake. The story is told retroactively as Janie has returned home from some situation that brought her back without her husband. People talk and they talk badly. Janie has had success in her life, despite losing her husband, but the book explains the nature of people, which is true of all humans. The following line was so true and so sad to consider what could be accomplished if people were putting each other down to get themselves up. 
 "Us colored folks is too envious of one 'nother. Dat's how come us don't git no further than us do. Us talks about the White man keepin' us down! Shucks! He don't have tuh. Us keeps our own selves down." 
 Janie is a Black woman with money and in the South that was a challenging thing for her as men did not believe that a woman should control such things because they would not know what to do with it, much less a Black woman. 
 "Uh woman by herself is uh pitiful thing," she was told over and over again, "Dey needs aid and assistance. God never meant 'em tuh try tuh stand by theirselves. you ain't been used to knockin' round and doin' fuh y'self, Mis'Starks. You been well taken keer of, you needs uh man." 
 This sentimentally carries with it the biggest challenge Janie has in getting her life back together. 
 There is character there who hates Janie's husband because he is too dark skinned for someone like Janie. I never realized that racism was so present among the Black community even then. There is a scene where Janie's husband, who is portrayed in every way as a good man beats Janie for no reason at all. And its explained away by this line: 
 "Before the week was over, he whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. being able to whip her reassured him of possession. No brutal beating at all. He just slapped her around a bit to show that he was boss. Everybody talked about it next day in the fields. It aroused a sort of envy in both men and women. . . " 
 This was very eye opening to me because my modern mentality does not let me accept this kind of belief, but this kind of action represented something else to this community in that time and while it was accepted back then, I can see how the social structure allowed for such a thing to be okay even as it very clearly was not okay. 
 Perhaps the most poignant line and idea that I have never been able to accept, but can at least understand now is the worship of God as life is falling apart and falling apart with no sign of repair: 
 "It was inevitable that she would accept any inconsistency and cruelty from her deity as all good worshipers do from theirs. All Gods who received homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshiped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is a the most divine emotion. It is stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshiped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood." 
 And that explains why religion is so relevant to a culture that has suffered because of it. There is an unexpected hurricane scene that while dramatic I think served as a metaphor for Blacks in this time in history and of their lives today. They feel they have no control over the outcome of their lives, but that doesn't mean they can't fight to survive and still hope to someday overcome the burden they endure every day. 
 I highly enjoyed and recommend this book.