Their Eyes Were Watching Dreams
One of the most fascinating dynamics in Their Eyes Were Watching God is Janie’s coming-of-age journey. This aspect interests me because, especially after discussing it in class, I realized that her life follows a rather unusual pattern. At the end of chapter three, Hurston writes, “Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25). Not only is this a powerful statement, but it stood out to me because it seems so declarative, confident, firm, and sudden. It creates a clear and abrupt dividing line in Janie’s life. In the portion of the story before, Janie therefore has not “become a woman” yet, and from there on out, she must be in this phase of “womanhood” (contrasting also with Nanny’s ideas of when Janie “becomes a woman,” after being with Johnny Taylor on page 12). It seems that this quote equates the death of dreams with aging, entering a new chapter of life, and developing in the world, and implies that this new phase is only encountered after this first death of a dream.