Their Eyes Were Watching God

I just finished the classic novel, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," by novelist Zora Neale Hurston. "Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board," so begins the story of Janie as she is on a journey to find her authentic self and true love. Janie, the protagonist of the story, finds herself caught in a hurricane that is literal and figurative. It is through this hurricane that she finds herself. The force of a hurricane can throw any unfortunate person or object at will. Being caught in a hurricane and faced with the impending danger puts yourself at the mercy of the storm and the God of the storm. Figuratively Janie deals with the hurricane of life as she is forced to face the opinions of others as to what and who she is. Oftentimes Janie would “starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see...” Throughout the novel, Janie struggled to find herself, to emerge from what people wanted to see to what she wanted to be. In this story, Janie struggles to be recognized. The story of Janie helps us to understand black women's struggle with hierarchical systems of oppression. Janie is forced to deal with the hurricane of limited gender and race roles. This narrative is a depiction of one who questions issues of power, prejudice, and human fulfillment while achieving self-knowledge. Melissa Harris-Perry notes that Hurricane Katrina is a contemporary version of Hurston's novel (Sister Citizen). If we remember the hurricane and it's aftermath, you will note that there were issues of  race and hierarchical structures, powerful white institutions ignoring black suffering, and black men driven mad as they try to rescue others in the storm. All these are elements that are in Hurston's novel and the consequences of a natural disaster in modernity. 

Within my own studies, I began to analyze the book in the field of higher education. I relate Janie to the average college-age student, I would examine Tea Cake as the administrators of the college setting, and I would identify Motor Boat as those students that fall between the cracks of university life. Yes, I know that this a bit far-fetched but bare with me. As I study institutions of higher education and the field of education in general, I notice a significant trend among the students and how the institution interacts with the student. I see higher education as the hurricane in Hurston's novel, both literally and figuratively. The hurricane of higher education forces a student to the mercy of its power and throws them through four years or more of training to become what society deems as functioning citizens of the middle/working class. I would also suggest that higher education is the hurricane because students must navigate through four years of social, intellectual, and academic development to find their authentic self. The search for finding a student's authentic self has been recorded and theorized by a plethora of researchers. Theories such as Women's Ways of Knowing, Self-Authorship, and Chickering's Seven Vectors all have in common the notion of students finding their authentic self during their matriculation. It is the idea of mattering that I find to be of most importance. It is the ideas of being valued as a student and recognized by the system of higher education. Through this recognition of the student, one must find their authentic self while dismantling systems of oppression. After a conversation I had with my significant other, we noted that faculty and staff should be equally concerned about if the student understands the content and what happens to the student outside of the classroom setting. If one can understand the circumstances outside the class then he/she is in a better position to understand the student. Then a faculty or staff member will be able to gauge the level and type of challenge that should be given. At the same time, one would be able to know the necessary support to give to each student. The undesired behaviors of students (the outbursts), whether it is K-12 or Higher Ed, says to me that the student is crying out, "I don't feel that I am important, I don't matter, so why should I make this (the subject) important." 

Faculty and Student Affairs Professional should ensure that each and every student MATTERS! 

If you are wondering about my Peace Corps experience, I am fine. :)