02.07 Free Choice Blog

For my free choice I have chosen to read Their Eyes Were Watching God. In the first chapter of this book, a group of women are sitting on Ms. Pheoby Watson's porch. The women see Janie walking down the road alone and seem resentful and happy that she is alone. They begin to say that Janie left town with a man named Tea Cake who ended up taking her money and leaving her for someone younger after. Pheoby, who does not like gossip, brings Janie some food and tells her what the women said. Janie then tells Pheoby what really happened and why she came back alone. She briefly says that she left because she could no longer be happy in the Everglades and will go into further detail throughout the novel. The main point of the first chapter is to set the stage for Janie's story in the rest of the novel. So far, I am intrigued by this novel. I want to know Janie's story, why she came back alone, and why the other women seem to resent her so much. I am estimating that they don't like her because the chapter hints that the women are jealous of Janie's beauty and strength. Janie is a stunning women with long hair that the other girls envy. I feel like they secretly hoped for her failure since she left with Tea Cake and they are jealous. I would probably use lists to make notes on this novel because I find that making lists just works better for me.