Their Eyes Were Watching God

I was excited to read a novel again in our class. However, when I started to read When Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, I realized that it wasn't as easy as I thought. From the start of the story, the southern dialect was strong. When Hurston speaks about women on the first page stating, "women forget all those things they don't want to remember, and remember everything they don't want to forget", I couldn't help but wonder where she was going next. Then she mentioned the women whos "eyes flung wide open in judgement". As soon as the women on Pheoby Watson's porch saw Janie walking down the street, the judgement started. They not only judged what she was wearing and how she looked, but what she had done with her life and her reasons for returning. It was non-stop. Then when she walked by them without telling them all about her life, there was even more judgement. Although they had no idea about why she was returning and how things ended up with her, they assumed that the man (Tea Cake) she was with left her for a younger woman after taking all of her money. They envy Janie for her looks and keep assuming things as she continues into her house. Finally, Pheoby stands up for Janie. It wasn't very clear at first but then both Janie and Pheoby refer to Pheoby as Janie's grandmother. I'm not sure if the women outside knew Pheoby was the grandma or not. Regardless, they were being very disrespectful and making assumptions about things they didn't even know.
While Janie and Pheoby were in the house talking, I felt that out of no where Pheoby freaks out on Janie and smacks her. I felt that was kind of random but then again she was telling Janie what she had wanted for her. I like the story so far and I like how "Nanny" was telling Janie that she just wanted her to be safe and that she had prayed to God to keep her here until then.