Currently, the part
of Their Eyes Were Watching God I enjoy
most is Hurston’s gift with prose: her lyrics so often sound like poetry. These
words evoke powerful images that are imprinted in one’s memory, with her script
echoing in the background. Sometimes, however, this is a curse as much as a
blessing: there are some images I don’t want to keep. Well, to be more specific,
I’m thinking of is the scene of Janie’s revelation under the pear tree. I see it now in my minds eye, strongly accompanied by a intensely dramatic male voice reading the
narrative (Just who could that be...). I have kindly included the scene for your
reading pleasure:
She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom;
the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic
shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch creaming in every blossom and
frothing with delight. So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold
a revelation. Then Janie felt a pain remorseless sweet that left her limp and
languid. (12)
However, as important as just about
any scene with Hurston—and a sexual awakening would definitely count an
especially important one—there is more to it than first meets the eye.
We must ask first
ourselves, what is literally happening in this metaphor? Well, the flower
attracts the bee and entices it with nectar, which the bee seizes from the
flower. In return, it would seem that the bee allows it to bear fruit. However,
this transaction is not a fair one by any means: while the bee suffers no consequences
from its tasty treat, the flower has to sacrifice its body to bear the fruit.
To make matters worse, that fruit is taken away. It is interesting, then, that
Jamie thinks, “Oh to be
a pear tree—any tree in bloom!” Hmmm, what a strange ideal to have. It
reminds me of the narrator of Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man: how great it would be to be like Bledsoe!
Does anyone have
anything to add on to that? Anyone disagree with my interpretation? Honestly,
while it does feel good to be complemented, I like your criticism and your new thoughts much more because
it gives me something to think about and build off of. What does the grandmother think of this vision of marriage? Also—since we’ve probably
progress further into the book by the time you are reading this—how does the
metaphor of the pear tree connect to Jamie’s later ideals? What about her
relationship with Tea Cake? Then ask, would Jamie still like to be a pear tree? Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
