Indirect Discourse

 Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is my first time reading "indirect discourse." This novel has a narrator explain the character's thoughts and feelings within the story, rather than expressing them directly.

"Ah'd ruther be dead than for Jody tuh think Ah'd hurt him," she sobbed to Phoeby. "It ain't always been too pleasant, 'cause you know how Joe worships de works of his own hand, but God in heben knows Ah wouldn't do one thing tuh hurt nobody. It's too underhand and mean."

Janie is the major character, living in the South, around the early 20th century. She married her first husband for protection, like her grandma advised. But it was a loveless marriage. Janie's second husband married her for a trophy and as a helpmate. The problem was that Janie hated the work her husband had her do--run the store. That marriage also became loveless. In Janie's third marriage, she found the love she always dreamed having.

A hurricane changed everything. Janie ends by going back to the home her second husband built for her, which is how the novel began--she is the topic of gossip.

Although the characters are black, I don't consider Janie's story any different than any race in that place and time. The poor in the South worked hard and women, especially so. A poor woman would have looked for protection in marriage, like Janie's first husband. Working hard like Janie did in the store and even after is the plight of the majority of people. Janie's story is real and told in a masterful manner.