Eatonville Florida Today

Eatonville, located in Orange County Florida is a small town about 6 miles north of the city of Orlando. Eatonville became a city on August 15,1887. With a population of about 2,400, 89% percent is of African American Descent and only 8% Cacausin. Only about one square mile in size, Eatonville Florida, 15% percent of the male population are involved in the Construction industry, while 17% of the female population work in the health care field. Surpisingly enough 68.1% of the population only has a high school degree and only 1.2% of the population has a graduate degree. The median income level of Eatonville residnets is lower than the norm for the state of Florida; $31,500 compared to $42,433 in the state of Florida. Given that, 25% of the population is below the poverty line. (Peter Kerrian)

Alice Walker talks about Zora Neale Hurston and Southern Life

The video posted above is a video of African American feminist write Alice Walker talking about Zora Neale Hurston as well as her own personal experiences with growing up in the south. She relates her personal experiences of country life to what Eatonville is like in the book. From this we can differ that the real Eatonville in Florida would be similar to her experiences. The fictional Eatonville probably isn't very different from the real life Eatonville because they were both written about southern predominantly black communities.The countryside of Eatonon, Georgia that Alice Walker grew up in is very similar to the Eatonville of the book. That is why she is able to so easily connect to what Zora Neale Hurston is conveying through “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Alice Walker was heavily influenced by the writing of Zora Neale Hurston and can be viewed as a contemporary version of Zora Neale Hurston. What we learn from she talks about southern life is that it is very calm and peaceful just like conveyed in the story, but it also has the very gossipy and talkative side that was also conveyed in the book. (Joseph Gutierrez)

The fictional Eatonville of "Their Eyes Were Watching God"

The Eatonville described in Hurson's book "Their eyes Were Watching God" is located in Flordia. When Jody and Janie arrived in Eatonville there were only about 50 acres of land, no mayor, and a little over a dozen shacks. The name of the town was also called West Maitland because both Captain Eaton and Mr. Laurence donated land but Captain Eaton was the first to give land.
Jody was not very excited about living in a place that was so small so he bought an extra 200 acres. Later, he called a town meeting and told everyone he was going to build a post office and a store that would become the heart of the town. It was at this meeting that Jody was named mayor of Eatonville and where Janie became "Mrs. Mayor Starks" (Hurston 43).
As town members started to clear out roads and better the town, Jody began to advertise to neighbooring towns so that more people would come. In about six weeks, ten new families arrived at the town and set up their new homes. (Paul Guzman)

Eatonville’s influence in Hurston’s Literature

Zora Neale Hurston, a Harlem renaissance writer, used both events of early life experiences as well as historical context in her novels. In one such novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston uses the main character, Janie, to provide insight on contemporaneous society in the South and to recount the events that were included in the folktales Hurston heard in her youth. One can agree that this novel, which takes place mostly in the town of Eatonville Florida, is told from an accurate standpoint. This is because Zora Neale Hurston was born in Eatonville Florida, and her time spent in the city would have definitely inspired some of the aspects of Janie’s life and society. Indeed, just as it is in the novel, Eatonville Florida was and still is a pure Negro society, with an African American mayor and inhabitants. “It [was] a proud and independent self governing black community which fostered Zora’s self confidence and self acceptance.” (Leahy, 1).
Hurston’s novels are truthful toward the historical context. “During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the vast majority of Negroes continued to live in the South and to earn their living as farmers.” (Leahy, 5). Although African Americans in the South were no longer in bondage, they still lacked political rights, and some lived in poverty. According to history, Captain Eaton founded the town that bears his name, and African Americans were brought to the Florida territory by the native Seminole and Cherokee Indian tribes. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston does mention Captain Eaton, and does indicate the presence of Seminole Indians during her time in “the muck”.
In addition to the history, personal events in Janie’s life have parallels in the novels and the character Janie. Similar to the fact that Janie went through multiple (three) marriages, “[Hurston] was married twice.” (Leahy, 7). Just as Janie worked in a general store in Eatonville while being the wife of mayor Jody Starks, the marshal of Eatonville and acquaintance of Hurston, Joe Clark, owned a general store. Her life and education in Florida inspired her to become an anthropologist and appreciate observes differences in culture, which led to her novels and literature. “She had lived in Afro-American culture: before she knew that such a thing existed as a scientific concept or…subculture.” (Leahy, 8). Hurston repeated her experience of discovering her separate race in the excerpt, “But before Ah seen de picture Ah thought ah wuz just like de rest.” (Hurston, 182). Because the personal accounts of Hurston’s early life in Eatonville Florida are reflected in her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, one could claim that the book is partially an autobiography. (David Klueck)

Historical Context.

The hisotrical context of the novel is rather remarkable. Eatonville Florida, was one of the first all black towns to be created in the South. Such towns were created to escape the racial prejudice of the whites. Eatonville, the home of Zora Neale Hustson, was the first of these towns to become an actual town with its own governing body. Life in these towns were hard. Unlike the northern industrial cities, many of the people in the towns were farmers and thus were constantly had a low source of income.

The town of Eatonville has not changed much since the times of Their Eyes Were Watching God. The town is still a large majority Black, and a quarter is still below the poverty line. In the novel the farming aspect was very prevalent as the people went to work in the muck to support themselves despite harsh conditions. Hurston depiction of the town of Eatonville in Their Eyes Were Watching God was Superb. (Peter Kerrian)

Bibliography

• Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York, New York: J.B. Lippincott Company, 1937.
• Leahy, Mary Ellen. Cultural Outlook on the History pf Black American Families in the Rural South. 2007. Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute. December 12, 2007 http://www.yale.edu/ynhti/curriculum/units/1990/5/90.05.08.x.html.
• December 19, 2007. http://www.city-data.com/city/Eatonville-Florida.html
• http://youtube.com/watch?v=x_7_HWO8E5E
• http://maps.google.com/