The non-verbal visual as agency: African American women's communication in Zora Neale Hurston's 'Their Eyes Were Watching God'

This research analyzes Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. The research focuses on how Hurston, throughout the novel, reveals the agency present in African American women's non-verbal, visual communication. This type of ancient communication evolves and arises out of the experiences of African American women in response to the quieting of their voices by a patriarchal and white-dominant society.;This research argues that Zora Neale Hurston establishes a hushed but powerful spirit early on in her central character. Janie, who understands the communication of nature and speaks to leaves, also understands other forms of communication, including non-verbal, visual communication. It further argues that by utilizing this unique communication system, a practice she learns in childhood, Hurston demonstrates three prevailing ideas in her novel, 1) African American women's interactions include nonverbal, visual communication; 2) this type of communication maintains agency for African American women; and 3) even when physically oppressed and repressed, African American women's strong will endures untouched.