The Okeechobee Hurricane
Their Eyes Were Watching God is absolutely full of detail. It has so much information about the places it discusses, and the cultures and people that they represent, which all ties back to Hurston's anthropological work. She is an expert in this exact kind of detail, and you can tell through her writing. She is specific and intentional in her presentation of people and the places that they live, as well as the things that happen there. In Chapter 18, Janie and Tea Cake experience an extremely strong and devastating hurricane. They ignore several signs that it could be damaging and end up having to go through the storm to get to safety when it eventually does get bad. It is a very intense incident, and the way that the storm is discussed is almost supernatural. The natural forces around Janie and Tea Cake are described as "cosmic," called "beast[s]" and "monster[s]." The lake and hurricane "roar" and "rag[e]." One sentence desc