1. I think Zora Neale Hurston chose the title she did in order to draw the reader's attention to a certain theme in the book. With the word "God" in the title, readers tend to be more apt to look for religious allusions within the text. It is possible that Hurston chose such a title in order to put most of the attention on what she was trying to say about God and religion in her writing. It is also important to note that the title says "their eyes" and not only "her eyes". Yes, the book is mainly about Janie, but the title lets the reader know that Hurston has something to sat about the human experience as a whole.
2. An alternative title may be, as mentioned before, "Her Eyes Were Watching God". This may alter the reading experience by narrowing the reader's thinking to only encompass Janie or possible the females of the world. Hurston does have a lot of things to say about the female experience in Eyes, so it's a definite possibility.
3. I just now named my pastiche "The Only Thing She Could Ever Want". It's like Hurston's title in that it's a line out of the text. Mine is a little more specific as in who it's referring to. The "she" is referring to one of my characters who feels trapped by her husbands very materialistic way of life (sound familiar?). People who are materialistic want things, another word in the title, but in this case there is only one thing that the "she" in my title wants. My pastiche is trying to highlight hurston's theme that Materialism is not a healthy basis for relationships (romantic or otherwise) with other people. Using all your fancy stuff to make yourself better than everyone else isn't cool, man (Note: find a more eloquent way to say that later). I'm trying to highlight my theme with my title, and I feel like I do an OK job with it.
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