Night, and Their Eyes Were Watching God are quite different books, but share some similarities. The first large difference, is their category. Night is a true personal narrative, from when Eli Wiesel grew up during the holocaust, and the hardships he faces on a day to day basis. Their Eyes Were Watching God is very different in it's style. It is a novel, and has no direct relationships to real life events. This makes them harder to compare, yet both still have themes that are just as true as each other. The difference is that the themes portrayed in Night, are in the setting of reality, and the ones portrayed in Their Eyes Were Watching God, are in story form.
One book being a personal narrative, the other a novel, the point of views are also different. In Night, it is written in first person, for all the actions actually happened to Eli, and so the personal pronoun "I" shows up frequently. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, it is written in the third person, and all the actions are happening to and around Janie, not to and around "I" as in Night. This brings a different flavor to both books, yet both methods are equally able to portray ideas, yet the first person does make it feel more personal and less detached.
The purpose of both books, are also different. Night was written as Elie's experiences during the holocaust, and is more of a historic book, detailing the tragedies of war and prisoner of war camps. Their Eyes Were Watching God was written as not a narrative of the author's life, but as a commentary of her life, and what was happening in the world at that time. (Shmoop Editorial Team)
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008. Web. 11 Apr. 2012.
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