Their Eyes were Watching God chap. 6-7
“Nature is de first of everything. Ever since self was self, nature been keepin’ folks off of the red-hot stoves. Dat caution you talkin’ ’bout ain’t nothing but uh humbug.”
This was a quote from when Janie was listening in on some of the conversations that go on outside of her and Jody’s store. The conversation was what has more power, nature or caution. This seems to bring up Zora Neale Hurston’s anthropological background in which if it’s instinct (nature) or culture (caution) that guides what we do and how we develop as humans. In this quote, “Nature is de first of everything.” which is true which leads to the fact that natural instinct can guide us from hot stoves. Many times with my friends I have had debates in what governs our actions in life. Many times I would find myself siding with the nature arguement, but also acknowleding the influence that caution (or more or so the cultural aspects of ones life) has a big part in life.
In a biological sense, our natural goals are self preservation and passing on our genetic legacy. Staying away from the hot stove would be a good example of self preservation. However, the cultural surroundings can change this. What if something like touching a hot stove was a right of passage in a culture? Even though there is no actual need to do it, it’s the idea of fitting in that can drive a person to go against their instincts. Or what about tattoos and body piercings as a more common example? These really don’t have that much of a biological purpose. In some cases, they can harm a person if proper sanitation isn’t used, but humans don’t care. These are common in our culture and we get them anyway. Nature and Caution are almost seemingly opposite forces that compose the harmonic song of life.
