Zora Neale Hurston: Their Eyes Were Watching God (Chapters 1-4)

The novel begins with a passage about the differences between the dreams of men and women. Men's dreams are like distant ships. For few men, the ship comes in and the dream is realized very quickly. For other men, the ship sails for a long, long time on the horizon. By the time these dreams finally can be realized, so much time has passed that the dreams are worthless. Unlike Men, women don't wait and watch for their "ship to come in." However, some women have dreams and some do not. And for the women, the mere possession of the dream is what matters.