Literary Analysis Of Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston uses many different types of literary techniques throughout her short story; such as imagery, her own style, and a strong foundation to help make her stories and her ethnicity come alive and very recognizable to the reader.
Hurston grew up in a suburban town just north of Orlando, Florida called Eatonville. It is relatively surprising that she made it out of Eatonville and was inspired to become a successful writer because the community that she was surrounded by did not value books or essentially any type of literary work as much as she did while growing up (Bily 1). No one actually knows for sure when Hurston was born but it has been estimated it was around January 7, 1903. Throughout her childhood, her family’s income was below the poverty line in Florida but she, along with seven other siblings, found a way to survive. Lucy, Hurston’s mother was a grade school teacher who taught during the day and operated a small sewing business on the side to try and help her family make ends meet. She died in 1904, shortly after Hurston was born. Her father was a very hard working man. He was a Baptist minister and if he was not working for the church he would put his hands to work in the carpentry business. Hurston left home in her early teenage years to pursue a job working as a maid for white folks; however, she did not keep jobs for any extended amount of time. Hurston had problems with acting humble to her white bosses and refused to accept sexual advances from her male employers. Because of this, she was often jobless and hunting for money. Eventually Hurston completed her high school education and made her literature career possible by beginning to take classes at Howard University (Zaidman 1).
After graduation ...

... middle of paper ...

...le gender (Traub 295). Even further suggesting women are treated as objects rather than equals as their male counterparts.
Throughout the story Hurston uses the rural black dialect of central Florida, and her own lyrical style of writing to show the reader the character instead of telling their personality and actions. Hurston’s style and background help bring her story and ethnicity to life and because of this, her story reflects back on the culture in which she grew up. The majority of Hurston’s writing is about the African American race and the many trials and tribulations it endured due to segregation during the 1950’s. Her literary work was only popular for a short time but “Spunk” has, and will be, forever famous. The theme, literary techniques, familiarity of cultural qualities, and background of the story are all key to the story’s unexpected success.