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Zora neale hurston literary criticism
Zora neale hurston literary criticism
Race and ethnicity in america zola Neale Hurston
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Quote #1: “ ‘Listen, Sam, if it was nature, nobody wouldn’t have tuh look out for babies touchin’ stoves, would they? ‘Cause dey just naturally wouldn’t touch it. But dey sho will. So it’s caution.’ ‘Naw it ain’t, it’s nature, cause nature makes caution. It’s de strongest thing dat God ever made, now. Fact is it’s de onliest thing God every made. He made nature and nature made everything else.’ ” (Hurston 64-65) The porch loafers have a tendency to find ways to entertain any sort of audience, and one of the ways they do so is by initiating false arguments. Typically, Sam and Lige are the stars of their shows, and this heated conversation is no exception. Sam and blank decide to passionately debate caution and nature. This leads us to the …show more content…
When I first read this quote, I was utterly astounded by how through yet clear Hurston was with her explanation. The context of this quote is that it was placed in the conversation between Mrs.Turner and Janie, when Mrs.Turner reveals that she links race to class. My interpretation of this quote is quite simple, in that I have no previous influence when the topic pertains to religion, nor do I have any biased opinion on either race or class. This quote is similar to an analogy. It states that is is nigh impossible for Mrs. Turner to not accept that she was lesser than those who were viewed as part of the lighter-colored class. Hurston compares those in the higher class to the likeness of a God. This comparison allows the author to form a resemblance between the cruelty of true gods. The narrator is, in all simplicity, stating that those with European blood were cruel to those of color, which made the African-Americans believe that they had to worship them - after all, they were forced …show more content…
It is my strong belief that Hurston wrote this novel not as a cry for help, but as a call to action. She wanted to change history, to reveal what life was like for a colored woman in the most raw format known to her. Nonetheless, she made sure to include vast quantities of insightful quotes in order to make the most out of her influential writings. She knew she had a gift, and she knew how to project her voice. So, why shouldn’t she use these talents to her advantage? Furthermore, the transient amount of time it took for Hurston to write this novel should not dissuade anyone from taking this novel as seriously as they would any other. In conclusion, Wright believes that Hurston wrote this novel in order to make Caucasians feel apologetic, and for personal gain. In my opinion, I believe Hurston wrote this so she could show other colored females that they have a voice and that they’re not
Hurston did not design her novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God with the intent of creating a protagonist figure in Tea Cake Woods. Hurston’s characters just naturally fit into the roles and personalities that African American women have been socialized to expect and accept from black men. The good over the bad; turn the other cheek; don't let it get you down. Forever taught that the road ain't gonna be easy and that a ain't-half-bad man is better than no man, African American women have been instilled with the belief that abuse, bitterness, and sadness can be ignored if there is something else to focus that energy on. In Janie's case, we are moved to accept Tea Cake, who is at times abusive, because of the way he makes Janie feel - young and happy.
They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.” Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God. (New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics,2006), Chapter 18, page 160. Throughout the novel, Janie doesn’t really have a connection with God. She doesn’t mention him often, and when she does, it’s often judging the way that people portray God or play God. Like when she tells the men at the store off for saying that they are any closer to God or superior than women. She tells them that it wouldn’t be so easy to play God if they had more to be superior to than women and chickens (Hurston 75).
In “Ain’t I a Woman”, Sojourner uses repetition, pathos and addressing opposing viewpoint to make her argument more persuasive, while in “ How it Feels to Be Colored Me”, Hurston changes her tones of writing and use metaphor to convince her audience.
I think both authors would agree with this view. Both stories involve a woman and how they are viewed as well as the struggles they face. Hurston’s story is about a power struggle between men and women. She states “see God and ast Him for a li’l mo’ strength so Ah kin whip dis ’oman and make her mind.”
She does not see being colored as a disadvantage, but accepts it as a challenge to excel and be unique. It is a great pity that with writers with an attitude towards race such as Hurston there is still such a negative attitude towards racial and cultural differences all over the
As he stoops over her as she attempts to do her work he yells, “You sho is one aggravatin’ nigger woman!” he declared and stepped into the room. She resumed her work and did not answer him at once. Ah done tole you time and again to keep them white folks’ clothes outa dis house. (Hurston, 1926)
Hurston does not concern herself with the actions of whites. Instead, she concerns herself with the self-perceptions and actions of blacks. Whites become almost irrelevant, certainly negative, but in no way absolute influences on her
Hurston’s characters have idealistic dialect for an African American in that time period; correctly depicting any stereotypes that might fall on the situation. The slang and slurs used throughout the characters dialogue makes the tale more realistic and believable. “Nope, sweetenin’ is for us men-folks. Y’all pritty lil frail eels don’t need nothin’ lak dis. You too sweet already” (987). This type of language appeals to me because of the fascination of a thick mock southern dialect. It is interesting to read the words and be able to hear the dialect sounded in your head. The language in this story helps the theme become more effective because it is obvious that they are less educated than most individuals. Typically, it is understood that the less educated have less money and money has always been known as the “root of all evil”.
In “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston undergoes many obstacles such as challenges because the colored of her skin, her change of life style, but the most important aspect is her attitude, the way she react towards these obstacles. Hurston nightmares starts when her life style changes. She moves to a town in which people of colored do not have good relationship with white. She is going to thirteen when she becomes colored she says. She becomes such because people (white) around keep reminding her of what she is. However, she never cares because she already knows that. Hurston
In Zora Neale Hurston’s powerful feminist novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God,” she tells the story of Janie Stark and her journey into becoming a powerful black woman during the time when those words were not spoken together. Hurston uses Janie as an archetype for what we should all aspire to be, because in Hurston’s eyes, and the eyes of many others, Janie is the only character in the novel that gets it right. The thing about Janie that set her apart from everyone else, the reason that she got it right, was not because she was just born that way, but it was because she used all of the trials and hardships in her life to her advantage. She never crumbled or quit, but she continued to move on and use her life experiences to help mold to her
She even talks about how they were being generous to her. For example, Hurston says, “During this period, white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there. They liked to hear me “speak pieces" and sing and wanted to see me dance the parse-me-la, and gave me generously of their small silver for doing these things, which seemed strange to me for I wanted to do them so much that I needed bribing to stop, only they didn 't know it” (539). Hurston would soon find out that when she had to leave her small town to go to a boarding school because of family changes that the real world is full of racism and discrimination towards colored people. I think this is when she realizes that she is
Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were great writers but their attitudes towards their personal experience as an African American differed in many ways. These differences can be attributed to various reasons that range from gender to life experience but even though they had different perceptions regarding the African American experience, they both shared one common goal, racial equality through art. To accurately delve into the minds of the writers’ one must first consider authors background such as their childhood experience, education, as well their early adulthood to truly understand how it affected their writing in terms the similarities and differences of the voice and themes used with the works “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Hurston and Hughes’ “The Negro Mother”. The importance of these factors directly correlate to how each author came to find their literary inspiration and voice that attributed to their works.
Hurston’s “How it Feels to be Colored Me” the presence of conflicting views in their
In conclusion, Hurston was a modernist writer who dealt with societal themes of racism, and social and racial identity. She steps away from the folk-oriented style of writing other African American authors, such as Langston Hughes, and she addresses modern topics and issues that relate to her people. She embraces pride in her color and who she is. She does not hate the label of “colored” that has been placed upon her. She embraces who she is and by example, she teaches others to love themselves and the color of their skin. She is very modern. She is everybody’s Zora.
... middle of paper ... ... Through Janie's experiences and feelings regarding the love of her life, his death, and the hurricane, it is obvious that Hurston meant for the reader to relate self-realization to questioning God. Although God is not a dominant theme in the novel, it is likely that Hurston was mirroring the people she came into contact with throughout her endeavors as a folklorist.