Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Analysis

1307 Words6 Pages
Occurs commonly in African American folklore, the plot is often repetitive in nature, since it serves as an aid for the storyteller in memorization. Under this sub-category, we examine Hurston’s approach for events to happen in a set of three, through examining major activities of the main protagonists from both novels, starting with Their Eyes. In Their Eyes, the folktale's repetition of events in a series of three is depicted in Janie's three marriages, as well as by her movement out of the rural community of Nanny, to the town where she keeps a store with Joe Starks, and finally to the "mucks" of the Everglades where she experiences joy and bereavement through Tea Cake. These repetitions have embodied an increasingly wide circle of experience and opportunities for expression of personal choice and self-determination for the female protagonist. Each of Janie’s marriage associated closely with her movement from places. To begin with are Janie’s first marriage and the time she spent in the rural community of Nanny. Nanny, Janie's grandmother, was a slave and had given birth to a child of her master, who in turns gave birth to Janie and left. Nanny alone raised her granddaughter, and thus…show more content…
Unlike Janie Crawford, John Pearson gets all the opportunities in life, only ends up failing to achieve a level of maturation and awareness. Hurston contrasted him to Janie, as a flawed figure whose premature death occurs at a moment that prohibits him from reaching self-realization. In the end, by using this folkloric convention of plot repetition has offered both novels a sense of progression in which “the tension is effectively created, built up and finally release” (Reynolds, Storytelling In Jazz: The Rule Of
Show More
Related

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Analysis

    1022 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, was born in the small town know as Eatonville, Florida. Hurston was not born into a wealthy family, but went on to do great things. Hurston began to write short stories and later worked with a former friend, a famous African-American author and poet, Langston Hughes. The friendship did not last very long. Similar to many authors, Hurston’s novel did not get its honorable credits until after her death. In Their Eyes Were Watching God

    Read More

  • Their Eyes Were Watching God Critical Analysis

    724 Words  | 3 Pages

    Kaylyn Barta Mr. Hopkins AP English Literature March 9th, 2015 Hurston Does Not Need To Be Wright English theatre writer Kenneth Tynan once said, “A critic is a man who knows the way, but can’t drive the car.” Richard Wright seemed to fit the bill of this quote, as he judgmentally assessed the black literature produced by Zora Neale Hurston without substantiated endorsement. In his critique of her distinguished novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, Wright voices an opinion of harsh disapproval;

    Read More

  • Sexuality In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

    1124 Words  | 5 Pages

    Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God presents a female protagonist heroine named Janie. Her longing desire for love and quest to becoming an intelligent young black woman makes this novel one of Hurston’s greatest. The notion of body and sensuality in Hurston’s novel have always been critiqued by several perspectives. Helene Cixous French author of The Laugh of the Medusa, focuses solely on the hostility toward the patriarchal binaries. Cixous believes that feminine writing is connected

    Read More

More about Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Analysis

Open Document