...of the world’s most prized artists; Claude Monet and Edgar Degas. Though they were both men of the same race and products of similar backgrounds, Monet and Degas developed contrasting artistic styles. While it is unlikely that they ever publicly reviewed each other’s work, the prospect of Edgar Degas, a devout realist, commenting on Claude Monet’s works of impressionism likely evokes phrases such as ‘stylistic misunderstanding’ and ‘representational disdain.’ Both Claude Monet and Edgar Degas actively sought to achieve some level of worldly representation through their works. They achieved this representation through vastly different methods and fundamentally different brushstrokes. As brushstrokes are to the canvas of the painter, diction is to the pages of an author’s work. The stark and frequently unadulterated realism that Richard Wright, one of the major novelists to emerge from the Harlem Renaissance, is known for, is often contrasted to his contemporary and rival, Zora Neale Hurston’s, more socially appealing racial and human sensuality. Much like Monet and Degas, who aimed to achieve some level of inspiration through their art, Hurston and Wright both actively sought to expand the minds of their audience through socially provoking writing. While no record of contemporary criticism is in existence between Monet and Degas, the same cannot be said for Hurston and Wright. Both authors were passionate about their own methods and styles and rarely shied away from an opportunity...
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...Danielle mordon Zora Neale Hurston's love of African-American folklore and her work as an anthropologist are reflected in her novels and short stories--where she employed the rich indigenous dialects of her native rural Florida and the Caribbean. In her foreword to Hurston's autiobiography, Dust Tracks on a Road, Maya Angelou wrote, "Her books and folktales vibrate with tragedy, humor and the real music of Black American speech." A published short story writer by the time she came to New York in 1925, Hurston studied anthropology at Barnard, where she was the college's first African-American student. After graduation, Hurston pursued graduate work at Columbia with renowned anthropologist Franz Boas. She left New York to conduct research in Florida and in Haiti and Jamaica, and her field work resulted in the folklore collections Mules and Men (1935) and Tell My Horse (1938). Her classic novel Their Eyes Were Watching God was published in 1937. Still, Hurston never received the financial rewards she deserved. (The largest royalty she ever earned from any of her books was $943.75.) So when she died on Jan. 28, 1960--at age 69, after suffering a stroke. Her neighbors in Fort Pierce, Florida, had to take up a collection for her February 7 funeral. The collection didn't yield enough to pay for a headstone, however, so Hurston was buried in a grave that remained unmarked until 1973. In 1975, Ms. Magazine published Alice Walker's essay, "In Search of Zora Neale Hurston" reviving...
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...character in Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” novel personifies a resilient, strong-minded black woman who finds herself through numerous loveless marriages. Janie is not one to silence her voice nor will she let a man walk over her. All of these characteristics represent that of a feminist point of view. Therefore, Zora Neale Hurston’s story, “Their Eyes..”, is a feminist novel. Nanny had morals of a women who had been in a box her whole life. She taught Janie that the most important thing in life was to find a man that is financially stable enough to provide for you. She didn’t teach her to get an education so she could make a living for herself. “De nigger woman is de mule uh de world so fur as Ah can see.”...
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...Zora Neale Hurston – Naturalism Naturalism is defined as the view that whatever man encounters in any area of human experience is natural. In can be described in detail as factual or realistic representation, especially the practice of describing precisely the actual circumstances of human life in literature and the practice of reproducing subjects as precisely as possible in the visual arts (Yahoo! Education - Dictionary). Zora Neale Hurston, an African American writer, anthropologist, and folklorist, was a naturalist. She was born in the town of Eatonville, Florida, which is five miles from Orlando. Eatonville was the first all black community to be incorporated. Ms. Hurston grew up uneducated and poor, but she was immersed with black folk life. She had little experience with racism early on in life which caused her to have unconventional attitudes later in life. After graduating from the Morgan Academy, Ms. Hurston attended Howard University and received her associates’ degree in 1920. Ms. Hurston worked several jobs during her college years but was still often in debt. She struggled with poverty throughout most of her life despite her hard work. From 1925 on, Ms. Hurston lived in New York and eventually joined the Harlem Renaissance. She was one of the shapers of the black literary and cultural movement of the twenties. Ms. Hurston was the first black scholar to research folklore on the level that she did. From 1930s to the 1960s, Zora Neale Hurston was the...
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...The title of Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, can come off as confusing to some readers, or it may trigger a certain thought process on trying to figure out what the title means. The title, Their Eyes Were Watching God, was only mention verbatim once throughout the entire novel. The title derives from a quote in the novel, “They seems to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God” (Hurston 187). The title, as well as the quote holds a significant meaning to the entire book. One thing to take from the title, is that even though the book is mainly about Janie, is does not say “her” but it says “their” eyes making it known that we as humans (all humans) are susceptible to God and His will. The title symbolizes the fact that we do not have absolute control over our lives and that we look to God for direction and answers. It is easy for us to forget how similar we all are in our vulnerability until we face a situation that is out of our control. Janie’s eyes were watching God because she knows that their lives are in His hands. Only He knows...
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...For some readers, Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God falls short of challenging the outdated societal views of the 1930s in any meaningful way. However, for many other people, it has clear value as a piece of literature that explores sexism and racism through symbolism and the characters’ actions. Hurston utilizes language in her novel as a symbol of the power, or lack of power, that certain groups of people held in society during the 1930s. In some sections of the book, this symbolism relates to women’s lack of power. Throughout her marriage with Joe Starks in particular, Janie is controlled with verbal abuse and manipulation; Joe’s voice represents his power over her. He repeatedly tells her not to speak in public...
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...Janie Killicks/Stark/Woods: A Hero or A Failure? In Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the most prevalent imagery consistent throughout the whole novel is of nature, both beautiful and powerful. Nature’s temperament gradually shifts from an innocent ideal into a destructive force in synchronization with Janie’s life. Janie’s wish is to be in a loving marriage, represented by the pear tree and blossoms; however, once she finally achieves this desire, the hopeful nature she had once longed for gradates into a damaging monster that ultimately kills Tea Cake and consequently, her dream. Though Kubitschek believes that her quest for the pear tree is obtained through her marriage to Tea Cake, the violent hurricane reveals Janie’s ultimate failure in attaining the one thing she wanted the most. The change in nature that occurs once Janie believes that she has achieved her fantasy of a blossoming marriage represents an epiphany, a coming of age moment in which Janie’s childhood dreams are realized as unrealistic and naïve, as the true, destructive disposition of nature is unleashed. The most driving force in Janie’s early teenage years is the need for attainment of the ideal marriage filled with love and equality, which she was introduced to by a pear tree in full blossom filled with sexual images such as “dust-bearing bees sink[ing] into the sanctum of a bloom” (Hurston 11). She became obsessed with the spring and “attempts to harmonize her daily life with her ideal image...
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...Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God exhibits the third person omniscient point of view, however, the novel does frequently shift between the third person narrative and the first person perspective of Janie Crawford, the protagonist of the novel. Hurston’s use of third person portrays insights to characters as well as human emotion and human development. On the contrary, if Hurston relied solely on third person narrative, Janie wouldn’t have a voice. Hurston uses a first person perspective to prove that Janie has improved her strength and her independence. Hurston’s use of different point of views allows the reader to focus solely on Janie’s voice and her vital improvement whereas the other point of views give insights on the characters’ thoughts....
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...Desired Equality Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God shows speculation of expressing feminism in a time where women were as equal as mules. Her novel was boldly feminist and was not appreciated until later after her book was published, when feminism was on the rise and after the civil rights movement. The feminism is obvious in the novel and is presented through the main heroine, Janie. In Hurston's novel, the heroine, Janie, represents aspects of feminism when she takes the initiative to liberate herself from each of her three domineering relationships. Janie grows up sheltered from the real world by her Nanny, and creates an ideal of love in her mind that may not be fit for reality. This "pear tree love", as Janie describes it, is far from what any woman could dream of during this time period, especially a mulatto woman. As she grows up, she never thinks herself different because of the color of her skin. Janie can be justified as feminist as seen throughout her three marriages: marrying into security, money, and content. She never finds her sixteen-year-old desires, but she escapes what could tie her down forever. Although Janie expresses a strong sense of feminism throughout the novel, her behavior sometimes contradicts that feministic view of her. Janie's first marriage begins after her Nanny passes away and thrusts her into the arms of Logan Killicks. Janie realizes that this first marriage isn't ideal to her own desires though, but rather her grandma's...
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...virginity of bloom. It stirred her tremendously"(10). In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Their Eyes Were Watching God” her use of imagery, particularly of nature, is used to stimulate the audience's imagination while communicating deep significance in the novel. The imagery of nature creates a unique parallel between the two sides of nature; its beauty and its devastation. Janie's idea of contentment is shown in Hurston's imagery of a pear tree, which represents nature's beauty. The pear tree represents Janie's idealized views of nature, as it demonstrates her naive and romantic character which constantly seeks true love, and her idealism of the harmony in a marriage based upon love as she travels a path of self-discovery throughout the novel. She was lying across the bed asleep so Janie tipped on out of the front door. Oh to be a pear tree—any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her? Nothing on the place nor in her grandma’s house answered her. (11) In this part of the novel it deliberately describes the pear tree in this fashion to show the relation between a blossoming tree, which is blooming as it grows, to the significant character changes in Janie as she marries different men in an attempt to discover happiness in a loving marriage. As the bees interact with the tree's blossoms, she witnesses...
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...Their Eyes Were Watching God: Celebrating Independence and Condemning Patriarchy Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God is an exquisitely rich novel, intertwining themes of race, love, and feminism. Hurston ingeniously combines these themes into one central story which follows the journey of Janie Crawford, a mulatto woman who fervently desires to find herself and her place in the world. Along the way, Janie discovers the fruitfulness of the black community in Eatonville, a self-segregated town in West Florida. She becomes captivated with the community’s so-called “mule talk” and sense of unshackled independence. However, even in a town founded on equality, women are considered as lesser compared to their male counterparts. Thus,...
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...Zora Neale Hurston is a powerful writer of African American literature. Hurston is closely associated with the Harlem Renaissance and influenced many writers during the time period. In 1928, Hurston’s article “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” was published by The World Tomorrow. The essay argues against the typical ideologies of racial segregation. Hurston states that she “do[es] not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood” (“How It Feels…”, 1-2) that requires her to internalize past and present injustices faced by African Americans. Hurston later published another article in 1950 titled “What White Publishers Won’t Print”, where she addresses the lack of interest in society about the lives, emotions, and culture of African Americans. White people find their interest sparked by...
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...In Angelina Weld Grimke’s “The Closing Door”, Jessie Redmon Fauset’s “The Sleeper Wakes”, and Zora Neale Hurston’s “Sweat”, the roles most often appear to have men as dominant, or in charge, figures. However, the typical view of the male figure being dominant and the female being submissive may not be quite as distinct in the above three texts, as first thought. It is even possible that the roles of the dominant and submissive parts are actually switched. The following will show how both the male/female and dominant/submissive combinations may be interchangeable, depending on which aspects are considered. In the stories “The Closing Door”, “The Sleeper Wakes”, and “Sweat”, male figures appear to be the ones that are in control, or dominant, in the situations. The women take direction from men. Throughout their stories it is pervasive that society is male dominated. Although there are many similarities between the stories in this regard, some of the differences are due to social, economic, physical, and moral divisions. These divisions, or aspects, become important in how one may look at domination in these stories. In the story “The Closing Door” by Angelina Weld Grimke, the two divisions that become important in respect to who controls things are physical and economic. Grimke describes the male character, Jim Milton, as being a “brown, good-natured giant” and also “He would reach her, it seemed, in one stride and would pick her up bodily, apron, money and all” (Grimke 94)...
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...The novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a carefully sculpted novel that unravels the development of a young African American women in the South. As the novel progresses, Janie, the main character, sporadically moves from place to place trying to find her voice through a harmoniously partner. The author, Zora Neale Hurston, both simultaneously records and tells the story of Janie, through the alternation between the rural Southern dialect and the conventional English language. At distinct times in the text, Hurston pick Southern dialogue over the high literary dialect used by the narrator. There are numerous periods of constant idiomatic dialogue, celebrating Janie’s culturally rich heritage. Each character has slight variation in their...
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...Outline Thesis statement: In addition to the frequent references to nature, certain animals have symbolic weight in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The animal with the greatest symbolic charge in this novel is the mule. Mentioned frequently throughout “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, the mule obviously represents the carrier of heavy loads and burdens, but it can also, and does, represent stubborn resistance. The mule serves to illustrate the strained relationship between Janie and Joe Starks. The figure of the mule can also refer not only to Janie herself but to any black woman struggling for independence. Janie identifies with the mule, which remains stubbornly independent despite its masters efforts to beat it down. Ironically, while Jody's position in the city gives him the power to free the mule, his pride and ambition cause him to virtually enslave his wife. He can free Janie only by his death. The mule is also a symbol of the control that men have over things. Watson’s mule was worked hard and was not fed properly so he didn’t look healthy. Women are associated with this mule because the men in Eatonville made them work hard and they were not treated fairly (49). Some of the women in the town worked just as hard as the men and they were not allowed to enjoy a lot of the things men got to. The men liked to relax on the porch and play checkers. None of the women got to participate in these activities. This segregation was unfair to the women of Eatonville. Janie...
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