of the Harlem Renaissance, in the cultural capital of the United States. She was writing in contrast to many authors discovering and finally gaining recognition for new styles of literature, such as Langston Hues, Nella Larson, and Claude McKay who were depicting the experiences of black Americans and racism on a national scale. Amidst a “black renaissance,” it makes sense that Hurston only “felt” her race when in white contexts, like Barnard. She described the phenomenon: “Among thousand white…
semester we have read many texts including Macbeth by William Shakespeare, Lord Of The Flies by William Golding and Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. In all three of these texts, the theme of external evil being inside you all along is prevalent. Such as in Lord Of The Flies by William Golding, the beast which was thought to inhabit the island the boys were stranded in turned out to be a figment of one of the boys' imagination “Beastie. A snake thing ever so big he saw it.…
important questions about the meaning of life and the existence of God. He begins his article by stating the plots of the two lives being shown in the movie. One in particular, of a man named Jonah where he questions his own values based on his life situation in that moment. Conard makes the premise that Jonah got away with murder because his views on God were not demeaning to his own life. Meaning that since Jonah did not actively follow God, like his friend rabbi Ben, he was able to get away…
During the time period that Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright were writing, there was a conflict between African American writers. The conflict was that some of those writers were focused more on creating a “useable past” that disregarded the topic of slavery by using Africa to reclaim the positive image of Africa. As to where the other writers, such as Zora Neale Hurston, was focused on using the past that she was a part of and actually experienced. She was not concerned about creating a…
In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Kate Chopin’s The Awakening, both protagonists attempt to break free of the initial social confines they were presented with to understand and sate the universal desires for love and freedom. By using both subliminal and explicit symbolism in the recurrence of family ties, hair, and water, both Hurston and Chopin state that the regulations of society hinder those living in it, namely women. Janie’s marriages and Edna’s children have one…
however, the speaker’s expectations are not met, “I heard a Fly buzz- when I died-“(1). The reader is introduced to a fly buzzing around the room, which ironically is not the grand entrance that the speaker was lead to believe greets all worshipers of God. Dickinson implies that the speaker is greeted with disappointment by hearing a fly buzz around the room, as it would fly around a rotting corpse.…
figurative language that is used many times throughout the book is symbolism. Although there is a great deal of symbolism found in the novel three symbols stand out the most. The mysterious green light, the desolate Valley of Ashes, and the unsettling eyes of Doctor T.J. Eckleburg are all used to represent different ideas or qualities but they also coalesce to reinforce the main theme of the decline of the American Dream. Possibly one of the most famous examples of symbolism found in…
In this section of Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston characterizes Eatonville and the people within as very religious, competitive, traditionally and ethically involved, and unified. With the use of hyperbole, personification, idiom, and metaphors, Hurston develops these complex characteristics. Starting off, the author compares the arguments of Sam and Lige to a “contest in hyperbole” (page 63). This metaphor showcases how the people in the town always try to show off for others.…
No Glass Somewhere I read the story of a little boy whose parents were very poor. That little boy loved toy soldiers and he sometimes would stand for hours looking at them through the storefront glass window of the toy store. He wished with all of his little heart for just one toy soldier. One day as he walked toward his home from the toy store, he was struck by an automobile, and taken to the hospital for treatment and recovery. The nurses propped him up on his bed and brought toy soldiers.…