Analysis Of Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston, author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, was born in 1891 in Alabama. She studied anthropology and liked to tell many stories about her African-American heritage and even other cultures. Hurston became interested in writing in her early thirties where she would write short stories and sometimes script plays. During the development of her writing career, she played an important role in the Harlem Renaissance. Hurston even traveled to Haiti and then Jamaica which mainly inspired her most famous piece of work Their Eyes Were Watching God. (Bio.) Hurston’s novel is about an African-American who is trying to find her true identity and a real passion. Throughout the novel, Janie Crawford, the main character finds herself
transforming into a nonconformist due to her loveless marriages and other everyday obstacles that she learns to tackle. She goes against society and proves to others that she can love someone in an untraditional way. (Shmoop.) Something that made Hurston’s writing stand out was her amazing dialect of a black southerner. However, because her outstanding work was so unique and different, critics did not always understand the importance of it. Hurston’s purpose of her black vernacular speech was to overcome a stereotype of her race. She would do this to “uplift the race” and to show that African-Americans at that time were more than most people thought. A critic in 1930 once said that her uncommon dialect was a “minstrel technique that makes ‘white folks’ laugh.” (Vrotsos.) Overall, Zora Neale Hurston was a role model for many African-Americans and even African-American women at that period of time and still today. With her many different career options, amazing novels, and rare forms of writing techniques, she was a true legacy.
Works Cited
Biography. “Zora Neale Hurston” Bio True Story. Web. Jan 18 2014.
Shmoop. “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Intro. Shmoop. Web. Jan 18 2014.
Vrotsos, Kate. “Zora Neale Hurston.” AP Central. College Board. Web. Jan 18 2014.
transforming into a nonconformist due to her loveless marriages and other everyday obstacles that she learns to tackle. She goes against society and proves to others that she can love someone in an untraditional way. (Shmoop.) Something that made Hurston’s writing stand out was her amazing dialect of a black southerner. However, because her outstanding work was so unique and different, critics did not always understand the importance of it. Hurston’s purpose of her black vernacular speech was to overcome a stereotype of her race. She would do this to “uplift the race” and to show that African-Americans at that time were more than most people thought. A critic in 1930 once said that her uncommon dialect was a “minstrel technique that makes ‘white folks’ laugh.” (Vrotsos.) Overall, Zora Neale Hurston was a role model for many African-Americans and even African-American women at that period of time and still today. With her many different career options, amazing novels, and rare forms of writing techniques, she was a true legacy.
Works Cited
Biography. “Zora Neale Hurston” Bio True Story. Web. Jan 18 2014.
Shmoop. “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Intro. Shmoop. Web. Jan 18 2014.
Vrotsos, Kate. “Zora Neale Hurston.” AP Central. College Board. Web. Jan 18 2014.