Their Eyes Were Watching God Dialect Analysis
Their eyes were Watching God Use of language and dialect Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabma, but primarily grew up in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville was the first all black town in the United States and is featured heavily in the novel. This may in fact be because Hurston considered Eatonville to be her true home and claimed a few times to be her birthplace. This is because, in 1901, according to A Crticial Companion to Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Reference to her Life and Work by Sharon L. Jones, school teachers from the north visited Eatonville and gave Hurston "a number of books that opened her mind to literature" this may be why she sometimes describes her "birth" as taking place that year [Sharon L. Jones pp 3-4]
A lot of the content in Their Eyes is taken from Zora's own life. Hurston's familiarity of southern life allows her to accurately depict the unique dialect that makes Their Eyes Were Watching God so special. Throughout the novel, she uses an interesting narrative structure. Almost as if she split the presentation of the novel right down the middle, between high literary narrations using proper, refined speech and the southern drawl, the improper grammar and misspellings. Initial …show more content…
and final consonants are frequently dropped. "You" becomes "yuh," occasionally "y'all," a plural. "I" is "Ah", etcetera. Double negatives are frequent, such as "Nobody don't know". The past tense gets mangled too. Take, for example, "knew”, which becomes, "knowed."
This unique presentation is integral to what makes Their Eyes Were Watching God a literary classic. These characters speak as do few others in American literature, and their distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and tone is what makes each character an individual. In other words, language is part of the identity and the novel pays a lot of attention to the use of language and its importance in conveying the individuality of each of the characters, as well as creating a realistic and believable setting. The combination of proper, refined, descriptive narration and local southern black dialect gives the novel a sense of place. It pulls the reader into the world of the novel and gives them a sense of being there.
In chapter 6, there is a passage that makes this quite clear: “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.” [Zora Neale Hurston, pp. 64-65]
In this passage, Lige and Sam are debating what seems like “nature vs.
nurture”, as well as God’s role in human everyday life and whether or not it is significant. From the text, we can see more than just the dialog printed on the page. These two are common southern folks in the 1960’s so, obviously they are not too smart or educated. The mangling of the English language makes that quite clear. However, the conviction and the matter-of-fact way they are talking and getting across their opinions, you can tell they truly are in belief of their stance and are very passionate about their ideas and arguments. This gives depth to two minor characters in a way that only Hurston can write, using the unique style she has carved out in the
book.
The dialog sections of the novel often play out like this, they are written phonetically, to be read as it should be heard. It allows the reader to get a better understanding of the character, as seen from the passage from chapter 6, as well as the setting. It gives everything in the novel a unique voice as well as allowing for the expression of the characters’ motivations, feelings and mood.
Not just in serious moments does the writing style of Hurston shine. There are quite a few humorous elements and sequences in the novel. The story of the mule being used as a washboard is an easy favorite, but one in section in particular is one of the funniest moments in the book. Well, at least for me.
“"Folkses, de sun is goin’ down. De Sun-maker brings it up in de mornin’, and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night. Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up nor to slow it down. All we can do, if we want any light after de settin’ or befo’ de risin’, is tuh make some light ourselves. So dat’s how come lamps was made.”
During Jody Starks’ time as the mayor of Eatonville, he showed ambition, progressiveness and moved the town forward from two dudes sitting on a log, to an actual town. This bit of dialogue, a speech delivered by the town after installing a streetlight, is pretty funny, considering how simple the language is. The sentence “Dat’s how come lamps was made” is funny in itself, as lamps aren’t anything special to us. But, when you consider the context, and the roundabout, rambling way Jody delivers this speech, this is a pretty big deal for the town and, at that moment, they are most likely looking up at Jody with great respect and admiration. For the people in this town, this simple, ridiculous speech, is the greatest thing ever to them. Hurston's style is beautiful, almost poetic in its ability to convey a rural, black southern dialect. Much like J.D. Salinger, writer of The Catcher in The Rye, Hurston’s expert writing of dialogue, be it descriptive, powerful, or hilarious, puts many writers to shame. Hurston creates writing that, with the slow drawls and missing consonants in her characters' speech, creates characters that are individual and settings that come alive to the reader. Reading it cannot help but conjure each person's voice within your head so that, after a while, it's as though you're listening to a radio show rather than reading a book.
A lot of the content in Their Eyes is taken from Zora's own life. Hurston's familiarity of southern life allows her to accurately depict the unique dialect that makes Their Eyes Were Watching God so special. Throughout the novel, she uses an interesting narrative structure. Almost as if she split the presentation of the novel right down the middle, between high literary narrations using proper, refined speech and the southern drawl, the improper grammar and misspellings. Initial …show more content…
and final consonants are frequently dropped. "You" becomes "yuh," occasionally "y'all," a plural. "I" is "Ah", etcetera. Double negatives are frequent, such as "Nobody don't know". The past tense gets mangled too. Take, for example, "knew”, which becomes, "knowed."
This unique presentation is integral to what makes Their Eyes Were Watching God a literary classic. These characters speak as do few others in American literature, and their distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and tone is what makes each character an individual. In other words, language is part of the identity and the novel pays a lot of attention to the use of language and its importance in conveying the individuality of each of the characters, as well as creating a realistic and believable setting. The combination of proper, refined, descriptive narration and local southern black dialect gives the novel a sense of place. It pulls the reader into the world of the novel and gives them a sense of being there.
In chapter 6, there is a passage that makes this quite clear: “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.” [Zora Neale Hurston, pp. 64-65]
In this passage, Lige and Sam are debating what seems like “nature vs.
nurture”, as well as God’s role in human everyday life and whether or not it is significant. From the text, we can see more than just the dialog printed on the page. These two are common southern folks in the 1960’s so, obviously they are not too smart or educated. The mangling of the English language makes that quite clear. However, the conviction and the matter-of-fact way they are talking and getting across their opinions, you can tell they truly are in belief of their stance and are very passionate about their ideas and arguments. This gives depth to two minor characters in a way that only Hurston can write, using the unique style she has carved out in the
book.
The dialog sections of the novel often play out like this, they are written phonetically, to be read as it should be heard. It allows the reader to get a better understanding of the character, as seen from the passage from chapter 6, as well as the setting. It gives everything in the novel a unique voice as well as allowing for the expression of the characters’ motivations, feelings and mood.
Not just in serious moments does the writing style of Hurston shine. There are quite a few humorous elements and sequences in the novel. The story of the mule being used as a washboard is an easy favorite, but one in section in particular is one of the funniest moments in the book. Well, at least for me.
“"Folkses, de sun is goin’ down. De Sun-maker brings it up in de mornin’, and de Sun-maker sends it tuh bed at night. Us poor weak humans can’t do nothin’ tuh hurry it up nor to slow it down. All we can do, if we want any light after de settin’ or befo’ de risin’, is tuh make some light ourselves. So dat’s how come lamps was made.”
During Jody Starks’ time as the mayor of Eatonville, he showed ambition, progressiveness and moved the town forward from two dudes sitting on a log, to an actual town. This bit of dialogue, a speech delivered by the town after installing a streetlight, is pretty funny, considering how simple the language is. The sentence “Dat’s how come lamps was made” is funny in itself, as lamps aren’t anything special to us. But, when you consider the context, and the roundabout, rambling way Jody delivers this speech, this is a pretty big deal for the town and, at that moment, they are most likely looking up at Jody with great respect and admiration. For the people in this town, this simple, ridiculous speech, is the greatest thing ever to them. Hurston's style is beautiful, almost poetic in its ability to convey a rural, black southern dialect. Much like J.D. Salinger, writer of The Catcher in The Rye, Hurston’s expert writing of dialogue, be it descriptive, powerful, or hilarious, puts many writers to shame. Hurston creates writing that, with the slow drawls and missing consonants in her characters' speech, creates characters that are individual and settings that come alive to the reader. Reading it cannot help but conjure each person's voice within your head so that, after a while, it's as though you're listening to a radio show rather than reading a book.