Zora Neale Hurston Dialect

Zora Neale Hurston was an American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist and lived through the time period of 1890-1937. Her most successful and famous book, Their Eyes Were Watching God was one that was influenced by her experience in anthropology, her inclusion of feminist ideas, and the perspective she have to her African American characters. Three examples in which she showed that these ideas were infused into her writing are the use of race and racism, rural Southern black dialect, and her views on religion and God. Race and racism showed how Jodie struggled with both racial and female prejudice. The interesting use of language put not only experience with rural Southern black dialect on display but also how the
Hurston showed many examples of rural Southern black dialect very frequently in her novel. In Their Eyes Are Watching God, Hurston has a very interesting use of language. The characters in the novel don’t speak the way you would see in typical American literature. Hurston shows the many different cultures rich voices of Janie’s world by making their distinctive grammar, vocabulary, and tone mark different in order to show their individuality. Jody Starks was very hungry for power and was willing to travel to quench this hunger. As a result of his foolish power hungry mentality, his relationship with Janie quickly went south as he treated her very poorly. Eventually, this began to show when Joe says “"All you got tuh do is mind me. How come you can’t do lak Ah tell yuh?" "You sho loves to tell me whut to do, but Ah can’t tell you nothin’ Ah see!" "Dat’s ‘cause you need tellin’," he rejoined hotly. "It would be pitiful if Ah didn’t. Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don’t think none theirselves"(Hurston 66). The very common theme of rural Southern black dialect is shown here. The main focus is how he restrained Janie from being able to find her voice. Joe was constantly telling Janie what to do, and not only insults Janie but the demographic of women entirely. He’s very confident that women are not able to commit actions on their own and that they
Zora Neale Hurston was an outspoken atheist, and ironically her father was actually a Baptist preacher. She was very skeptical of religion ever since she was a child. Just like race/racism and language, her take on God and religion was infused in her writing. Organized religion never appeared in the novel, and the book almost takes the perspective of the idea that the universe wasn’t made by God but it was definitely made by something. Hurston’s presentation of folklore and irreligious spirituality celebrates the black rural culture. In the novel, God is a force that is more spread out in nature.. Hurston’s views on religion is shown mainly through the way death is portrayed in the novel, especially when doctor said “Just a matter of time," the doctor told her. "When a man’s kidneys stop working altogether, there is no way for him to live. He needed medical attention two years ago"(Hurston 79). Hurston’s personification of death in the novel is quite interesting and haunting. The doctor basically gives Jody Starks a death sentence because of his refusal to get medical help when he needed it. The crucial part of Jody’s death is that when it happens Jodie isn’t going to be mourning his death, she’s going to be celebrating her freedom. Another example of this is at the mule’s funeral where the Eatonville black community is compared to vultures