Symbolism In Jonah's Gourd Vine

In the third part of the body, the following items are chosen as points of discussion: playing the dozen, folk saying and proverbs, music and animal symbol such as the mule.

One of the oral practices that occur in both novels is playing the dozens – a game of spoken words between two contestants, common in Black community, where participants insult one another until one gives up (Urban Dictionary). It is customary for the game to be played in front of n audience of bystander who encourage the participants to reply with more egregious insults to heighten the tension and consequently, to be more interesting to watch. In addition, comments, insults made during the game often focuses on the opposite player’s intelligence, appearance, financial situation, and more significantly, disparaging remarks about the other play’s family members – mothers in particular (Chimezie). In Jonah’s Gourd Vine, the mother figure is usually targeted of the dozens, as in the case of Mehaley and Phrony. The

According to, African American folktales usually reflect the culture where animals abound (Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, Brer Crocodile, etc.), and they take on human characteristics of greed, jealousy, honesty, and loneliness. Similarly, certain animals carry important symbolic weight in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The animal with the greatest symbolic charge is the mule.

Mentioned frequently throughout the novel, the mule signifies the carrier of heavy loads and burdens, stubbornness and resistance. Its image has been extensively used to compare to the relationship between “the white man and the black man” and “the black man and the black woman”, as said by Nanny: “So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his women folks, De nigger woman is de mule oh de world as fur as Ah can see.” (Hurston