Spunk By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

“Spunk,” by Zora Neale Hurston, is a short story about a man who appears masculine and fearless claiming another man’s wife, but the tables turn by the end of the story. The short story begins with Spunk, the main character, walking off with Lena Kanty. Joe, Lena’s husband, knows about the affair, but is too timid to confront Spunk. Hurston uses regional dialect, allusion, and dramatic irony as language devices along with a serious tone to tell a story about karma.

Tone is the attitude which the author communicates towards her subjects. Hurston’s tone in the story is serious. When the two men tell Joe about Lena walking off with Spunk, Hurston says, “One could actually see the pain he was suffering, his eyes, his face, his hands and even the dejected slump of his shoulders”. When talking about pain in any story it creates a very serious and melancholy environment for the reader. At the

The readers feel angry. When Joe asks Lena if he is her husband Hurston says, “Lena looked at him real disgusted but she don’t answer and she don’t move outa her tracks”. The reader feels angry as Lena does not show any sympathy towards Joe, her loving husband. Lena does not care about Joe’s emotions as she does it in front of his face! The reader feels angry again when Spunk says, “‘doan give up whut’s yours, but when youse inside don’t forgit youse mine, an’ let no other man git outa his place wid you!”. Spunk treats Lena as property and not a human being, this makes the reader angry.

Hurston uses dramatic irony and regional dialect as language devices in the story. The first language device Hurston uses is regional dialect. When a newcomer comes to the store he says, “Gimme some soda-water. Sass’prilla Ah reckon”. Hurston uses this dialogue to demonstrate the setting in the South, and a time before education was available to everyone. Hurston also uses the regional dialect to establish