Zora Neale Hurston Obstacles

During the 1920s, there was a period that was called the Harlem Renaissance, during which African Americans got the opportunity to be creative and express themselves through music and art. Langston Hughes and Louis Armstrong were a few of the famous people who came from this period in the 1920s. Another famous person that came out of the Harlem Renaissance was Zora Neale Hurston, a multi-talented African American woman who wrote stories that described the life and struggles of the 1920s through the stories she wrote. Hurston was an American writer, who was able to connect to the hearts of most people from all kinds of different races and religions during the period. Even today, her readers still feel the connection Hurston was trying to make

Biography of Zora Neale Hurston African American author, folklorist, anthropologist, and Harlem Renaissance figure, her works and contributions to the world of literature acknowledge her as one of the great writers of our American history. Zora Neale Hurston, born in Notasulga, Alabama on January 7, 1891 to former slaves John and Lucy Potts Hurston, was the fifth child and second girl out of eight children. Her birth records have never been found, so the singular year of her birth has long been a dispute (Bloom 7). In the family bible, according to Hurston’s biographers, her name is recorded as Zora Neal Lee Hurston; at some point an “e” was added to Neal and “Lee” was dropped (King 1).

Simmons claims Janie represents the oppression of not only black women, but also her community. As Janie gives Joe a glance of how he treats her, she opens a door to escape further abuse. Simmons expresses how the “traditional mode of authorship offers the potential of liberation for African American or for women” yet cannot sustain itself, but offers Hurston’s novel as a method of deliverance (187). Although Hurston realized Their Eyes would not be recognized right away, she hoped it would challenge male authority. Janie seeks a way out of subjection; therefore she is willing to compromise the unknown with Tea Cake.

It was Nanny who told her the significance of observing the social order and follow the will of the white. For example, Nanny had experienced the cruelty of slavery. To help her grand-daughter live a good life, Nanny bought some land and a house finally and decided only marry Janie to a rich white person could Janie be prevented from the disasters as hers. She caught Janie with Johny and married her to Logan, a wealthy farmer. However, threatened by the terror of social tradition, she does not fight aggressively against this order.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), Zora Neale Hurston quotes: “She knew now that

When Janie first complains of her marriage to Logan, Nanny says, “Heah you got uh prop tuh lean on all yo’ bawn days, and big protection, and everybody got tuh tip dey hat tuh you and call you Mis’ Killics,” (23). Nanny tries to convince Janie that she should be satisfied with her status of having been able to marry a respectful man. However, Janie feels that love is necessary for her marriage, and that she will be extremely unhappy if she cannot love. For Janie, the status does not matter for any relationship; rich or poor, as it is pointless without love for one another. Her firm determination to find love leads her to marry Joe, who claims he will never make her work or suffer hardship.

Zora Neal Hurston, first published “Sweat”, in 1926. The story is about a hard-working woman who is the sole provider for her household and she is subjected to physical, mental, and verbal abuse by her husband who is unemployed and insecure. During these times, women were looked at as submissive and obedient. Women were abused and worked through their blood, sweat, and tears. Black women were hired by white men/women to take care of their children and be the homemaker of their home and had to maintain the upkeep of their homes, children, and husbands. Zora Neal Hurston was 1 of many authors who left an impact on society. As Delia worked hard to Take care of her home, her husband as unemployed which made him insecure. Delia was also trapped

African Americans thrived in American culture during the 1920’s, as the Harlem Renaissance invigorated and empowered people of color to create artistic and literary works. The expressive movement allowed Africans to gain a new identify in America and prove their worth in a predominantly white society. The African American literary prolificacy soon ended as the Great Depression caused colored people to return back to their pre-established assumptions of artistic inadequacy and incompetence. The decline in the American economy increased political and social tensions, resulting in the return of African American discrimination. Zora Neale Hurston addresses the recurrent African oppression in the 1930’s with her publication, Their Eyes Were Watching

Janie loved the conversation and sometimes she thought up good stories on the mule, but Joe had

Janie's three marriages play crucial roles as elements in her development as a person and as a woman. Countless allusions and symbols crafted by Zora Neale Hurston flow fluidly throughout the novel and allow for the reader to understand Janie Crawford’s journey and extensive development. These recurrent patterns serve to better illustrate abstract concepts in the novel. Hurston's powerful use of symbols and allusions work to describe Janie’s relationships along with clarifying and intensifying the telling of Janie's story and growth.

This story is centered around how Janie becomes a women despite her servile marriages that control her

Lead author of the Harlem Renaissance and first African-American anthropologist studying his own culture, Zora Neale Hurston is, in many ways, an exceptional writer. Indeed, unlike others such as Robert Wright or Alain Locke, Hurston does not deny the cultural legacy that represents the black folklore, folklore that will influence both the form and substance of his art. As a trained anthropologist, Hurston has been able to capture the American black culture and use it through vernacular oral transcriptions. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, we will analyze the mobilization of language that Hurston uses in order to create a pictorial world. Firstly, we will explore the use of vernacular language.

He had ceased to wonder at her long black hair and finger it "(Hurston 26). III. SECOND POINT- MARRIAGE TO JOE a. The marriage with Joe best her down. It started with what she thought was true love and ended in his death.

In conclusion, Janie’s home was the pear tree; it influenced her love life and she always found a way to take it with her. After her three marriages, rather than love coming along with the marriage, Janie learned that marriage changes with the partners you choose and you must find one with who you are harmonious with. With the pear tree being in her life from her first kiss to her third husband, the pear tree remained significant to

As Janie is laying down at sixteen years old beneath a pear tree in the spring, it becomes a symbol to her of the optimal relationship. Janie marries to Logan Killicks to please her Nanny before she dies. As Janie cries to her Nanny she says to her "Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage, lak when you sit under a pear tree and think." (p 24) she admits to not being happy with a relationship she is in with Logan. As the Pear Tree continues to grow, so does Janie’s understanding of her optimal relationship.