“The Conscience of the Court” written by Zora Neale Hurston explores the life of a courtroom in the late nineteenth century. Laura Lee Kimble is a strong, loyal, and humble African American woman. Laura has a close connection with Mrs. Clairborne, her close friend and employer, and is loyal to their friendship. This friendship and loyalty is so strong that Laura refused to leave Mrs. Clairborne three times even when her husband asked if they could live somewhere with more money. Clement Beasley, the plaintiff, claims that Mrs. Clairborne borrowed money from him to purchase furnishings for her house; however, when the payment for this money was owed Mrs. Clairborne did not pay him back. Mr. Beasley decides to show up at the house to take away all of Mrs. Clairborne’s furnishings that, he claims, the money was supposed to be used for. Laura shares with the court that the furnishings actually are family heirlooms that have been passed down from Mrs. Clairborne’s parents and husband’s family. Mr. Beasley also claims that Laura assaulted him up to try and stop him from gathering Mrs. Clairborne’s furnishings; however, Laura claims that she assaulted him because he was rude and trying to force himself into the house to steal Mrs. Clairborne’s furnishings. The judge of the court struggles with what his conscience is telling him is right even when the facts were against Laura. The judge calls for a note that was signed by Mrs. Clairborne, stating she had borrowed money and for what purpose, to be brought as evidence to the court; however, it is explained that the note was not taken as evidence due to the belief that the note was a waste of evidence. The judge then asks that the note be picked up and brought into the courtroom to be placed...
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... Short-Story Writers, 1910-1945, First Series. A Bruccoli Clark Layman Book. Edited by Bobby Ellen Kimbel, Pennsylvania State University, Ogontz Campus. The Gale Group, 1989. pp. 159-171.
Hurston, Zora Neale. “The Conscience of the Court”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Cassill, RV. New York: Norton & Company, Inc. 2000. 340-350 Print.
Jones, Sharon L. "Hurston, Zora Neale." Bloom's Literature. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. .
"Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)." Short Story Criticism. Ed. Thomas J. Schoenberg and Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 80. Detroit: Thomson Gale, 2005. 42-165. Literature Criticism Online. Gale. Austin Community College Libraries. 1 December 2013. http://galenet.galegroup.com.lsproxy.austincc.edu/servlet/LitCrit/txshracd2487/FJ3597850003
Hurston, Zora Neale. "Sweat." Norton Anthology of Southern Literature. Ed. William L. Andrews. New York: Norton, 1998.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937). : Urbana, Ill.: U of Illinois P, 1937.
Zora Neale was an early 20th century American novelist, short story writer, folklorist, and anthropologist. In her best known novel Their eyes were watching God, Hurston integrated her own first-hand knowledge of African American oral culture into her characters dialogue and the novels descriptive passages. By combing folklore, folk language and traditional literary techniques; Hurston created a truly unique literary voice and viewpoint. Zora Neale Hurston's underlying theme of self-expression and search for one’s independence was truly revolutionary for its time. She explored marginal issues ahead of her time using the oral tradition to explore contentious debates. In this essay I will explore Hurston narrative in her depiction of biblical imagery, oppression of African women and her use of colloquial dialect.
Works Cited for: Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Walker, Alice. A.
Today many people think of the Brown vs Board of Education decision by the supreme court as a savior to the black community suffering from segregation in the 1950’s. What some saw as a saving grace others saw as insulting to the very race it was meant to protect. Taking the “Indian position,” Zora Neale Hurston writes a frank letter to the editor entitled ‘Court Order Can’t Make the Races Mix’ criticizing the Brown decision.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God: A Novel. New York: Perennial Library, 1990. Print.
Bausch, Richard & Cassill, R.V. "The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction". 7th. New York: Norton & Company, Inc., 2006. Book.
Rosenblatt, Roger. “Roger Rosenblatt’s Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Rpt. in Modern Critical Views of Zora Neale Hurston. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House, 1986. 29-33. Print.
Hallgren, Sherri. “ A Jury of Her Peers.” Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jenny, Cromie. Vol. 41. Detroit:
Within her article, A Society of One: Zora Neale Hurston, American Contrarian, Claudia R. Pierpont, a writer and journalist for The New Yorker, tells, analyzes, and gives foundation to Zora Neale Hurston’s backstory and works. Throughout her piece, as she gives her biography of Hurston, she deeply analyzes the significance of Richard Wright, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as he accuses Hurston of “cynically perpetuating a minstrel tradition meant to make white audiences laugh”(Pierpont 3). By doing so, Wright challenges Hurston’s authority to speak for the “black race” as he claims that her works do not take a stance, rather she only writes to please the “white audience. ”As his critiques show to be oppressive, Pierpont reminds the reader the
The crowded courtroom was absolutely silent as the 12 all white and all men took their seats at the jury box. Chief Justice Albert Mason, one of the presiding judges in the murder case, asked Charles I. Richards, the foreman, to rise. Mr. Richards was asked to read the verdict. “Not guilty”, replied the foreman. Even though the circumstantial and physical evidence pointed to Lizzie Borden guilty of killing her step-mother and father, the all-male jury, men of some financial means, could not fathom that a woman who is well bred and a Sunday school teacher could possibly do such a heinous crime (Linder 7).
4. Hurston, Zora Neal. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Collins, 1937. Print.
Studies In Short Fiction 18.1 (1981): 65. Literary Reference Center. Web. The Web. The Web.
Appiah, K.A. and Gates, Henry Louis, Jr. eds. Zora Neale Hurston: Critical Perspectives Past and Present. New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1993.
In conclusion, Hurston was a modernist writer who dealt with societal themes of racism, and social and racial identity. She steps away from the folk-oriented style of writing other African American authors, such as Langston Hughes, and she addresses modern topics and issues that relate to her people. She embraces pride in her color and who she is. She does not hate the label of “colored” that has been placed upon her. She embraces who she is and by example, she teaches others to love themselves and the color of their skin. She is very modern. She is everybody’s Zora.