Analysis Of Jonah's Gourd Vine By Zora Neale

How Hard Can It Be For Someone To Change?

Maturing can be one of the hardest part of growth for a human being. In Zora Neale Hurston’s first novel, Jonah’s Gourd Vine, John Buddy Pearson attempts to mature over the course of his life. John and his wife Lucy move to Florida to try to make a good life. However, things do not go as planned when John decides to commit adultery multiple times. In the book of Jonah’s Gourd Vine, over the course of his lifetime, John is not able to change or mature.

Throughout the book, John has the same mindset in the book because he is immature and stubborn. He gets married three times and two of them failed because he cheats on them and abuses. His first wife Lucy, they have kids. Then cheats with a woman by the name of Hattie Tyson. John gets a job as the preacher at Zion Hope Church in Florida. He almost loses his church due to his sexual affairs and domestic violence that the whole church knew about. After Lucy dies, he gets married to his mistress Hattie a few months later. John says “ I didn’t just marry her to wait on the children, she has to have some pleasure” (138). So he only

married Hattie for pleasure and to wait on his children, because he didn’t really love her. Everyone at his church starts to become upset with him about the marriage and wants to rebuke him. Hattie hears the conversation the members of the church board was talking about her and puts all her anger out on John. John and Hattie begins to argue because she is one of the reasons why now that Lucy is gone his life is all messed up. He says “Lucy left seven children in my care. They aren’t here now. Where is my children
Hattie? What is my church doing all tore up”(144). He believes that Hattie is the cause of it all and she isn’t doing him any good. While they are arguing John brings up Lucy and how she would never tempt him or get him angry and cause trouble like Hattie does. He thinks what is Hattie doing here in Lucy’s shoes when the shoe doesn’t fit her how it fitted Lucy. The shoes are too big for Hattie. He realizes that he made a big mistake when he married Hattie so he began to beat her.
Deacon Harris, Hattie,and Fred Tate were planning to overthrow John from the church.

Hattie tries to conjure him by going to a voodoo woman to put a curse on him. John and Hattie decides to get a divorce. After the divorce, John leaves to preach at Pilgrim Rest Baptist Church and meets a new woman by the name of Sally Lovelace. Sally becomes John’s third wife. She takes Jonh in after he begins to lose everything and become poor. They begin to live a happy married life together. He goes back in town to visit Sanford. He went to the church and had dinner with Hambo. Later, John meets a young woman by the name of Ora Patton. She was a gold digger that everyone in town knew about and warned John of. She was using him for his car and money. On his way back home to Sally’s he dies in a car accident. And Sally decides to give the money to his

children.

John never really. Changes because he acts immature through the whole book. He cheats on his wives and abuse them. He died with the same mindset in which he started with in the beginning of the book. His relationships were the main key in the novel. Them being the main key means Sally and Lucy were good women. He prayed and prayed that God would take him because he didn’t want to be stuck in this world of hate anymore. Then he prayed for God to just give him Lucy back, so God sent him Sally. Sally and Lucy wanted the best for him because they knew he was better than what he believed, took care of him, and motivates him, but all he did was take them for granted.
His stubbornness played a part in his ultimate downfall because he does not listen and he always wants to believe he is doing the right thing. It began with him being a teenager by not listening to Mister Alf Pearson. Alf Pearson didn’t want John doing things but he did it anyway. Then he was caught with Lucy in a dark room at a party and he got in trouble for it. As he got older his friends were telling him not to fool around with people and he didn’t listen and began to screw up. God told him to do something, he did it, and succeeded. But then God was starting to send him good things and he did nothing, but destroy them. It was taking him his entire lifetime to mature. By the time he died, he still didn’t grow and act maturely. As famous writer Edwin Louis Cole quote “ Obedience is an act of faith, disobedience is the result of disbelief ” This pertains to John and his life because he is very disobedient and doesn’t want to believe what people are telling him so he goes and do what he believes is right. Most times, he did things knowing that it wasn’t the right thing to do and it all just backfired on him because of his disobedience. It began to backfire when he lost his first wife, his church but going to preach at another one temporarily, losing most of his friends, then lost his life all because of him not listening.
In conclusion, it can be very hard for someone to change and mature. It could take a lifetime because it is one of the hardest things us humans have to do in order to grow. The effect of all of John’s stubbornness and his immaturity, God takes away his most valuable possessions. In the book of Jonah’s Gourd Vine, over the course of his lifetime John Buddy Pearson is not able to change. He tries multiple times and always failed. He commits adultery, disobeys, and takes people for granted his whole life. He lost his church, wives, and his own life just because he doesn’t want to listen and loses his trust in everyone which causes him to lose his life. Maturing can take time and a combined effort of others mutual support.