Zola Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes are among the most revered and well-respected writers of the Harlem Renaissance. Harlem Renaissance is a transition period that took place in Harlem, characterized by cultural, social and inventive revolution between the ends of the First World War and in mid-1935. As such, the two writers existed during this period and excelled in writing similar themes portraying the events that took place then. Even though they covered the same issues such as racism, sexism, social injustices, and discriminations, more so against the blacks, their approaches and styles are radically different. For instance, Hurston and Hughes employ different approaches as regards depiction of African-American life the factor that makes them apart.
In his novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ Zora Neale Hurston talks about the kind of oppression and prejudice
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subjected to the African Americans whereby racism and segregation dominate in Harlem. The story is set in the South, and the protagonist is Janie, who resides in Eatonville, Florida, the city that only harbors the blacks. Janie is a pretty woman who faces abuses from different men in her path to seek true love. Some of the men Janie marries include Logan, a rich and unattractive man, Jody, an attractive and successful politician, and then Teak Cake a loving and caring man, but physically abusive. Eventually, one realizes that these men share one thing in common, it that they disregard women and uses them as objects. In this episode, Hurston depicts the African- America woman’s life and calibre at the time. At this period, which was around 1900s, the American society viewed women as inferior to men. Furthermore, the black women came to appear even worse and low class, as explained by the lines of Nanny in the novel, which goes, "So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He picks it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it. He hand it to his womenfolks. De nigger woman is de mule ud de world so fur as Ah can see “(Their Eyes Were Watching God 2.44). Likewise, the novel establishes that men have the authority to command their women and let them engage in any activity assigned, an indication that they are powerless. In this episode, it is apparent that the blacks have limited advantages over the whites. Again, it is evident that the black men mistreat the women and abuses them for self-gratification, and thus giving out the actual image of events as they unfolded during the Harlem Renaissance period (Meisenhelder 15). In “Sweat” which is another narration of Hurston, one learns the social injustices faced by the African Americans by visiting the black man’s experience. Especially, the issue of race tends to dominate in this episode than in ‘The Eyes Were Watching God’ version of Hurston. Indeed, this short version of a story features Delia, a woman washing dishes in a white family. From the account, it is evident that Delia’s husband is promiscuous and violent all throughs highlighted in the passage, “She seized the iron skillet from the stove and struck a defensive pose, which acts astonished him, coming from her. It cowed him, and he did not strike her as he usually did” (Hurston 2). The quote is significant, given that it establishes the abusive nature of Syke her husband. Along the narration, on notes the animosity of Delia’s husband, who can stop at nothing to misuse her wife who utter “Oh well, whatever goes over the Devil's back, is got to come under his belly. Sometime or ruther, Sykes, like everybody else, is gointer reap his sowing" (Hurston 3). The story further indicates how Delia suffers racism while working in the white family as the dishwasher. As such, the style of Hurston is unique but revolves around racism, abuses of blacks and gender violence. On the other hand, Langston Hughes is a Harlem Renaissance author whose works majors on racism.
For instance, the poem “I Too, Sing America,’ Hughes talks about the oppression on racial grounds as experienced by the African Americans. In the poem, the protagonist complains about the unequal treatment he receives from the white, and thus an indication that the issue of racism dominates. Unlike Hurston, Hughes’ writings indicate some hope that the situation will eventually change for the better. For instance in the poem ‘I Too, Song America,’ the narrator hopes that the country will realize some transformation, which could restore equality and eliminate racism and other forms of prejudice (Rampersad). Nonetheless, the entire poem seems to depict America as a nation filled with racism and discrimination. Even though the two writers differ, one can note some commonalities, and thus an indication that the writers address the same issues. For instance, Hurston and Hughes affirm that the African Americans face discrimination on racism grounds, and thus making their lives miserable and
unbearable. Some quotes from Hughes can demonstrate that the blacks indeed pass through various challenges, the factor that makes life even more challenging. One of the quotes for instance goes, “I felt like a dog, passing you downtown last night and not speaking to you” (Hughes 1). From this excerpt, the narrator signifies that associating with the African-Americans can make one face some mistreatment and discrimination from the white, and thus an indication that the two groups are indeed apart, the separation that comes about due to their skin color. Given the two comparisons, one can argue the style and approach utilized by the two writers namely, Hurston and Hughes are indeed different although they report the same events, which unfolded during the Harlem Renaissance period. Works Cited Meisenhelder, Susan. "Gender, Race, and Class in Zora Neale Hurston's Politics: Accommodation and Confrontation."Against the Current 10.1 (1995): 15. Rampersad, Arnold. The Life of Langston Hughes: Volume I: 1902-1941, I, Too, Sing America. Vol. 1. Oxford University Press, 2001. Bloom, Harold, ed. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. InfoBase Publishing, 2008. Hurston, Zora Neale. Sweat. Rutgers University Press, 1997. 3-8 Hughes, Langston. The Ways of White Folks: Stories. Vintage, 2011.
Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston portrays the religion of black people as a form of identity. Each individual in the black society Hurston has created worships a different God. But all members of her society find their identities by being able to believe in a God, spiritual or otherwise.
This excerpt from Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were watching God, is an example of her amazing writing. She makes us feel as if we are actually in her book, through her use of the Southern Black vernacular and admirable description. Her characters are realistic and she places special, well thought out sentences to keep us interested. Zora Neale Hurston’s art enables her to write this engaging story about a Southern black woman’s life.
Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial Modern Classics: Reissue Edition 2013
The character Janie in Zora Neale Hurston’s novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is portrayed as a woman who has a modern mindset that is much too advanced for her thinking. Janie does things that raise much controversy with the community and endures situations that would be deemed inhumane in today’s society. Examining the abuse, oppression and criticism Janie undergoes in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God from both a contemporary woman's viewpoint and an early twentieth century woman's viewpoint reveals differences, as well as similarities in the way people respond to events.
Modern Critical Interpretations: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God. Ed. Harold Bloom. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987. Pondrom, Cyrena N. "
This poem is often compared to Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing because of the similarities of the two poems. In this poem, Hughes argues that the African American race is equal to whites. Hughes even declares that one day the African American race will be equal to whites. Hughes proclaims, “Besides, They’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed-I, too, am America.” Hughes was very bold and daring when he wrote these lines in this poem. He is implying that the white people will regret what they have done to blacks. That they will be ashamed of how they treated them. Undoubtedly, this poem expresses Hughes cultural identity.
It is strange that two of the most prominent artists of the Harlem Renaissance could ever disagree as much as or be as different as Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright. Despite the fact that they are the same color and lived during the same time period, they do not have much else in common. On the one hand is Hurston, a female writer who indulges in black art and culture and creates subtle messages throughout her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. On the other hand is Wright, who is a male writer who demonstrates that whites do not like black people, nor will they ever except for when they are in the condition “…America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears.” Hurston was also a less political writer than Wright. When she did write politically, she was very subtle about stating her beliefs.
Hurston's writing is a resemblance of a reflection from the ideas of the Harlem Renaissance. The time in which it was written, along with the fact that Hurston had lived in New York City caused many to label the book as a product of the Harlem Renaissance. This was a period from the end of
Both Zora Neale Hurston and Langston Hughes were great writers but their attitudes towards their personal experience as an African American differed in many ways. These differences can be attributed to various reasons that range from gender to life experience but even though they had different perceptions regarding the African American experience, they both shared one common goal, racial equality through art. To accurately delve into the minds of the writers’ one must first consider authors background such as their childhood experience, education, as well their early adulthood to truly understand how it affected their writing in terms the similarities and differences of the voice and themes used with the works “How it Feels to be Colored Me” by Hurston and Hughes’ “The Negro Mother”. The importance of these factors directly correlate to how each author came to find their literary inspiration and voice that attributed to their works.
The Harlem Renaissance was an intellectual and literary period of growth promoting a new African American cultural identity in the United States. The decade between 1920 and 1930 was an extremely influential span of time for the Black culture. During these years Blacks were able to come together and form a united group that expressed a desire for enlightenment. This renaissance allowed Blacks to have a uniform voice in a society based upon intellectual growth. The front-runners of this revival were extremely focused on cultural growth through means of intellect, literature, art and music. By using these means of growth, they hoped to destroy the pervading racism and stereotypes suffocating the African American society and yearned for racial and social integration. Many Black writers spoke out during this span of time with books proving their natural humanity and desire for equality.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006. Print.
The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.
The Harlem Renaissance, originally known as “the New Negro Movement”, was a cultural, social, and artistic movement during the 1920’s that took place in Harlem. This movement occurred after the World War I and drew in many African Americans who wanted to escape from the South to the North where they could freely express their artistic abilities. This movement was known as The Great Migration. During the 1920’s, many black writers, singers, musicians, artists, and poets gained success including Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Marcus Garvey, and W.E.B. Du Bois. These creative black artists made an influence to society in the 1920’s and an impact on the Harlem Renaissance.
The Harlem Renaissance was a period of great rebirth for African American people and according to the online encyclopedia Wikipedia, the “Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned the 1920s and 1930s.” Wikipedia also indicates that it was also known as the “Negro Movement, named after the 1925 Anthology by Alan Locke.” Blacks from all over America and the Caribbean and flocked to Harlem, New York. Harlem became a sort of “melting pot” for Black America. Writers, artists, poets, musicians and dancers converged there spanning a renaissance. The Harlem Renaissance was also one of the most important chapters in the era of African American literature. This literary period gave way to a new type of writing style. This style is known as “creative literature.” Creative literature enabled writers to express their thoughts and feelings about various issues that were of importance to African Americans. These issues include racism, gender and identity, and others that we...