Literary Analysis 2: Hurston’s Influence on Walker Alice Walker’s love of Zora Neale Hurston is well known. She was the only one who went looking for Hurston’s grave. She describes her journey to get to the unmarked grave in her book, In Search of Our Mother’s Gardens. During that journey, Walker started to feel as if Hurston is family to her, an aunt. “By this time, I am, of course, completely into being Zora’s niece… Besides, as far as I’m concerned, she is my aunt – and that of all black people as well” (Ong). Walker’s book, The Color Purple, was influenced by Hurston and her works. Walker was greatly influenced by Hurston and her book The Color Purple has similarities to Hurston’s book Their Eyes Were Watching God. Walker has openly admitted …show more content…
Their themes were the same, their main characters were similar, and their inclusion of how white people had the power was also similar. It is very easy to see that Walker was influenced by Hurston and her work. Through all of their similarities, The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God really show the connection between Hurston and Walker. Works Cited Ong, Geo. “A Headstone for an Aunt: How Alice Walker Found Zora Neale Hurston.” The Urchin Movement, The Urchin Movement, 5 Feb. 2013, www.urchinmovement.com/2013/02/05/a-headstone-for-an-aunt-how-alice-walker-found-zora-neale-hurston/. Stanley, Julian. “A Look at American Literature.” Their Eyes Are Watching God: A Comparison, 22 Apr. 2010, jas08m.blogspot.com/2010/04/their-eyes-are-watching-god-comparison.html. Lindsey. “Links Between Hurston and Walker.” Lindsey's American Literature Blog, 25 Oct. 2009, rinneelovescupcakes.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/links-between-hurston-and-walker/. “ENG4U Literary Essay: The Color Purple and Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Imtiredofthisblackandblue, 13 June 2011, imtiredofthisblackandblue.wordpress.com/2011/06/14/eng4u-literary-essay-the-color-purple-and-their-eyes-were-watching-god/. Walker, Alice. The Color Purple. Harcourt Books, 1992. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Perennial Classics,
Cofer, Jordan. "The "All-Demanding Eyes": Following The Old Testament And New Testament Allusions In Flannery O'connor's "Parker's Back." Flannery O'connor Review 6.(2008): 30-39. Literary Reference Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2012.
...James Robert Saunders, "Womanism as the Key to Understanding Zora Neale Hurston's `Their Eyes Were Watching God' and Alice Walker's `The Color Purple'," in The Hollins Critic, Vol. XXV, No. 4, October, 1988, pp. 1-11. Reproduced by permission.
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.
What I feel is truly remarkable about this author is that despite all the scrutiny and anguish that she faces like most of her race at the time she does not take a negative attitude towards white people and she actually chooses to ignore the general racial segregation. Her charming wit and sense of humor despite all the hardship is what attracts the reader. Hurston does not let her social disadvantages stop her from trying to achieve her aspirations and dreams. She does not see being colored as a disadvantage, but accepts it as a challenge to excel and be unique.
Zora Neale Hurston was one of the first widely acclaimed black writers to "assimilate folk tradition into modern literature and express her interpretations of the black culture throughout her books" (Bailey, 175). She was also one of the most influential of black American writers during the twentieth century because she exceeded the barriers of race, sex and poverty. Hurston's most acclaimed work is said to be Their Eyes Were Watching God, and has been read, adored, rejected, reviewed, and badgered by many literary critics. "In a book rich with imagery and black oral tradition, Zora Neale Hurston tells us of a woman's journey that gives the lie to Freud's assertion that 'the difficult development which leads to femininity seems to exhaust all the possibilities of the individual'" (Morgan, 163). In this as well as in other of her writings, Hurston expresses many of her opinions of race relations, sexism, and classism through her characters, themes and imagery.
?The Third Life of Grange Copeland?, the debut novel of Alice Walker, was published during a pivotal time in literature. Along with Walker, women writers such as Toni Morrison, Germaine Greer, and Kate Millet, were offering their unfiltered views on femininity to a literary world that had long held narrow-minded standards in regard to women discussing subjects such as gender, race, and sexuality; Alice Walker?s aforementioned 1970 novel touched on all of these topics. Walker, like writers such as Richard Wright and James Baldwin, wrote of the struggles African Americans experienced as the endured
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.
African American women were identified as the 'Mule of the world because they have been handed burden everyone else refused to carry and never had any intention of giving up. Men saw black women as a weak soul,a housewife who are there to bear children. Black women had no moment to sit down to feed her creative spirit because she was busy been a mother, a provider and a slave in the face of the society. It was the time in America where black people were forbidden to write; many untold stories and talents was never revealed due to the fear engraves in the heart of the African American women. Alice was born in this time and she saw the emptiness and enduring faces of the women who had a lot to share in the society but they were overshadowed by the slavery of
Alice Walker and Zora Neale Hurston are similar to having the same concept about black women to have a voice. Both are political, controversial, and talented experiencing negative and positive reviews in their own communities. These two influential African-American female authors describe the southern hospitality roots. Hurston was an influential writer in the Harlem Renaissance, who died from mysterious death in the sixties. Walker who is an activist and author in the early seventies confronts sexually progression in the south through the Great Depression period (Howard 200). Their theories point out feminism of encountering survival through fiction stories. As a result, Walker embraced the values of Hurston’s work that allowed a larger
There are numerous works of literature that recount a story- a story from which inspiration flourishes, providing a source of liberating motivation to its audience, or a story that simply aspires to touch the hearts and souls of all of those who read it. One of the most prevalent themes in historical types of literature is racism. In America specifically, African Americans endured racism heavily, especially in the South, and did not gain equal rights until the 1960s. In her renowned book The Color Purple, Alice Walker narrates the journey of an African American woman, Celie Johnson (Harris), who experiences racism, sexism, and enduring hardships throughout the course of her life; nonetheless, through the help of friends and family, she is able to overcome her obstacles and grow into a stronger, more self-assured individual. While there are numerous themes transpiring throughout the course of the novel, the symbolism is one of the strongest prospects for instigating the plot.
Zora Neale Hurston kept busy sharpening her oyster knife not to prepare for any violent confrontations with white society but quite the opposite, to extract the raw materials from her own culture and cultivate them into priceless treasures. To Hurston the Negro was always in vogue (Hughes). She didn't wait for the white culture to place its stamp of approval on the subject matter she knew and loved so well. In her well-known essay, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me," Hurston makes reference to society's view of her a the granddaughter of slaves: "It is quite exciting to hold the center of the national stage, with the spectators not knowing whether to laugh or to weep." Hurston must have felt that way about her writing also; she threw it out there and let the audience do with it what they willed. Sometimes we laugh; sometimes we cry. But humor always hovers nearby in all of her writing and serves as the emotional salvation needed to compensate for the often heavy subject matter (Fauset, 166).
Alice Walker’s writings were greatly influenced by the political and societal happenings around her during the 1960s and 1970s. She not only wrote about events that were taking place, she participated in them as well. Her devoted time and energy into society is very evident in her works. The Color Purple, one of Walker’s most prized novels, sends out a social message that concerns women’s struggle for freedom in a society where they are viewed as inferior to men. The events that happened during and previous to her writing of The Color Purple had a tremendous impact on the standpoint of the novel.
In the preface to ‘the Colour Purple’ Walker identifies her religious development as the inspiration for her novel and labels religion and spirituality as the principle themes in the book. There are a number of principle characters who complete this journey however in many instances the religious element of the novel is overshadowed by other prominent themes such as personal development, female relationships and racial issues. These must be taken into consideration when assessing Walker’s success in delivering her theological message to her readers.
Characterization: Celie is the protagonist as well as the narrator. She writes letters to God which is how the story is told. The story is told in first person, “ I am fourteen years old” which is referring to Celie herself as she tells the story (Pg.8). The antagonist is her father, Alphonso. He rapes Celie and forces her to do things she does not want too such as, “you better not never tell nobody but God. It’d kill your mammy” threatening Celie to not say he rapes her or else he will kill his mom (Pg 8). This is the main reason why Celie writes to God. Nettie is Celie’s sister who attributes to the story a lot. Nettie is the only person Celie has. Mr.__ is the man who Celie later on marries and keeps in secret all the letters from Nettie to Celie. Shug is Mr.__ mistress, but she soon falls in love with Celie and Celie does too.
Education is an important part of any societies success. The better educated a society is the longer it survives. Americans have always made education a priority and designed a public educations system that is free to its citizens. This free educations is imperative to ensure that the future of America is secure. A well educated society is stronger, well established and citizens live longer happier lives. Teachers in America have a very difficult task, as it is their responsibility to guarantee that students receive a quality education. Parents can make the work of teachers difficult and challenging especially when controversial books are evolved. Alice Walker's book The Color Purple is one of the many books that are considered