Summary Of Spunk By Zora Neale Hurston

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The story of “Spunk” by Zora Neale Hurston is a story that examines a complicated love triangle between the three main characters Spunk, Joe, and Lena. Set in the rural town of Eatonville, Florida, “Spunk” is told through the eyes of the towns people almost exclusive, and Hurston’s use of colloquialism invites the reader into the town to almost witness the gossip take place first hand. While the story is told through the eyes of the towns people and the narrator there is a theme that repeats itself and is displayed by the main characters that shape and drive the story. In the story “Spunk” pride, particularly hubristic pride, is a theme that drives the narrative of the story and is the underlying motivation for its main characters Spunk, Joe, …show more content…

[Spunk’s] His sized is matched by his self-confidence.” (Hurston). Spunk is a fearless man. Not only does he have both fear and admiration of the other men in the town, he also is unafraid to do the most dangerous jobs at the sawmill, which by the end of the story would be his downfall. Another reason Spunk’s pride drives the story is his willingness to carry on with Lena, another man’s wife, openly flaunting his infidelity around the town. When confronted by Joe the first time, Spunk would exhibit a level of hubris that belittled Joe. This encounter would make Lena fall deeper in love with him and leave Joe the laughing stock of the town. The final confrontation would end with Joe dead as he confront Spunk a second time, this time with a razor in the Palmetto thickets, “Calmly he tells everyone about the shooting, knowing that no one will challenge him—and no one does, even though he exaggerates the danger he was in, reporting that Joe ‘come out there wid a meat axe an’ made me kill him.’ After a swift trial he is set free and takes up again with Lena, who has been waiting for him with love in her eyes.” (Short Stories For Students 291). In turn Spunk would eventually experience what are a series of supernatural events that lead to his death. However, it is his hubris that would ultimately lead to the death of two men, and would …show more content…

Spunk is a very prideful man, with a hubris that leads him to openly carry-on an affair with Joe’s wife. This same pride would also see Joe dead by Spunk’s hand. In a supernatural twist of events, Spunk too is killed. All lead on by his own hubris and the consequence of his prideful actions. Joe is a man who is fighting for his pride, which has been stripped away by Spunk, Lena, and the towns people. As observed in a literary analysis by Cynthia Bily, “When Joe Kanty comes into the store, the narrator gives the reader a brief lesson in how much can be learned about people just by watching them. The reader is walked through the interpretation, and the clues that lead up to it: ‘One could actually see the pain he was suffering, his eyes, his face, his hands and even the dejected slump of his shoulders.’” Lena’s pride is displayed through her actions with Spunk, the man who is not her husband, and her lack of pride is represented by her utter disgust with Joe, pitting the two men against each other, each man vying for her affection. Without their hubristic actions these characters may not have create their own circumstances, and therefore, may not have had to face the consequences of their prideful

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