Zora Neale Hurstons “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Research Paper “I am Me, My
Eyes Toward God” Mark Evans Zora Neale Hurston an early twentieth century
Afro-American feminist author, was raised in a predominately black community which
gave her an unique perspective on race relations, evident in her novel, Their Eyes Were
Watching God. Hurston drew on her on experiences as a feminist Afro-American female to
create a story about the magical transformation of Janie, from a young unconfident girl to a
thriving woman. Janie experiences many things that make her a compelling character who
takes readers along as her companion, on her voyage to discover the mysteries and rewards
life has to offer. Zora Neale Hurston was, the daughter of a Baptist minister and an
educated scholar who still believed in the genius contained within the common southern
black vernacular(Hook http://splavc.spjc.cc.fl.us/hooks/Zora.html). She was a woman who
found her place, though unstable, in a typical male profession. Hurston was born on
January 7, 1891 in Eatonville, Florida, the first all-incorporated black town in America.
She found a special thing in this town, where she said, “… [I] grew like a like a gourd and
yelled bass like a gator,” (Gale, 1). When Hurston was thirteen she was removed from
school and sent to care for her brothers children. She became a member of a traveling
theater at the age of sixteen, and then found herself working as a maid for a white woman.
This woman saw a spark that was waiting for fuel, so she arranged for Hurston to attend
high school in Baltimore. She also attended Morgan Academy, now called Morgan State
University, from which she graduated in June of 1918. She then enrolled in the Howard
Prep School followed by later enrollment in Howard University. In 1928 Hurston attended
Barnard College where she studied anthropology under Franz Boas. After she graduated,
Zora returned to Eatonville to begin work on anthropology. Four years after Hurston
received her B.A. from Barnard she enrolled in Columbia University to begin graduate
work (Discovering Authors, 2-4). Hurstons life seemed to be going well but she was soon
to see the other side of reality.
Hurston never stayed at a job for too long, constantly refusing the advances of male
employers, which showed part of her strong feminist disposition. But Hurston was still
seeking true love throughout her travels and education. At Howard University, Hurston
met Herburt Sheen whom she married on May 19, 1927 in St. Augstine, Florida (DA, 2).
They divorced shortly after they got married because they could not continue the idealistic
dreams they had shared in their youth. Zora Hurstons second marriage to Albert Price III
was also short lived. They were married in 1939 and divorced in 1943 (DA, 2). By the
mid-1940s Hurstons writing career had began to falter. While living in New York, Hurston
was arrested and charged with committing an immoral act with a ten-year-old boy. The
charges were later dropped when Hurston proved that she was in another country at the
time the incident allegedly took place (Discovering Authors, 3). Hurston already was
witnessing the rejection of all of her works submitted to her publisher, but the combined
effects of the arrest and the ensuing journalistic attack on her image doomed the majority
of her literary career. She wrote to a friend: “I care nothing for writing anything any
more… My race has seen fit to destroy me without reason, and with the vilest tools
conceived by man so far” (Discovering Authors, 4). In approximately 1950 Hurston
returned to Florida, where she worked as a cleaning woman in Rivo Alto. She later moved
to Belle Glade, Florida, in hopes of reviving her writing career. She failed and worked as
many jobs including: newspaper journalist, librarian, and substitute teacher (Baker,
http://www.prodigy.com/ pages.html/chronology.htm). Hurston suffered a stroke in 1959
which demanded her admittance in the Saint Lucie County Florida Welfare Home. She
died a broken, penniless, invalid in January 1960 (DA, 5).
All of Hurstons trials built the basis for her best work. Therefore, the work that has
denoted her as one of the twentieth centurys most influential authors did not come until
after she had graduated from college. However, the literature she composed in college was
by no means inferior. She was a defiant free-spirit even during her early college career.
While working on an anthropological study for her mentor, Franz Boas, she was exposed
to voo doo, which she quickly embraced. She was deeply interested in the subtle nuances
that voo doo had left scattered throughout Afro-American culture. She also adopted this
religion, which contrasted completely with her Baptist up-bringing , because it gave her a
new artistic sense. Voo doo freed her from the institutional restraints that she experienced
as a black woman in a white oligarchy (Hinton, 4). Her belief in voo doo appeared in
almost all of her works, including Their Eyes Are Watching God, where Zoras fictitious
Eatonville seems to be controlled by supernatural forces (Hinton, 5). Hurston used her
artistic talent to incorporate her cultural anthologies into her fiction by combining many of
the traditions and cultural tinges she discovered while tracing Black culture into the
fictional town of Eatonville (Hemenway, 13).
Hurstons most acclaimed work , Their Eyes Were Watching God, has been read, adored,
rejected, reviewed, and badgered by many literary critics and uneducated readers alike. “In
a book rich with imagery and black oral tradition, Zora Neale Hurston tells us of a womans
