Zora Neale Hurston’s choice of style in Their Eyes Were Watching God helps to reinforce the importance of language in this novel. Rather than mask the true way Janie and the rest of characters speak Hurston chooses to embrace it. This southern African American vernacular language captivates the audience plunging them into the story as if they are a part of it. It is as if the reader is “sitting on the steps of the back porch” with Janie herself listening to her life story (Hurston 4). By using this specific southern dialect Hurston is able to celebrate African American culture at its finest regardless of it not being proper english.
Along with this cultural language Hurston also uses a literary language as the voice of the narrator. It is filled with insightful bits of information along with the use of figurative language such as imagery and metaphors. The voice of the narrator not only helps transition the parts of dialogue but also adds bits of foreshadowing and commentary as to what might happen next. The narrator mentions that the “dawn and doom were in the branches” and by the end of the chapter the reader is able to see what in Janie’s life resembled this (Hurston 8). This stylistic choice of having two intertwining voices makes the story what it is. It helps to show the beauty in a language most often criticized.
This picture below represents the two voices of the story coming together to make this novel the masterpiece that it is.
I love how this picture summarizes the style in which this story was written! Upon first reading this novel I was so focused on the southern dialect's importance that I failed to realize how insightful and beautiful the narrator's voice is. I couldn't quite figure out why the story felt so poetic, but now I understand that the intertwining of the two languages creates the beauty.
ReplyDeleteYour perspective on the style correlates with my own opinion. I do believe the author reinforces the importance of the Southern language to embrace its meaning, rather than adapting to other more commonly used writing styles. The author keeps hold of the southern slang to illustrate the hardships that the black community faced. It explains further as to why they are mostly illiterate or unable to have an educated conversation. The author uses her words in a certain way to convey this meaning.
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