Hurston: A Character Analysis

Hurston, in her depiction of her characters and the way she has chosen to portray then, is driven by a need to focus on the search for identity which discards the limits of race, gender, and class (Jones 183). Yet, there is clearly a common link between all of the characters and that is that they are all affected in one way or the other by race related issues that not only determine their own lives but also those of their families for several generations to come. Furthermore, most of theses characters share a similar history that begins with slavery and results in false freedom that is tainted by a prejudice against Colored skin (Jones 189- 90). Thus, this acts as a logical reason as to why nearly every character, depicted in this …show more content…
The reason that drives her to do so is not that she lacks the imagination or the skill to do otherwise but instead she has a very specific goal in mind. This is evident in the conclusion that the reader comes up with after finishing the novel and that is, with the exception of a few individuals, all Colored people at that time do not have the privilege of a decent education and this demonstrated in their language which is characterized by poor vocabulary and even worse grammar. Most of the characters are extremely poor and struggle daily to put food in their mouths and they are dressed very crudely. Even Colored people with money like Jody and Janie are never presented at fancy parties or intellectual gatherings. Thus, all these facts or images are employed by Hurston to demonstrate that even though in theory Blacks are now free of oppression and slavery, they are still taking their first steps in learning how to live properly. In a nut shell, she gives the reader the impression that the most horrible impact of injustice against Colored individuals is that it has made them socially, culturally, and economically like toddlers taking their first steps in life and trying not to …show more content…
By narrating the heartbreaking stories of how women's lives can be ruined by slavery such as what happens to Nanny or how Janie's life is wasted again and again because she is a woman who must act according to the wishes of others but never based on her own, Hurston leaves the reader little choice in sympathizing with the suffering of Colored people at that time, taking their side and motivating the reader to want to do right by them. There are several narrators in the novel such as an unknown person who uses the third person point of view yet his tone is full of tenderness while speaking of the painful trials that the Colored people in the novel must go through especially Janie who herself is in charge of part of the narration using the first person narrative techniques and so does her grandmother Nanny when she tells the agonies she has witnessed during her slavery. Thus, Hurston is clearly quite involved in the issues that dominate the novel and is rather subjective in her