Literature during the Harlem Renaissance primarily focused on the accurate portrayal of black life. It was also used in order to depict the beauty that African American culture and society held.
The movement influenced and inspired many future black writers and artists, which in turn allowed for the black society to be more accepting of their own culture, instead of viewing it as inferior to white culture. Although the Harlem Renaissance was forgotten for a while after the 1930s, its significance was once again brought to light during the civil rights movements of the 1950s through the 70s, with its impact on American culture still seen today. Zora Neale Hurston’s book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, is a work of literature that is representative of the Harlem Renaissance because of her accurate portrayal of black life and the beauty that the culture of the race holds. …show more content…
According to Richard Wright, an African American writer at the time, literature from the Harlem Renaissance “became the voice of the educated Negro pleading with white America for justice” (Source F). Though at first unintentional, the Harlem Renaissance was meant to show the dissatisfaction that blacks were feeling because of inequality, and in turn advance their community towards full citizenship. Zora Neale Hurston portrays this inequality in her novel, the day after the hurricane hits the town that Janie and Tea Cake are in. Hurston shows a white man ordering around a group of black men, telling them what to do with the dead bodies. The white man warns the black group, saying, “‘don’t lemme ketch none uh y’all dumpin’ white folks, and don’t be wastin’ no boxes on colored’” (Hurston 171). The black people who had died in the hurricane were being denied caskets to be buried in, while every white death was granted one, because the blacks were considered inferior to the white population. By portraying an event where discrimination takes place, Hurston is proving to the American government that something needs to be done about the civil rights inequality of blacks. Richard Wright explains that the literature of the Harlem Renaissance displays the idea that black people have a “consciousness and mobility for economic and political action” (Source F). In her novel, as Janie’s second husband Joe Starks is becoming mayor, Hurston shows just how big of a difference that a black person can make in their community. When talking about the changes that Joe plans on making to the town, the townsfolk say that, “‘he’s gointuh put up uh store and git uh post office from de Goven’ment’” (Hurston 38). By showing that black people have the capacity to better their community, have jobs, and take political action, Hurston is appealing to the fact that blacks are just as good as whites, and that they can do the same types of jobs as well. As stated by Richard Wright, there is a black culture, a culture which has stemmed mainly from two things. One of these being “the Negro church” (Source F). He says that “it was through the portals of the church that the American Negro first entered the shrine of western culture,” a part of that culture being literature (Wright 475). Many works of literature during the Harlem Renaissance show God as being a central theme. In her novel, Hurston describes the people of the town that Janie and Pheoby live in as gossipers, and people that don’t know when to mind their own business. The one thing they all have in common though, is their belief in God. Hurston writes, “‘most of’em goes to church so they’ll be sure to rise in Judgment’” (Hurston 6). By portraying African Americans as God fearing people like any member in the white community, Hurston establishes common ground between the two races, showing that the