Throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston uses figurative language such as metaphors, similes, and idioms to draw the reader in and assist them in painting a more vivid picture of the text in their mind. While much of the figurative language used is for the sole purpose of enhancing the descriptiveness of the text, Hurston also uses figurative language to convey important thematic elements. A prime example is when Hurston writes, “Colored Folks are branches without roots” (Hurston 16). In this metaphor Hurston compares African Americans’ situation in America to that of branches without trunks. Hurston uses this metaphor to demonstrate that African Americans were still considered animals by society at the time and because
