Zora Neale Hurston Parallel Structure

In the wake of Joe Starks’ death, Janie has a period of self-realization. On the outside, she is lacking in depth of emotion and feeling, but on the inside, she is teeming with newfound independence and freedom. Janie had gone from being a granddaughter to being a wife and then to being Joe’s wife with no time in between to experience being alone. While Janie fulfills her responsibilities as a widow, she becomes ready to rediscover who she is. Her loneliness lets her realize that she hates her grandmother for her false definition of love. Once she is finally on her own, she is able to finally enjoy who she is. Zora Neale Hurston packs depth and personality into Janie’s character through chapter nine as she faces suitors and life as a widow, …show more content…
As Joe’s funeral is going on in the background, Janie is depicted as having feelings separate from the rest of the town attending. “The funeral was going on outside… weeping and wailing outside.” The repetition of the word outside stresses how removed Janie truly is from the grieving. Placed next to this is the sentence, “Inside the expensive black folds were resurrection and life.” This presents the foil between what is happening around Janie versus what is going on in her thoughts. Hurston continues to develop this theme through the arrangement of words within the sentences themselves. The parallel structure of the phrase “death and burial were said and done,” adds a sense of completeness, contributing to the message that Janie’s life as Joe’s wife is over. This in conjunction with the short sentences that follow represent how his death has come and gone and how Janie is not spending time dwelling on grief. “Finish. End. Nevermore. Darkness. Deep hole. Dissolution. Eternity.” The lack of one cohesive thought and abrupt ending of these sentences translates to a lack of deep feelings and the abruptness of Janie’s mourning. By repeatedly starting certain sentences with ‘she’ as in “She saw...She kept...She would…” Hurston emphasizes how …show more content…
Chapter nine begins with Janie’s thoughts on her new life, freed from Joe. The style of writing is very poetic as Hurston reveals how Joe’s death affected Janie. This formal style shows the complexity of Janie’s thoughts and feelings and characterizes her a contemplative and a round character, open to growth and development. This builds a sincere and reflective tone as Janie is looking back at her past as she relishes in the possibilities of her future. The tone continues to develop as the chapter shifts to dialogue between Janie, her suitors, and her friend Pheoby. The contrast between the writing of the narrator and the southern slang of the time period develops Janie as a character that extends beyond just the surface. The tone shifts to casual as the chapter becomes more conversational; however, it remains reflective as we see how Janie interprets what is happening around her. Hurston’s tone is further influenced by her diction. Throughout the excerpt, the author uses alliteration as well as connotation to establish the tone. Alliteration not only adds to how the story is read by also how well it resonates with the reader. The reader picks up on how elaborate Joe’s funeral was as it is described as having “the gloat and glamor of the secret orders, each with its insinuations of power and glory undreamed of by the uninitiated.” The repetition of the