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The Harlem Renaissance

Decent Essays

The Harlem Renaissance is one of the greatest eras for black culture in America, displaying in literature, fine arts and stage performance. The vital members of the flourishing Renaissance came from South and brought with them the Great Migration. Hurston utilizes symbolism in the novel The Eyes Were Watching God to emphasize the sense of fulfillment by searching for love and the quest for independence that only few women take. Searching for love, quest for freedom, and the lack of human interaction are used to gain independence. Zora Neale Hurston was born into a family of former slaves in Alabama which caused her family to moved to Eatonville, Florida where “she attended school to the age of thirteen” (“Hurston” Encyclopedia 168). Shortly after the move to Eatonville, “her mother died thus caused Hurston to live with an assortment of relatives for the next several years” (“Biography”). Three years later, “at the age of sixteen” (“Hurston” Encyclopedia 168). Hurston, “became an actress in a touring Gilbert and Sullivan group” (“Biography”). Family conflict led “her to Washington D.C., where she attended prep school” (“Sapet”). Later, while still in Washington D.C.,“she earned an associate degree from Howard University in 1920” (“Biography”). Eventually, her writing career began and she wanted it to grow so “she moved to Harlem in New York City, where she became a fixture in Harlem’s thriving art scene” (“Biography”). This led her to “become a vital member in the

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