preview

Zora Neale Hurston Influence

Good Essays

Many writers allow their personal experiences to influence their writing, but Zora Neale Hurston used her life to influence others. Hurston took her personal experience and used it to show impoverished black youth that they can be successful. The way she was raised influenced her and created a woman who would pave the way for feminists to be recognized as a respectable group. Hurston had a way with words that still, to this day, have an affect on youth and will affect future generations.. Her childhood and her introduction to average American society developed Hurston into a preacher of equal rights, a teacher of confidence, and a writer ahead of her time.
Hurston grew up very differently from other black children in her time. She was …show more content…

Hurston intended to “show the beauty and wealth of genuine Negro material” as a response to the stereotyping of black people in literature (Draper 1068-1069). Sykes is shown as a successful independent black man which was something not seen often in Hurston’s time. Her material mainly focused on black and black relations over black and white relations. By focusing on the successful side of black life that she grew up with, Hurston was able to show black youth a potential future for themselves that they may not have thought possible with their current situation. Condemning those who oppressed African Americans and defying traditional norms was Hurston’s way of disrupting the social climate of the time (Champion). In her works, she was able to shine a light on societal problems that she believed needed fixing. Literature was the only way to fight because as a black woman she had no other ways to fight without incarceration. Hurston intended to present the side of black people that many white people did not see, her writings were”important because they…[presented] characters who…[were] undeniably and realistically human” (Draper 1068). Hurston had to provide realistic black characters in a time that black people were still seen as worthless by many. She wanted people to understand that white people and black people were just people. Hurston wrote good characters, not good people, to show that all races of people had bad eggs. The characters in “Sweat” were very realistic, whether they be gossiping on the porch or abusing their wife, they are acting as real people do. They may not be doing things that are morally right, i.e. being abusive, but that is a fault in humanity that all races are guilty of. Hurston had seen many different types of people throughout her life and was able to express these different personalities with expertise. Knowing how to write a character is just as important as

Get Access