Harlem Renaissance was a period in America between the 1920s and 1930s. Great migrations of African Americans characterized the South to the North, Harlem in New York (Farebrother and Thaggert 77). The First World War had just ended, and the Jim Crow segregation law was gaining momentum forcing black people to move to the North. During this period, African American culture grew tremendously in literature and thinking. Harlem was flooded with black artists who looked to grow their reach and capabilities. Their way of thinking was transformed, thus developing a sense of independence; they developed their literature instead of copying the white artists. They embraced their African heritage from which they developed their music, art, and poetry. Authors wrote novels and poems basing them on the way of life of the people in Harlem during that decade. For instance, Zora Neale Hurston, a renowned writer and anthropologist wrote several novels that bore and applied similar themes as those of Harlem, the novel of choice is ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God. The paper will discuss how Hurston exemplifies the Harlem movement in her book.
‘Their Eyes Were Watching God is an award-winning novel first published in the late 1930s and is considered one of the classics of the Harlem renaissance. Furthermore, this novel portrays the movement in all its features and style. The novel narrates the story of Janie and her pursuit for peace. As much as the book portrays as a product of the rebirth, it also acts as a representative of the Harlem Renaissance. The novel exemplifies the Harlem rebirth by accommodating various themes portrayed in the way people of Harlem lived and carried out their daily activities. These themes include; racism, freedom, independence, language, power and conquest, love and relationship, and humanity. Through these themes, the author can capture and present the Harlem sensation in her novel.
The language being used by the novel’s characters displays mastery of the southern dialect. Hurston uses an exciting narrative structure by accommodating idioms and literary speech, which was common during the movement. The characters of this novel are designed in a manner that long passages contain as much artistic voice as possible. For instance, Janie’s character has a distinctive use of grammar and vocabulary similar to the people of Harlem. Hurston uses language artistically to match Janie’s quest to search for her voice (Rau 154). Similarly, artists in Harlem use their power over language to develop pieces of art that are compelling to the audience.
The novel portrays language as an instrument of harm because it can hurt somebody. It is displayed when Jody asks Janie to be silent when elected as the mayor. White people despise vocal African Americans since they do not like the idea of black people demanding equal treatment (Rau 147). Language is depicted as a key for harmonious correlation; Tea Cake and Janie engage in conversations that breed love, respect, and togetherness. The same applies to Harlem, where artists use their skills to bring people together. Hurston has established that one can define themselves through language and let their intentions be known (Hurston 224). In Harlem, black artists used their voices to air their grievances against racism.
Though not a significant theme in the novel, race plays a crucial role in Harlem since African American artists are considered inferior compared to their white counterparts. Racism in the South has become unbearable for black people due to the oppressive laws which the Democrats are approving (Farebrother et al. 179). The great migration is mainly attributed to violent racism in the South, meaning that it is a crucial influence on the Harlem Renaissance. Black artists are being despised, which prompts them to focus on producing authentic art by embracing their African traditions. Furthermore, racism is so rampant in Harlem that white Americans migrate from their town Harlem to avoid mixing up with black people.
In the novel, racism is portrayed, but in this case, a black person discriminates against another black person; this is colorism. Although Janie is black, she is light-skinned because she ¼ white hence the Caucasian-like hair (Hurston 234). Mrs. Turner discriminates against Tea Cake, who has darker skin, and despises Janie for marrying him. Mrs. Turner asks Janie to leave Tea Cake for her brother, who is light-skinned like her. She is but another obstacle that Janie has to navigate before achieving fulfillment and being at peace with herself. The novel depicts racism during the burial of those killed by the hurricane. Here black people are buried with nothing while white people are put in pine caskets. Explicit instructions are laid that no black person should be buried with white people and vice versa (Hurston 205). Tea Cake jokes that the caskets are for helping god identify white souls since there is no Jim Crow law in heaven.
Power and conquest for fulfillment is the second theme in Hurston’s novel, basing its origin on the Harlem rebirth, where African American artists flood Harlem to make a mark in the world of music and literature. Harlem was initially a white man’s town, but whites were overwhelmed with the influx of black people and thus moved higher up North (Farebrother and Thaggert 204). White Americans can no longer suppress black people or keep them under their command. Their illusion of power is destroyed. African Americans seize the town of Harlem, and this gives them a deep sense of fulfillment since they are now occupying a town that was purposefully constructed for middle and upper-class white.
Similarly, Janie achieves fulfillment by undertaking spiritual journeys to self-awareness and love (Hurston 141).On the other hand, Jody achieves fulfillment by suppressing and controlling everybody. He is obsessed with forcing those around him into submission under the illusion that he will be fulfilled. Nevertheless, his illusion of power is destroyed when he becomes sick, and it dawns on him that he can no longer control his surroundings.
Love and relationship are other themes present in the novel on the basis Harlem Renaissance. Many artists travel to Harlem to develop their talents since its population guarantees an audience (Farebrother and Thaggert 154). These artists work together and maintain symbiotic relationships where everybody gains. They co-publish articles, poems, and books; as such, they help each other grow in their respective fields of expertise. A symbiotic relationship is evident between Janie and Tea Cake; these two hold each other in high regard and respect (Hurston 247). Through this, Janie can grow and eventually achieve self-awareness. Tea Cake treats Janie as his equal, which plays a significant role in ensuring the success of their relationship.
Artists in Harlem relate harmoniously; nevertheless, relationships do not guarantee self-fulfillment; this is evident in both the novel and Harlem town. Janie attained true fulfillment only after the death of Tea Cake. In addition, she is enlightened and independent. In Harlem, William Grant quit his band and focused on himself. He perfects his skills and is now considered the best since he attains fulfillment independently without any partners; this proves that relationships do not guarantee fulfillment.
Hurston successfully exemplifies the Harlem renaissance in her novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God.’ In her novel, she incorporates characteristic features of the movement in themes. Some of these themes/features comprise; racism, love and relationships, power and conquest for the fulfillment, and language. These features play a significant role in identifying the novel with the movement. Fulfillment is one thing that Janie longs for, and it comes at the cost of her husband’s life. Similarly, in Harlem, black artists long for recognition and achievement of one’s goals despite all the challenges they persevere. Relationships were crucial in Harlem, and Hurston emphasizes Janie’s. Power and conquest are witnessed in Harlem; white Americans want to suppress black people to achieve fulfillment but fail since they are not enslaved anymore. Likewise, in the novel, Jody was obsessed with dominating his surroundings, including people but failed since he could not control nature. Therefore, Zora Neale Hurston exemplified the Harlem renaissance using her novel ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God.’
Works Cited
Farebrother, Rachel, and Miriam Thaggert, eds. A History of the Harlem Renaissance. Cambridge University Press, 2021.
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their eyes were watching god. Prabhat Prakashan, 2020.
Rau, Dana M. The Harlem Renaissance. Minneapolis, Minn: Compass Point Books, 2019. Print.