Exploration of Black Life in the Post-Reconstruction Era: A Study of Zora Neale Hurston’s Jonah’s Gourd Vine

 

Anju Mehra ¹

 

¹ Associate Professor, Department of English and Foreign Languages, MDU, Rohtak, Haryana, India  

 

1. INTRODUCTION

African Americans had significant obstacles navigating the aftermath of slavery and the failure of Reconstruction during the crucial post-Reconstruction era, which spanned the late 19th and early 20th centuries in American history. At this time, Jim Crow laws, which attempted to erode the privileges that African Americans had momentarily experienced, emerged, and racial segregation became more entrenched. African American communities showed incredible resiliency in the face of these terrible conditions, working to preserve their cultural identity and independence.

Zora Neale Hurston, a well-known member of the Harlem Renaissance, provides a detailed account of Black life in this historical period in her 1934 novel.  Hurston examines the complexities of African Americans living in a society that was both physically and mentally oppressive through the life of the protagonist, John Pearson. Jonah’s Gourd Vine is more than just a wider statement on the realities of African Americans as a whole in the South after Reconstruction than just a narrative of one person’s suffering.

The purpose of this research paper is to analyze Hurston’s depiction of Black life in this era, focusing on issues of identity, cultural resiliency, and the fight for autonomy under repressive systems. This research paper attempts to identify how the select novel represents the lived reality of African Americans and their on-going desire for freedom and self-determination by examining Hurston’s use of religious symbolism, folklore, and her distinctive storytelling style. This investigation aims to improve comprehension of Hurston’s literary contributions and the historical background of her works.

 

2. Review of Literature

The novel has attracted a lot of academic interest, especially for its analysis of Black life in the years after Reconstruction. Hurston, who played a pivotal role in the Harlem Renaissance, garners praise for her genuine use of vernacular and folklore to convey the complexity of African American life. Academics like Robert Hemenway have emphasized Hurston’s strong linkages to Black communities’ cultural heritage, noting how her ethnographic background influences the novel’s realistic portrayal of rural Southern life. Valerie Boyd contends that the novel an essential work for understanding the socio-cultural dynamics of the time because Hurston’s involvement in African American cultural practices enhances her story.

Critics like Cheryl A. Wall has discussed Hurston’s subtle examination of the protagonist’s battle for self-definition and autonomy in a racially divided society, highlighting the novel’s fundamental issue of identity. Deborah G. Plant asserts a close connection between this battle and the broader African American empowerment movement of this era, emphasizing that the protagonist’s spiritual and personal growth mirrors a more intricate tale of resistance and self-expression.

The religious symbolism plays important roles in Hurston’s narratives, too. Karla F.C. Holloway examines how biblical allusions and African American oral traditions inform the novel’s themes and structure. She contends that these elements help to link the story to Black communities’ historical and cultural experiences, especially in light of the lingering effects of slavery.

Modern academics like Trudier Harris have acknowledged the importance of the book the larger canon of African American literature, highlighting the work’s function in providing a counter narrative to the prevailing literary portrayals of the period. In addition, Henry Louis Gates Jr. recognizes the novel’s influence by placing it in the African American literary canon and emphasizing its relevance to current conversations about race, culture, and identity. Hurston’s book plays a crucial role in understanding the intricacies of Black life during the post-Reconstruction era, and the existing literature on it establishes a robust foundation for future exploration of its themes and cultural significance. Hurston’s love of African American culture, languages, folklore, and oral traditions is well-represented in this novel. This moving tragic morality tale shows how a man’s foolishness causes him to rise and fall. Under this situation, Valerie Boyd writes:

Jonah’s Gourd Vine—a first novel that was, for its time, remarkable in its ambition and achievement. Even today, the novel holds up, in the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove, as ―a glorious paean to the power of the word. (255)

Jonah’s Gourd Vine, a novel rich in mythology and traditions, tells the tale of John Pearson, who rose from poverty and illiteracy to prominence as a clergyman in central Florida. John is the mulatto son of Amy Crittenden, a former slave. He was the offspring of slave Amy and plantation owner Alf Pearson’s illegal relationship. Along with his three siblings and stepfather Ned, John lives with his mother Amy. After receiving harsh treatment from his stepfather Ned, he finally leaves his house and crosses “the big creek” to work on Alf Pearson’s farm and home. After seeing his ability, Pearson sends John to school, where he befriends Lucy Potts, a classmate.

Eventually, despite Lucy’s parents’ adamant opposition, John and Lucy are married. John’s philandering persists even after being married. Despite having extramarital affairs with other women, he always goes back to Lucy. John relocates to Eatonville after leaving Alabama. Once they arrive, Lucy assists John in gaining recognition in the Eatonville neighbourhood, leading to his prompt appointment as a preacher at the Zion Hope church. In addition, he is elected mayor. John finds it impossible to halt his relationships with other women, so they continue in the interim. Lucy eventually becomes ill and passes away.

To the dismay of his kids and other parishioners, John remarries his lover Hattie Tyson after Lucy’s death. After realizing that he should never have married Hattie, John begins to beat her up for trying to summon him. Hattie and others attempt to discredit John Pearson and take away his position in the community. John and Hattie have parted ways. Following his last sermon, John departs from the community and moves to Plant City, where he meets Sally Lovelace. John resumes his preaching with Sally’s help, but an accident kills him just as he prepares to make amends and transform himself.

Hurston attempted to capture African Americans’ genuine reality, including their anguish and suffering, shortcomings and foolishness, and dreams and ambitions. Hurston uses a masterful combination of imagery, metaphor, symbolism, and motifs to bring out the depth of her ideas and storytelling. Most significantly, she highlights African American culture and existence through folklore and custom.

Jonah’s Gourd Vine encompasses a multitude of themes, many of which are intricate and can be challenging to discern. Hurston explores her topics in a variety of ways, ranging from the humorous to the sorrowful, the surrealistic to the realistic, and the symbolic to the sarcastic. The events of Jonah’s Gourd Vine take place in the early 1900s. Hurston examines African Americans’ lives in the Southern United States after slavery ends in the first few chapters of the novel. She portrays the regrettable legacy of slavery that still permeates African Americans’ daily lives. Hurston attempts to examine the psychological and emotional pain that continues to plague African Americans even after so many years via the characters of Ned Crittenden, Amy Crittenden, and Pheemy, all of whom were once slaves.

Amy Crittenden, the mother of John Pearson, once endured slavery. Through the character Amy, Hurston depicts African American women on slave farms as sexual property. Mr. Alf Pearson, the white slave owner, mistreated Amy. After he rapes her, she gives birth to a mulatto named John. Amy was born a slave, but she overcame her upbringing to become free. Movingly, she reminds Ned that black people should cherish and appreciate their children, unlike when they were slaves and potentially easily taken away. Amy states:

Course dey don’t, but we ain’t got to let de white folks love our chillun fuh us, is us? Dass jest de pint. We black folks don’t love our chillun. We couldn’t do it when we were in slavery. We burned ‘em but dat didn’t make ‘em ourn. Dey b’longed tuh old, Massa. ‘Twan’t no use in treasurin’ other folks property. It wuz liable tuh be took uhway any day. But we’re free folks now. De big bell done rung! Us chillun is burn. Ah doan know, mebbe hit’ll take some of us generations, but us got tuh ‘gin practice on treasurin’ our younguns. Ah loves dese heah already uh whole heap. Ah don’t wont ‘em knocked and ‘bucked. (6-7)

Slavery used every member of African American families as a commodity and methodically broke African American families. It effectively undermined any attempts to strengthen black families by upsetting the bonds between parents and children, as well as between men and women. Ned wants to send John to Cap’n Mimms, the harsh white plantation owner, whom everyone in southern Alabama knows to be the worst. He had beaten them almost to death. This is akin to the historical practice of slave owners selling their offspring. Only their lords deserved the allegiance of their slaves. Hurston demonstrates how little has changed in the South after the war.

Hurston illustrates the negative impacts of slavery on African Americans through the Crittenden family, but she also highlights the disgusting side of slavery through Alf Pearson, a white slave owner. Alf mistreated Amy while he was a slave, and he never accepted John as his son. In addition to his slaves, he also governs his town and neighborhood. Alf remarks, “What a fine stud!” upon first seeing John. Why, in the days of slavery, would you have brought $5,000 to the table? “I recognize the expression on your face, but I can’t place you. What’s your name”? (17). Although Alf Pearson treats his kid ironically, it nonetheless brings readers back to the time of slavery. John Dime

Hurston aims to illustrate the impact of war on the lives of African Americans. They are the first thrown into the conflict, even though they face discrimination and exploitation in every aspect of life. Hurston contends that because black Americans do not share democratic values, the whole fight for democracy is a fruitless endeavour and a prime example of government hypocrisy.

Hurston similarly ridicules and jabs at black elites like DuBois. The sentence indicates that Hurston drew inspiration from Booker T. Washington. It’s intriguing to note that Hurston writes in black vernacular as opposed to Standard English. Hurston was able to express her views and opinions without upsetting anybody by writing in dialect. Hurston, therefore, makes her argument by using a “dialect mask” and “anonymous voices” (Lowe 142). Jonah’s Gourd Vine is not perfect. The novel’s fragmented sections are the most significant of them.

Hurston uses the place “over de Big Creek” as an example of how different social and economic classes differ from one another. John is shocked to discover African Americans and others from many social strata living more affluent lives than he had ever seen when he first crosses the stream. Hurston says:

Negro children going to learn how to read and write like white folks. See! All this going on over there…. and the younguns over the Creek chopping cotton! It must be very nice, but maybe it wasn’t for over-the-creek niggers. (14)

When reading Jonah as a whole, its many themes and symbols—such as the imagery of the gourd vine and snakes, the spiritual and bodily fight, African spiritualism, and Puritanism—do not appear to flow together. Additionally, there are so many themes that sometimes it gets challenging to distinguish between them all. They don’t mesh well together, making Jonah seem like a disjointed piece of art. Second, the novel is less of a narrative and more of a collection of linguistic moments that depict the folk life of the black South because of Hurston’s extensive usage of African American folklore. The abundance of black mythology and cultural allegories in Jonah almost overshadows the main storyline and character growth.

Hurston has explored marriage in enormous detail. Although she addresses marriage as a motif in all of her writings, union is not a socially acceptable institution. She portrays marriage as a hazardous possibility in all of her writings. Hurston had two unsuccessful marriages. Maybe this is why Hurston’s marriages are so full of issues and sad arguments. In Jonah’s Gourd Vine, John Pearson experiences three successful marriages, yet he feels trapped in each one.

Every time you read or reread one of Hurston’s literary works, you learn something new about the author and her creations. You cannot fit her works into a pigeonhole or classify them in any watertight container. Her art encompasses a wide range of individual and group encounters. Her deft use of figurative language and rich imagery also leaves a lasting impression on the readers. The beauty of language and words has a multitude of psychological effects on the reader. Hurston’s writings express rather than preach, show rather than explain, and make the reader feel as if they are part of the plot as well as the author right away.

Due to her mastery of the craft, Hurston is considered one of the greatest authors in the histories of both African American and international literature. Zora Neale Hurston’s narrative is one of triumph. She is the embodiment of diligence and artistic talent. During the time she lived and wrote, African American women were supposed to stay in the four corners of the home and submit to men’s whims. Hurston writes with gusto, vibrancy, and brio. Hurston further weaves them with vivid similes and metaphors, often using straight passages from her folklore.

Her creative output is evidence of her unwavering perseverance, bravery, and fighting spirit. Her writings have sparked a new literary revolution in America. Zora Neale Hurston captures the heart of the reader. Her life and contributions to art provide endless inspiration. She has suddenly achieved the rightful canonical standing in American Letters after years of neglect. Her fame is gaining daily traction, and her works are reaching a global audience, demonstrating the transcendent nature of her creations.

 

3. Conclusion

Zora Neale Hurston skillfully depicts the intricacies of Black life in the post-Reconstruction period in Jonah’s Gourd Vine, providing a story that is equally rich in literary nuance and cultural relevance. This study examined the complex aspects of African American life during a period of significant social and political transformation through the lens of the novel. Hurston’s depiction of the main character, John Pearson, and the lively neighbourhood around him highlights the Black people’s tenacity, fortitude, and flexibility in navigating the harsh systems of a racially divided society.

The examination of Jonah’s Gourd Vine highlights the novel’s contribution to the preservation and celebration of African American cultural history, particularly in light of its use of folklore, religious symbolism, and colloquial language. Hurston’s training as an anthropologist and folklorist greatly influences her storytelling style, enabling her to produce writing that is real and has cultural relevance. In addition to reflecting on the historical facts of the post-Reconstruction period, Hurston adds to the larger conversation on Black identity, cultural resiliency, and resistance to oppression by weaving together personal and collective tales.

This analysis has brought to light how Hurston expresses issues of identity construction, spiritual development, and the quest for autonomy in the face of structural disenfranchisement via her characters and narrative. The novel’s examination of these subjects offers insightful perspectives into African Americans’ actual experiences in the early 20th century and provides a counter narrative to popular historical narratives that frequently suppressed or ignored Black voices.

To sum up, Jonah’s Gourd Vine is a noteworthy work of African American literature from the Harlem Renaissance that captures the hopes, dreams, and victories of people striving to show their humanity in the face of hardship. Hurston’s writings have a lasting impact on readers and academics today, acting as a potent reminder of the history of Black cultural expression and struggle. This study confirms the novel’s significance for comprehending the intricacies of Black existence in the post-Reconstruction period and its influence on the development of African American literature and culture.

 

CONFLICT OF INTERESTS

None. 

 

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

None.

 

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