In Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston surprised me with her views on race. While the main idea of her story is her main character Janie’s search for love, it is impossible to ignore the implications of her portrayal of both blacks and whites in early 20th century American south. Hurston differs very strongly from most black writers we have read so far in that she is not crying out for change and equality, but seems to write about what her perception is of race without trying to deal with the social inequalities of the time. Hurston’s character Mrs. Turner deals with Hurston’s ambiguous feelings about race, particularly her own black race. Hurston describes Mrs. Turner as “milky” with a “slightly pointed” nose, “thin lips”, and a “bas-relief” buttocks.(208) Obviously, Hurston is trying to depict Mrs. Turner as physically looking white. Mrs. Turner has some surprising views on her fellow African-Americans. “Her disfavorite subject was Negroes”, she doesn’t trust black doctors, “can’t stand black niggers,” and believes that “the black ones is holdin’ us back” from being integrated into the white community.(210) Janie, who’s “coffee and cream complexion and her luxurious hair” made Mrs. Turner see her as another black woman who is different from the average black.
Mrs. Turner, while she and Janie may look similar, represents Hurston’s idea that race is not something that is only made up by blacks. Janie does not buy into Mrs. Turner’s crazy ideas. She humors her and lets everything she says go in one ear and out the other. Race is made up by anyone who buys into the idea that the way someone is has something to do with the color of their skin. This ambivalence towards ones own race is not something that has disappeared in the years since Hurston wrote this. Chris Rock, in his HBO stand up special “Bigger & Blacker,” jokes about how he loves black people, but hates “niggers”(his word). In his mind, “niggers” are the black people who give blacks a bad name. Black people are just people with black skin, no different from whites. Likewise, organizations like the Klu Klux Klan and Aryan Nation give white people who don’t hold the same bigoted views a bad name. Hurston does a great job of exploring views on race from within a race, and showing us that not all people from the same race share the same viewpoint.
I think this is an important break from most of the writing we have read so far by African-American authors. Douglass and Wright try to unite blacks by their shared suffering, while Hurston is trying to empower blacks by not shying away from unflattering subjects. If she ignored an individual like Mrs. Turner, she would be giving an unrealistic look at race, and if all of the problems aren’t addressed, how can they be fixed?
6 comments:
Hey Matt,
Yeah, I saw that Chris Rock standup awhile ago, it's funny. Funny, but sadly somewhat true. Thanks for the laugh! It made me laugh to myself in class on Friday, because Dr.Wells was discussing Mrs.Turners views. That view still stand today with some. Not really because those who believe in them are trying to meet "White" standards, but because it had always been accepted. I grew up in a white commmunity and there were some others who later on came to my school from the city that were darker than I was.I noticed that they had a harder time getting accepted and usually had to excel in something in order to be recognized positively. It's really interesting how that can go on, even now.Mrs. Turners views are somewhat true though.
I found it so strange that Mrs.Turner held such strong viewpoints. She thinks that she is better than everyone else because her skin is a little bit lighter and I think that's wrong. She picks poor Janie out and makes her listen to her and try to change her views on the subject. On the other hand peopel have the right to not like anyone they don't want to, but then again no one should discriminate against the color of people's skin. I love how you talked about the Chris Rock standup because it definitely corresponds greatly with this part of the book and it's hysterical.
When I was reading the novel I didn't really notice the race aspect of the novel. But it is definitely an underlying theme. Mrs. Turner’s views on race bring up an interesting aspect about the novel that even within a race there are distinctions made. And your Chris Rock example really strengthened the idea that the distinction are lasting. Your post really enlightened me to an underlying theme that still exist. I think that Hurston was commenting on the lack of unity within her own race.
Matt,
I also found myself fascinated by the way Hurston addressed the issue of race in “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” While she uses the character of Mrs. Turner to poke fun at those who are ashamed of their race, she also incorporates lines that make you second guess where she stands. One such line that struck me as odd was at the beginning of chapter five, where the narrator is describing Jody. She says, “Janie took a lot of looks at him and she was proud of what she saw. Kind of portly like rich white folks” (34). This seemed strange to me that she would describe her husband in terms that compared him to a white man. It made me wonder; did she too, have an underlying issue with her race?
It always amazes me when racial differences come to a head in society because we're taught that everyone is the same and yet many times it does not hold true and race comes and smacks you in the face. Hurston does it in a way that not only highlights the issue, but pokes fun at it as well. I too was surprised that Mrs. Turner held such strong, antiquated views, which just goes to show that misconceptions and prejudice can be found anywhere.
I like the connection you made between Douglas' work and Hurtston's work and the way in which these two African American writers differ in their styles of writing. It was interesting to read about two completely different perspectives of the current times, although both authors were writing about similar times.
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