Raquel Wanzo
Zora Neale Hurston: Preserving the Oral Tradition
One of the most prolific writers of the twentieth century, Zora Neale Hurston was almost lost in the literary annals. Thank God for Alice Walker, the noted author, who, as a graduate student re-discovered Hurston, a hidden treasure. Walker writes in her dedication to Hurston, in the reader, I Love Myself When I'm Laughing… that Hurston "appreciated us…as we fashioned ourselves" (Hurston 4), a statement most apropos considering that Hurston spent the greater part of her life collecting and writing about her folk, their relationships, and their tales. Her love for life and her people are represented in her work, which springs from the rich oral tradition prevalent in the Black community. This paper will discuss Hurston, the Black oral tradition, and three of Hurston's works which most closely reflect her commitment to preserving the beauty of the Black community.
Hurston-whose work includes Their Eyes Were Watching God, Mules and Men, and Dust Tracks on Open Road-is known for her extraordinary work in capturing the black folk oral tradition. She grew up in the all black township of Eatonville, Florida, a town in which her father was the mayor. The town prided itself in being "a poor Negro town-charter, mayor, council, town marshal and all" (Hurston, 28). Eatonville was not just a black town, but also "the first to be incorporated" (Hurston, 28). Having grown up in Eatonville, it's no wonder that Zora Neale Hurston did not consider herself "tragically colored" (Hurston, 153). The strong sense of community and Black pride did not afford her the opportunity to lament on her state of being; that is to say, it did not give her a chance to feel sorry for herself in being born Black in America. An important fact, because America, in the early 1900s, is not very kind to the newly freed slave or their born-into-freedom children, and all black townships, in particular successful towns, are almost non-existent. As a result, Hurston grew up reveling in a strong feeling of self worth and a great sense of satisfaction in her race and in her community.
In her essay, "How It Feels to be Colored Me," Hurston writes about the early part of her childhood in which "white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there" (Hurston 152). This is significant for two reasons. Firstly, Hurston is saying she grew up believing there to be no real differences between blacks and whites except that they don't live together; and secondly, it establishes the precedent for her work as an adult. By acknowledging or claiming to visually see no difference between the two races who have a history in the United States built on racial distinctions, Hurston has freed herself from any racial inhibitions that may have perhaps distorted her perspective. This has not only allowed her to think outside of societal boundaries-a distorted box that could have enclosed her and thereby, smother her gift, a gift that fuels her desire to become an anthropologist and preserve the cultural tradition of Black America.
For a time, Hurston attended Barnard College in New York and studied anthropology under the tutelage of Dr. Franz Boaz, the leading anthropologist at the time. Boaz encouraged and supported Hurston's desire to study Black culture. With the support of Boaz and others, Hurston was able to travel throughout the black South gathering information on the black oral tradition. She considered a large part of Black culture to be based in the art form of storytelling, specifically, the oral tradition. According to Hurston's biographer, Robert Hemenway, Hurston's interest stems "to some extent [from] a feeling that in these cultural roots were to be found the primary ingredients for black art" (Hemenway 65). And indeed, out of the black oral tradition come some of the greatest stories, like Brer Rabbit, Brer Fox, and John Henry a mythological hero whose story has been passed down through songs.
In order to recognize elements of the oral tradition in Hurston's work one must be familiar with the oral tradition. The oral tradition is a story telling process which various cultures utilize. It stems from the people using their creative processes to draw up lively tales for the community. Their inability to read or write prevented the story from being transmitted in a written fashion but not from being told orally. The folktale in the oral tradition is a story or tale with a common universal theme, either for the purpose of entertaining, educating, or uplifting the collective community. The various functions of folklore include: 1. The explanatory tale used to explain a phenomenon such as creation. 2. An integration or unity story within the group, drawing upon common bonds. 3. Compensation tales told to explain life mysteries. 4. To teach the history of a people, cultural norms, respect, perseverance, etc. Believing everything is connected, the stories often imbue all of life. So nothing is foreign or unusual in a folk tale: the animal, the tree, and the elements are just as much a part of the life process as human beings. It is a part of the continuum of life. The oral story unites a community, not only because of these stories, but also through the acting out process of the tale. Eyes grow big or voices soften at appropriate times. Arms undulate and legs oscillate to encourage the tales rhythm. In this way, the story and the storyteller are giving back to the community a piece of themselves and thereby, celebrating, enhancing, and preserving the culture.
In Africa, in America among the indigenous people, and in Caribbean communities the oral storytelling tradition is deeply rooted. For these people, it is a way of life. Passed down from generation to generation, the oral tale often includes creation, explanation, and warning tales. Within the Black culture in the United States, "these stories have African roots for they are stories of transplanted Africans, whose original culture was left to the power of their memories" (1). Uprooted from their homeland, these Africans remembered their culture and created a new one. The folktale thus became stories of "survival, communication…shields against the whip, comfort the distressed and hope for a better day" (2). Passed from generation to generation, the oral tradition became a way of life and a symbol of hope within the Black community.
Hurston cherished the memories of her childhood, the life of small-town folk, who when they were not working were gathered together sharing tales, each trying to outshine the other. It was such a part of her being that she carried it with her when she went to New York: "Hurston was engaged in a process of bringing Eatonville folklore to a wider audience during the renaissance years" (Hemenway, 79). An inescapable, undeniable part of her life, it is only natural then that Hurston would include it in her work. Whether writing about her own life, in Dust Tracks on an Open Road, writing short stories, or writing essays, Hurston always used an element of the oral tradition in her works. She sought to capture the essence of the Black experience every time she wrote, to define the beauty of her race. She understood the cultural history that black America was creating. She knew "that the folk were creating an art that did not need the sanction of culture to affirm its beauty" (54).
Hurston captures elements of the oral traditional folktale as told within the black community, specifically, her hometown of Eatonville, Florida. These elements can be seen in Mules and Men, "Sweat", and "The Gilded Six-Bits". In each of these stories, Hurston draws from a piece of the rich oral narratives and stories she heard while traveling down South. And in this way, she furthers the folktale telling process. Three prevalent elements in her work are setting, animals, and language; they all are important parts of the oral tradition in the black community and Hurston uses them well.
To begin with, the setting of Hurston's stories is almost as important as the folktale itself. In Mules and Men, Hurston's book that draws directly from her data collecting experiences in the South, she captures the essence of the Black oral story telling process. She writes: "Folk-lore is not easy to collect as it sounds" (Hurston, 83). Yet, she does a masterful job. Hurston collects all kinds of folktales from the people. A particular place that she gathers information and source of recurring gossip and tales in her stories is on the store porch: "I could see a group on the store porch. I was delighted" (Hurston, 84). In the Black community, the corner store is just as much a gathering place as the after- Church-Sunday picnic. Folks who have time gather around and share the latest news, talk about politics, and share stories that usually stem from somebody's business that has gotten twisted around. These gatherings contribute to the creation of the folktale. The folks themselves are cognizant of the fact that they are just telling tall tales: "What you mean, Zora, them big old lies we tell when we're just sitting around here on the store porch doin' nothin'?" (Hurston, 85). But it is the telling of the tale at the storefront that gives the story a cozy, comfortable feel. One can envision the people standing or sitting around on a hot summer day, spitting seeds (from the watermelon), slow-sipping an ice-cold pop, and sharing outrageous, exaggerated truths and untruths. It is this comfortable setting and background that gives Hurston the freedom to collect data and write freely. By drawing from a familiar scene within her home environment: "The town had not changed. Same love of talk and song" (85), Hurston is able to capture and convey the same coziness and unity of the community that she feels. In a similar way, animals in folklore are also a very big element. In Hurston's short story, "Sweat," the snake is the animal of choice. And in using the snake Hurston is able to draw upon themes such as fear, good and evil, and religion. "Sweat" is the story of Delia Jones, a woman who triumphs her abusive husband, who sets a trap for her only to be trapped himself. Sykes, Delia's husband, knows of her fear of snakes: "Sykes . . . it . . . looks just like a snake, an' you know how skeered Ah is of snakes. Course Ah knowed it! That's how come Ah done it" (197). Sykes scares his wife because he can; he is tired of her and wants her to leave him. But its Delia's sweat that has paid for the house and she isn't going anywhere. The whip in Sykes hands, the references to the snake conjure up images of his being the devil; particularly in contrast to Delia being a church going woman or as Sykes call her: "One of them amen-corner Christians" (198). Hurston is able to take the snake and manipulate its many thematic references. In biblical mythology, legend has it that the snake tempted Eve to eat the fruit, in black cultural mythology any reference to a snake is viewed as the devil or temptation or sin, and in general, people are usually afraid of snakes because of their potential to kill. In any case it has negative connotations and Hurston is aware of that and makes great use of it in "Sweat." When Sykes brings the rattlesnake home the trouble really begins: "Syke, Syke, mah Gawd! You take dat rattlesnake 'way from heah! You gottuh" (203). Delia is begging Sykes to take the rattlesnake away but old stubborn Sykes responds: "Ah aint got tuh do nuthin' uh de kin-fact is Ah aint got tuh do nothin' but die" (203). Sykes has summoned his own death. Hurston knew that in the black community, there is a heavy belief in superstition and Sykes' words, in addition to his actions, leave him a marked man. So in the end, he ultimately dies by the snake. The snake that he brought home to scare and eventually kill Delia, but who bites and kills him instead. There is a saying within the Black community: "Dig one ditch, you better dig two, trap you set may be for you" (3) and this is exactly what Sykes did. He set his own trap.
Hurston also in "Sweat" sets the beginnings for a tale within a tale. Her familiar store porch scene is back. This time the fellows are sitting on the porch chewing cain and talking about Sykes and Delia. They each chime in with their respective opinions on the situation: " Heah come Delia Jones…She better if she wanter eat…Sykes Jones aint wuth de shot an powder hit would tek to kill'em." (200). The fact that these men have gathered themselves on store favorite "Joe Clarke's porch" and fancied themselves to comment about Delia's situation and Joe's worthlessness plants the seeds for a stretched out tale. One that will include a description of hard working Delia, cheating Sykes, and the snake that ended it all. Sykes' body is dead, but Sykes' spirit will continue on in myth and legend. It could become a lesson on evils of infidelity or a lesson on the evils of Satin. It all depends on who's telling the story and the purpose of telling it. In any case, it is Hurston's way of demonstrating how a folktale can be created. Based on an element of truth, the story will be told and retold, growing a little more fantastic every time, with the truth buried some where deep inside.
An important element of the oral folktale is the language. By staying true to the speech pattern in which the story is told, Hurston is able to stay true to the original storyteller or at least to the person she got the story from. In "The Gilded Six-Bits," a story about a man's love for his wife and the wife who abuses it by having an affair, one can see how language plays an important part of the tale. For example, in the mouths of Joe and Missy May, the words are southern black colloquial dialect: "Lemme git dat paper sack out yo' pocket. Ah bet its candy kisses" (209). In the preceding sentence the words that are italicized translate as follows let me, get, that, your and I'll. So that the sentence written in standard English would read as: Let me get that paper sack out of your pocket. I'll bet it is candy kisses. The rhythm of the sentence has changed dramatically. By writing in the dialectal speech pattern of the speaker, Hurston is able to retain some of the rhythm of words. This is a part of the oral telling process "and a group bent on expression of feeling" (41). Boaz who taught her may have taught Hurston this: "manner rather than matter and style rather than substance" (91). Or it could have been just a part of Hurston's natural being to capture the spirit of the black folk artist by capturing their rhythmic speech. Whatever it is, an important process of the oral tradition is being able to say it right. If the word calls for "ain't," "isn't" is not going to work. In black culture, "ain't" is a stronger, more forceful word than "isn't" : "Ah ain't blind. You makin' feet for shoes" (217). Notice "ain't" in this sentence, it is with attitude that Joe is telling Missy May this. "Isn't" or "I am not blind" would not have carried the same weight in this sentence as does "ain't." By writing the folk stories in the native tongue of the speaker, Hurston is able to savor the essence of the moment in which the story is being told and in this way she has helped to preserve the original voice of the tale.
Zora Neale Hurston's work is wonderfully written. By staying true to herself and to her community she was able to preserve a piece of black America that may forever have been lost or distorted in the hands of someone else. Her deep sense of love and appreciation for her folks allowed her to write with a honesty and complexity that shines. The black oral tradition is not the same as other communities because we have not had the same experiences. Deep, complex stories of pain and survival that are simultaneously rich in humor and didactic, are reflective of the black oral tradition. It is an attitude reflective of laughing to keep from crying, one that simultaneously allows us to overcome some type of adversity. I believe that Zora Neale Hurston recognized that early on in life. The stories told in Eatonville, Florida helped to establish a strong township, one full of pride and life. They gave Hurston the strength she needed to be able to get an education and return and give something back to her community that gave her something-the oral tradition. A tradition helped her to grow up with strength and pride in herself and in her race. In this way, Hurston was able to share this legacy with all of America and become a posthumous part of the literary canon.
Works Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. I Love Myself When I'm Laughing… New York: The Feminist Press, 1979.
Hemenway, Robert, E. Zora Neale Hurston A Literary Biography Illinois: Illini Books, 1980. "Background Information about Stories in the African-American Traditions" Online Posting 23 July 2002. http://www.pbs.org/williamsburg/kin/background.html
Sources Consulted
"Folklore in the Oral Tradition, Fairytales, Fables, and Folk-legend." Online posting 23 July 2002. http://www.yale.edu/ynthi/curriculum/units/1984/4/84.04.01.x.html