Zora Neale Hurston was harshly criticized by another author during the Harlem Renaissance named Richard Wright. They were both amazing African American authors with different and very strong opinions. Hurston was forced into solitude and died extremely poor because of the criticism she received from her community. Wright said, “her prose is cloaked in that facile sensuality” (Wright). He was a very influential person of his time. The people would listen to him, which became problematic for Hurston.
Wright did not just bash Hurston. Hurston had a few things to say to Richard Wright and about his writing as well. She said, “...his dialect is a puzzling thing. One wonders how he arrived at it. Certainly he does not write by ear unless he is tone deaf." (Hurston) There were people who agreed and disagreed with both of them, but in the end most people sided with Wright. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston does depict men as abusive and somewhat lazy. The main character, Janie, is also physically abused by her second husband.
Wright did have a point when he criticized Hurston. It is easy to see where he came from. During such a moving time for the African American of Harlem, it would seem like Hurston was not helping the cause. She does describe black men in a negative way. Hurston, though, was writing from her heart. She was explaining what she thought was true. People may not have liked what she was writing, but it was how she felt. The Harlem Renaissance was about how African Americans now had a voice through their art or writing. Their Eyes Were Watching God was Hurston’s way of contributing to the movement. Everyone was saying how Hurston depicts men as lazy and abusive, but she does not depict women positively as well. Women, even the main character, are described as unintelligent objects. I think Hurston was trying to show how African Americans, in general, were treated poorly.
Richard Wright Zora Neale Hurston
Richard Wright Zora Neale Hurston
Source:
" Richard Wright Life Stories, Books, & Links." Great Stories, People, Books & Events in Literary History. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <http://www.todayinliterature.com/biography/richard.wright.asp>.
Martinez, Noemi. "Clear Lines in Black Boy and Their Eyes were Watching God." Women Writers: A Zine. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <http://www.womenwriters.net/editorials/hurstonwright.html>.
"Zora Neale Hurston." Eleanor Roosevelt's Business Education Classes. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Apr. 2011. <http://www.masoncreations.com/Black%20History%202011/Period%201%20-%20Black%20History%20Website/Black%20History,%20Imani%20Arrington/Zora%20Neale%20Hurston.html>.
