Hurston v. Wright

A detailed Summary of Hurston v. Wright

In the very center of Florida, a young girl grew up in a world where blacks were leaders. In the very center of the mean streets of Memphis, a young boy grew up in a world of hardships, desertion, and struggle. This girl and boy would grow up to be two of the most inspiring writers of the Harlem Renaissance: Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright. While Hurston wrote of the African-American experience in Their Eyes Were Watching God as being, at its core, an entirely human experience (regardless of race or sex) yet controlled by a higher power, Wright, in Black Boy, wrote of the African-American experience as he saw it through his own eyes: one of lifelong struggles, having been dealt cards by God and having to play with what you've got. These two very distinct and contrasting writing styles are shown in three literary devices of the authors' magnum opuses: settings, characters, and themes.

The setting chosen in both works are significant to the styles of the authors. Hurston chose two setting rich in development of black culture: Eatonville, Florida (the town of h

er childhood) and Jacksonville, Florida (the "muck"). These places are very susceptible to the destruction brought by hurricanes, showing an underlying but constant theme of the wrath of God. On the other hand, in Wright's vision, the setting for the characters is a result of their mistakes in life, where people have made it hard on themselves with their life choices, not God. This place is one of the so-called "projects" in Memphis, Tennessee (also the town of Wright's childhood).

Three literary elements in the greatest works of Hurston and Wright clearly show their opposing writing styles. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston writes to convey that life is controlled by God, using settings, characters, and various themes. Wright uses the same three devices in Black Boy to show that people have control of their own lives. These viewpoints, I believe, have arisen from Hurston's and Wright's childhood experiences, as Hurston struggled to find her voice, and Wright struggled to deal with not having a father.

Perhaps the strongest contrast is that of themes th

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Approximate Word count = 724
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Hurston v. Wright

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