Zora Neal Hurston

8.1                                                                     Zora Neal Hurston

Zora Neal Hurston Was born in a town of Notasulga Alabama.  It was thought that she was born in 1891, but it was uncertain and she states that she was born in 1901 or 1903.  She lived in an all black town until she was thirteen years old.  Her father was a carpenter and preacher and her mother was a school teacher. Her mother encouraged her lot. Her mother passed away and she was sent to live with relatives that her father sent money to take care of her.  She worked as a maid and went to college.  She wanted to be a writer and was awarded a Fellowship to collect Folklore.  Her work was often criticized; her intentions of writing were to write about people and not their skin color.

 In her story of “John Redding Goes to Sea’    John Redding as a young boy and an adult wanted to leave home to explore the world. He would throw sticks in the river and watch them float away. He always wanted to leave home and see where the sticks floated too. His mother tries to keep him from his dreams. First, John's mother is determined not to let John pursue his dreams she pleads illness and threatens to disown him if he leaves.  John's marriage to Stella seems to tie him down permanently to his home, as his new wife agrees with his mother to discourage John's desire to travel. Further, his mother's fits keep John from even joining the Navy.  Later, when John is killed while working with a crew to build a bridge on the St. John's River, his father forbids his body to be retrieved from the river as it floats toward the ocean. At last, John will get his wish to travel and see the world, but now he is dead.