Date of Award
7-16-2009
Degree Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
First Advisor
Dr. Thomas McHaney - Chair
Second Advisor
Dr. Pearl McHaney
Third Advisor
Dr. Mary Zeigler
Abstract
In scholarship discussing Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie’s self-realization is central to her identity, and many scholars view and discuss her as a cultural hero. But her success is conditional on circumstance rather than composition of character, a fact this essay explores through a careful comparison between Janie and Tweet, a character from Ellen Douglas’ Can’t Quit You, Baby; specifically, while Janie ultimately succeeds in her world—even while confronting gender oppression—she improbably avoids the additional, crippling subjugation of racial prejudice that Tweet endures. Through this and a discussion of definitions and Hurston’s work as a folklorist/writer, I attempt to show that Janie can be more effectively described as a folk hero, a title that: (1) accurately identifies her functions in her fictional society and in literary fiction and (2) satisfies Hurston’s goals in the novel while also accurately reflecting Janie’s journey to self fulfillment.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.57709/1059520
Recommended Citation
Cochran, Kimberly Giles, ""Ah Ain't Brought Home a Thing but Mahself": Cultural and Folk Heroism in Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God and Ellen Douglas' Can't Quit You, Baby." Thesis, Georgia State University, 2009.
doi: https://doi.org/10.57709/1059520