Drenched in Light/ Their Eyes Were Watching God Compare and Contrast
Drenched in Light - Their Eyes Were Watching God
There are many similarities and differences which set apart and bring together the main ideas of the short story, “Drenched in Light”1924, and the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” 1937, each written by Zora Neale Hurston. “Drenched in Light” is a short story which Zora displays the outrageous relationship between a young fantasist African American girl named Isis and her domineering grandmother in the early 19th century. “Their Eyes Were Watching God” begins with a similar concept, a young, aspiring African American girl who was raised by a protective and nurturing grandmother in the 19th century. The settings of the stories both take place in the south, and In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora changes the role of a grandmother who wants less of her granddaughter to a grandmother who wants more in her granddaughter; she also raises the level of maturity within the main characters. The stories have great similarities and differences.
One item that is quite symbolic in both books is the gateposts which symbolize change and epiphany in the girls lives. In The beginning of “Drenched in Light”, Isis leans upon a gatepost and embraces the road beyond it, the road as she interprets it, to her freedom. She describes it as a “gleaming shell road that led to Orlando” (Hurston1). Isis dreamed constantly of one day going beyond that gatepost, but only dreamed of change. However in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Janie, at her grandmothers’ gatepost, actually changed her life, for that was where she was when she “let Johnny Taylor kiss her” (Hurston10), and that was when her grandmother started treating her like an adult.
In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora creates a more dreamy relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Janie’s grandmother tells her “nothing can’t stop you from wishin’” (Hurston16). She believed in Janie, loved her and therefore let Janie know, she could be anyone she wanted to be.
There are many similarities and differences which set apart and bring together the main ideas of the short story, “Drenched in Light”1924, and the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” 1937, each written by Zora Neale Hurston. “Drenched in Light” is a short story which Zora displays the outrageous relationship between a young fantasist African American girl named Isis and her domineering grandmother in the early 19th century. “Their Eyes Were Watching God” begins with a similar concept, a young, aspiring African American girl who was raised by a protective and nurturing grandmother in the 19th century. The settings of the stories both take place in the south, and In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora changes the role of a grandmother who wants less of her granddaughter to a grandmother who wants more in her granddaughter; she also raises the level of maturity within the main characters. The stories have great similarities and differences.
One item that is quite symbolic in both books is the gateposts which symbolize change and epiphany in the girls lives. In The beginning of “Drenched in Light”, Isis leans upon a gatepost and embraces the road beyond it, the road as she interprets it, to her freedom. She describes it as a “gleaming shell road that led to Orlando” (Hurston1). Isis dreamed constantly of one day going beyond that gatepost, but only dreamed of change. However in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” Janie, at her grandmothers’ gatepost, actually changed her life, for that was where she was when she “let Johnny Taylor kiss her” (Hurston10), and that was when her grandmother started treating her like an adult.
In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Zora creates a more dreamy relationship between a grandmother and her granddaughter. Janie’s grandmother tells her “nothing can’t stop you from wishin’” (Hurston16). She believed in Janie, loved her and therefore let Janie know, she could be anyone she wanted to be.