Zora Neale Hurstons Comparison to The Harlem Renissance “It takes getting everything you ever wanted and then losing it, to know what true freedom is” (Lana Del Rey). Zora Neale Hurston illustrates the idea of achieving freedom through Janies story in “Their Eyes Were Watching God”. In the novel, Janie is a symbol of the Harlem Renaissance through her journey in life to find her place in the world. Hurston blends together her background knowledge of living in the time period and also her own personal beliefs when she produced the novel. The Harlem Renaissance was a time period that blossomed many different forms of art for African Americans. Similar to the African Americans during Harlem Renaissance, Janie follows a path searching for a place of acceptance and find her place in the world. Janie connects to the Harlem Renaissance because The Great Migration occured during this time period which involved African Americans searching for a place of acceptance. Throughout the novel, Janie has multiple husbands who each teach her something but Tea Cake has the biggest impact on Janies life. Tea Cake is everything that Janie was searching for and broadens Janies horizons. The Harlem Renaissance gave African Americans opportunities that they did not have before and Janies experience with Tea Cake is an allusion to the time period. …show more content…
Zora Neale Hurston was an anthropologist in Harlem during this explosion of the arts. In Hurstons, How It Feels to be Colored Me, she says “At certain times, I have no race”. Hurstons explains how progress begins by ignoring the different races and looking at everyone as equal. Hurston does not want to look at herself as being different or a minority. This connects to the Harlem Renaissance because it shows that equality was being achieved for Hurston and she was able to feel accepted in a society that would discriminate in the