When first published in 1937, Hurston's novel about a black woman's journey to independence was denounced by male critics. However, the triumphant return of Their Eyes Were Watching God in 1978 enlightened the minds of readers, becoming one of the most acclaimed works of African American literature. Hurston's novel details the struggle of protagonist Janie Crawford, who remains submissive to her male counterparts for most of her life, but eventually flourishes as she learns to appreciate her independence. Their Eyes Were Watching God opens with Janie's return to Eatonville as the young protagonist is eager to share her travel tales with her closest childhood friend, Pheoby. As Janie's interactions with Pheoby demonstrate, storytelling is a cultural activity most ornate throughout the novel and remains both important to the black community and to Janie herself. Throughout the novel, Janie occasionally speaks in her own voice, but the majority is told in the third person, controlled by Zora Neale Hurston herself. Thus, Hurston adapted the novel to alternate between the narrator's voice and Janie's dialect so that readers become immersed in Janie's life and those of the other characters. By departing from the conventions of Standard English and establishing the divide between Southern African-American dialect and the narrator's individual style, Hurston gives the black community a voice that was previously nonexistent and allows Janie to narrate the history through his eyes, engaging in traditional style. act of storytelling through the direct characterization of Pheoby and the popularized porch scene. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned"?Get the original essayAt the time Hurston was writing his bildungsroman, African-American culture viewed the act of storytelling as a means used to escape persecution and create one's own idealism. world, which is paralleled in the details of the novel regarding Janie and Pheoby's relationship with the porch sitters, both on and off the porch. The novel begins with the wholesome image of the porch overflowing with townspeople conversing in a particularly critical manner, as Hurston details: The people all saw it coming because the sun was down. The sun had disappeared, but it had left its footprints in the sky. It was time to sit on the roadside porches. It was time to hear things and talk. These guards had been tongueless, earless, and eyeless all day. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skin. But now the sun and the boss were gone, so the skins seemed powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lower things. They transmitted to the nations through their mouth. They sat down to judge. (Hurston 1) Here, Hurston opens the novel with the calming image of "sunset" (line 1) suggesting the beginning of a revelation, in this case, Janie's journey. Yet this journey is not without its flaws as Hurston's use of demeaning language shows the reader that African Americans are seen as "lesser" (line 9), lacking confidence during the day when the " boss” (line 7) is active and instead only feels comfortable with the white man’s instant departure. The use of visual imagery to describe the guards as "tongueless, earless, and eyeless" (line 5) further illustrates the comfort the townspeople feel under the porch, as they are able to develop a sense of control over circumstances normallyuncontrollable through the act of chatter. These porch sitters feel safe when discussing other townspeople, but ultimately represent the division in the social structure of the time, known to cause a significant breakdown in individuality as they try to get Janie's attention from her community. The Porch Keepers are interested in learning about Janie's story. However, Janie kindly refuses to be associated with them, reflecting her dominant independence which Hurston contrasts with the conventional one of the community, providing an outlet of exploration for Janie's individual development in the remainder of the novel. Throughout the text, Hurston displays mastery of southern black dialect, making the novel unique through the incorporation of grammatical variables. notations, vocabulary words and relevant tone. Hurston writes, “let me talk to my wife for a minute and I'll go see the man” (Hurston 37) and through this direct institution of dialogue and obscure grammatical structure, the reader is able to digest the southern dialect deep. By conversing through informal dialogue, Hurston develops the character's personality and allows the reader to understand the character's internal motivations. In this case, the use of dialogue shows a slight frustration in the character's mind. “Lemme” (line 1) is informal diction and therefore does not compare to saying “leave me” or “I must” in a literary text, but rather diminishes the urgency of the situation and poses an order in a gentle manner . In the same sense, the narrator's voice offers a striking contrast with the character's interwoven dialogues: The idea seemed funny to them and they wanted to laugh. They tried to hold back, but enough incredulous laughter welled up in their eyes and escaped the corners of their mouths to inform anyone of their thoughts. Then Joe abruptly walked away. Most of them went with him to show him the way and be there when his bluff was called. (Hurston 37) The dialogue between the characters uses low diction to reflect an informal conversational tone while the narrator uses high diction in order to tell the story giving the reader optimal knowledge of the situation. While the spoken dialogue uses diction such as "mah" (line 1) and "goin" (line 1), the narrator incorporates higher level words like "incredulous" (line 2) and "abruptly" (line 5) . Hurston intentionally uses this division of dialect to establish the tone of sympathetic affirmation, paralleling Janie's journey toward personal growth. For African American women, finding one's voice was not always easy, and through the inspiration of Hurston herself, black women's authors began to write with freedom. indirect speech, which involves merging the voices of the narrators and protagonists while keeping the same black vernacular preserved throughout. The narrator's direct speech is illustrated in the novel as follows: "Janie hung on the newel post thinking so long that she almost fell asleep there" (Hurston 101), while the character's direct speech is seen through: “I bet he lives with one woman or another and thinks I'm a fool. Glad I caught myself in time” (Hurston 102). Yet free indirect speech is perceived through the mixture of narrative voices as follows: “In the cool of the afternoon the demon from hell specially sent to the lovers came to Janie's ear. Doubt." (Hurston 103). As textual examples show, direct speech is written in the black vernacular while indirect speech is in standard English according to grammatical conventions and.