- In Color Struck and John Redding Goes to Sea, issues arise which lead to marriages in the stories being unfulfilled. Are these failed marriages reflective of Hurston’s skepticism of Christianity or something else?
- Both stories end with the death of a child, but in opposite circumstances. John Redding dies after he leaves his family while Emma’s daughter dies when Emma is almost on the brink of creating a full family. Does Hurston believe the family unit itself is a flawed structure or does this go along with her ideas of Christian marriage?
Influence of Religion
One thing that I have been thinking about since our discussion on Zora Hurston was the fact that she didn’t support conventional religion, specifically catholicism & christianity. From her point of view it is understandable as to why she opposes christianity, however, given her background and how her life turned out, I think it would’ve been beneficial for her to turn to some form of religion. I think her dislike of christianity was partially fueled by her resentment towards white people (amongst other personal views), but part of the reason I feel it could have been beneficial is because religion can be used as a tool to build communities.
Specifically speaking towards the Renaissance and Radicalism article, after learning about the Harlem Renaissance and some of the trials and tribulations that black people went through in redefining the “negro identity”, black people were represented by many great figures but at times it seemed like they were not on common ground. For example, when the Irish were integrating within America they were very unified. From the jobs they participated in, to the messages they wanted to portray to the public. Irish nationalist organizations were formed based on their catholic background, and that allowed them to have a social & political presence within different communities. With that being said, if you look at the NAACP, although there was a common goal to ensure the rights of colored people, they are fighting a battle of color, and it would’ve benefited them to “change” the narrative. To a country that “claims” to value christian and catholic beliefs, if they would have taken the stance of being united based on their similar religious values, I think it would have made black people more unified and make it harder for the opposition to challenge them on the basis of color.
Although there have been many great black leaders, they all approached black nationalism from different angles. Yes the ultimate goal may have been the same, but the steps to get there were too different. Christianity doesn’t have to be the religion that unites them, but when you have some blacks that are Christian, some that are muslim, and some that are non-believers, they are inevitably going to run into a problem. It is easy to oppress people when they are divided amongst themselves.