Zora Neale Hurston's women

In the study called ` Zora Neale Hurston?s Women?, it istried to make clear where the Afro-American woman reachedeconomically and socially at the beginning of 20th century.Itis examined how this reflected in her works by her ownperspective. In the selected novels and short stories, women?sperception of life, their sufferings, how they endure theoppression for some time, the process of their findingthemselves and the mistakes they make and the things theygrasp in this period are investigated with a criticalviewpoint.In her works, Hurston, whose childhood passed in a townwhere African-American people were the majority, mentions moreabout male-female issue rather than the subject of racialdiscrimination. In (1937) weTheir Eyes Were Watching Godwitness the adventure of a black woman called Janie Crawfordwho is looking for her own identity in a man-dominated blacksociety. In ?Sweat? (1926), Delia Jones washes the whites?clothes and works hard in order to maintain her homeeconomically, besides, there remains no tyranny which she doesnot suffer from her husband. Being different from the twoworks mentioned above, in Jonah?s Gourd Vine (1934) Hurstonintroduces a wise woman character to her readers. Lucy, theheroine of the novel, does not have to undergo a processthrough which Jane has done. She is already pleased with thepoint she has reached and with herself. She also sacrificesherself for the sake of her man she loves and she accepts allthe negative happenings in her marriage as well. Missie Mayin ?The Gilded Six Bits? (1933), for the sake of her love toher husband, becomes together with a man whom she thinks asrich so that she can help her husband to overcome his weaknesstowards money. The awareness she experiences by realizing thatthe man is not rich cannot be thought as simple. Contrary tothese characters, in (1948),HurstonSeraph On The Suwaneepresents her readers a white woman called Arvay Henson whoconvinces herself to the fact that she will never find outlove and happiness in life. Arvay, who could not get rid ofher complex of being a spinster even after she has married andwho has a communication problem with her husband, in herjourney to a self-actualized life, comes to a point that thereaders can take a deep breath. The works handled in thisstudy are classified according to their common points. In thefirst chapter, we witness the black woman?s newly-gainedposition through Nanny, Janie?s grandmother, who defines blackwoman as `the mule of the world?. In the second chapter,verbal and physical violence that the black men and thesociety implement on the women are told. In the third chapter,the awakening of the women, their adopting assertive attitutestowards their men and society are scrutinized. In addition,while becoming whole as a woman and as a person their beliefin God and tendency to education make them strong.