Their+Eyes+Were+Watching+God

Zora Neale Hurston was a novelist in the folklore tradition. According to //The Bedford Glossary of Critical and Literary Terms//, folklore is "the beliefs, traditions, rituals, stories, and other creative expressions of ordinary people, or //folk//" (182). Some of her contemporary African-American writers criticized Hurston for not writing about the struggles of the African-American people (as many writers did from the Harlem Rennaissance era). Instead, //Their Eyes Were Watching God// portrays the experiences of ordinary people in the South and avoids including some of the grim realities of life for African-Americans during this time of segregation and discrimination. In your discussion, comment on the various elements of the novel that echo the folklore tradition. Also, explore what is gained by telling the story of Janie in the folk tradition, which requires at some points the suspension reality, and what is gained by not politicizing her work?