Literary Analysis: Sweat by Zora Neale Hurston
“Drenched in Light”
In the short story “Drenched in Light” by Zora Neale Hurston, the author appeals to a broad audience by disguising ethnology and an underlying theme of gender, race, and oppression with an ambiguous tale of a young black girl and the appreciation she receives from white people. Often writing to a double audience, Hurston had a keen ability to appeal to white and black readers in a clever way. “[Hurston] knew her white folks well and performed her minstrel shows tongue in cheek” (Meisenhelder 2). Originally published in The Opportunity in 1924, “Drenched in Light” was Hurston’s first story to a national audience.
"Drenched in Light" is a story centered on a young girl named Isis Watts. Isis is faced with the oppressive nature of her grandmother, working constantly, and giving up her childhood. Every childish act Isis does is met with a beating from Grandma Potts. Being the only female child around increases the pressure she receives to be a lady. When Grandma Potts wakes up to find Isis and her brother preparing to shave her, Isis runs out of the house in fear of another beating. After, Isis hears a band near her house and remembers that a carnival is in town.
With Grandma Potts out of sight and out of mind and nothing to look forward to besides a beating for the attempted shaving, Isis grabs the red tablecloth to use as a Spanish shawl and follows the band to town. Isis runs for the woods when Grandma Potts sees her dancing and entertaining a crowd of people. Soon a white couple from the carnival find her playing in the water and promise to take her home and assist her in escaping Grandma's wrath. Isis returns to an irate Grandmother, berating her with insults and frustrations about her brand new tablecloth being ruined. The White lady offers Grandma $5 to replace the tablecloth and requests the company of Isis saying, "I want her to go on to the hotel and dance in that table cloth for me. I can stand a little light today”(Hurston 18).
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In the short story “Drenched in Light” by Zora Neale Hurston, the author appeals to a broad audience by disguising ethnology and an underlying theme of gender, race, and oppression with an ambiguous tale of a young black girl and the appreciation she receives from white people. Often writing to a double audience, Hurston had a keen ability to appeal to white and black readers in a clever way. “[Hurston] knew her white folks well and performed her minstrel shows tongue in cheek” (Meisenhelder 2). Originally published in The Opportunity in 1924, “Drenched in Light” was Hurston’s first story to a national audience.
"Drenched in Light" is a story centered on a young girl named Isis Watts. Isis is faced with the oppressive nature of her grandmother, working constantly, and giving up her childhood. Every childish act Isis does is met with a beating from Grandma Potts. Being the only female child around increases the pressure she receives to be a lady. When Grandma Potts wakes up to find Isis and her brother preparing to shave her, Isis runs out of the house in fear of another beating. After, Isis hears a band near her house and remembers that a carnival is in town.
With Grandma Potts out of sight and out of mind and nothing to look forward to besides a beating for the attempted shaving, Isis grabs the red tablecloth to use as a Spanish shawl and follows the band to town. Isis runs for the woods when Grandma Potts sees her dancing and entertaining a crowd of people. Soon a white couple from the carnival find her playing in the water and promise to take her home and assist her in escaping Grandma's wrath. Isis returns to an irate Grandmother, berating her with insults and frustrations about her brand new tablecloth being ruined. The White lady offers Grandma $5 to replace the tablecloth and requests the company of Isis saying, "I want her to go on to the hotel and dance in that table cloth for me. I can stand a little light today”(Hurston 18).
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Cited: (1946) :240-42 JSTOR. Web. 15 Nov. 2010. Davis, Doris. “ ‘De Talkin’ Game’: The Creation of Psychic Space in Selected Short Story Fiction” Tulsa Studies in Women’s Literature 26.2 (2007) 269-86 Hurston, Zora Neale. “Drenched in Light.” Spunk. Ed. Bob Callahan. Berkeley, CA: Turtle Island Foundation, 1985. Print. Meisenhelder, Susan. Hitting a Straight Lick with a Crooked Stick, Race and Gender in the Work of Zora Neale Hurston. Tuscaloosa, AL: U of Alabama P, 1999. Print. Stine, Jean C. and Daniel G. Marowski, eds. Contemporary Literary Criticism. Vol. 30. Detroit: Gale, 1984 Williams, Regennia N. “Zora Neale Hurston and a History of Southern Life” Journal of African American History 92.1 (2007):129. Web. 1 Nov. 2010.