Judgment In Society
Judgment in Society
How does judgment affect society? In society judging others at times becomes an unconscious habit. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston views judgment as unfair and harmful. In her novel, Hurston uses figurative language, tone, and dialogue to demonstrate how judgment can be detrimental to humanity.
The dialogue in this passage reveals to us the blind judgment between characters and Hurston’s negative attitude towards it. This story takes place in a southern Black community, during the 1920s. The characters spend their days working for white people feeling like “tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences”(3). The black people are stripped of their humanity by the judgment of the whites, whose racist assumptions make the black people feel like senseless “conveniences” for them to use. The way the black people are treated effects how they treat others- even those from their own race and community. As a result, they judge Janie, who is the protagonist of the novel. They are envious of her socio-economic status and question “Why she don’t stay in her class?”(16). Hurston’s dialogue demonstrates the dangers of being judged and as well as judging. When judgments are based on false assumptions all society suffers.
Figurative language shows how the characters’ judgment reveals their emotions. Hurston demonstrates how both the black and the white people do not think before they speak, instead their “Words [are] walking without masters” (10). The black people are judged so they criticize Janie out of instinct. They watch Janie walk by and they are left speechless, “The porch couldn’t talk for looking” (19-20). They judge Janie without knowing her background the same way the white people judge them. They are astonished that Janie is different and does not respond to their questions but only says “good evenin” (18). Janie’s response shows that she does not let their judgment damage her emotionally unlike the porch sitters who are
How does judgment affect society? In society judging others at times becomes an unconscious habit. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston views judgment as unfair and harmful. In her novel, Hurston uses figurative language, tone, and dialogue to demonstrate how judgment can be detrimental to humanity.
The dialogue in this passage reveals to us the blind judgment between characters and Hurston’s negative attitude towards it. This story takes place in a southern Black community, during the 1920s. The characters spend their days working for white people feeling like “tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences”(3). The black people are stripped of their humanity by the judgment of the whites, whose racist assumptions make the black people feel like senseless “conveniences” for them to use. The way the black people are treated effects how they treat others- even those from their own race and community. As a result, they judge Janie, who is the protagonist of the novel. They are envious of her socio-economic status and question “Why she don’t stay in her class?”(16). Hurston’s dialogue demonstrates the dangers of being judged and as well as judging. When judgments are based on false assumptions all society suffers.
Figurative language shows how the characters’ judgment reveals their emotions. Hurston demonstrates how both the black and the white people do not think before they speak, instead their “Words [are] walking without masters” (10). The black people are judged so they criticize Janie out of instinct. They watch Janie walk by and they are left speechless, “The porch couldn’t talk for looking” (19-20). They judge Janie without knowing her background the same way the white people judge them. They are astonished that Janie is different and does not respond to their questions but only says “good evenin” (18). Janie’s response shows that she does not let their judgment damage her emotionally unlike the porch sitters who are