Author Biography (House, Contextual)

                                                     Author Biography Written by Anna House

    

Zora Neale Hurston was born in Notasulga, Alabama on January 7^th, 1891 (2). Some sources say that her birth year could range anywhere from 1891-1901 because of Zora’s dishonesty about her age throughout her life. She was the daughter of a preacher (her father later became a mayor) and a teacher (2). As a young child, she and her family moved to Florida (2), which is significant to Their Eyes Were Watching God in that Florida is the primary setting. A few years later, her mother died and her father married another woman and basically got rid of her. Zora and her father didn’t have a positive relationship, which is portrayed through Janie’s distrust of men in the book. Throughout all of the chaos, Zora lived with several other family members (3). An unsteady family life also likely influenced Hurston’s writing of Their Eyes Were Watching God because Janie married multiple times and grew up with her grandmother.

            As Zora grew older, she supported herself by waitressing and acting to earn money because she wanted to get herself and education (3). She eventually attended Howard Prep school and later Howard University in Washington, D.C. She soon graduated with a degree in 1920 at the age of 29 years old (1). She began to write short stories, such as “John Redding Goes to Sea”, which was printed in black literary magazines (2). Then, in 1925, she decided that she wanted to study anthropology, and studied at Barnard College for two years. During her studies at Barnard College, she met Herbert Sheen, the man who would become her first husband. Zora and Herbert’s marriage lasted only two years (1), which likely contributed to the way Janie’s marriages in Their Eyes Were Watching God were short lived.

Soon after, Zora moved to New York at the time of the Harlem Renaissance, which is known as “the black literary and cultural movement of the 1920’s” (1). Her first novel was published in 1935, “Mules and Men” (1). Zora’s most popular and influential novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God was published shortly thereafter in 1937. After that, Zora had another marriage, wrote several more novels and short stories, and worked many jobs, such as a maid (1). Her many odd jobs and marriages definitely influence who Janie was in Their Eyes Were Watching God, a lot of Janie’s actions mirrored those of Zora Neale Hurston’s. Zora had a stroke in 1959, was admitted to Saint Lucie County Welfare Home, and died from heart problems on January 28, 1960 (1).

 

                                                             Works Cited

 1) "Zora Neale Hurston." Gale Cengage Learning. Gale Cengage Learning, n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. <http://www.gale.cengage.com/free_resources/bhm/bio/hurston_z.htm>.

 

2) "Zora Neale Hurston Biography." Zora Neale Hurston Biography. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.

3) "Zora Neale Hurston." Zora Neale Hurston. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Apr. 2013.