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Winterkill is about a man named Danny. He is a failing rodeo cowboy who is also an American Indian. Years before the novel started, his wife and their baby son left him. When she dies later on, he decides to go find his son, Jack, and rescue him from his abusive stepfather. All this is an introduction once they go on the annual winter hunting trip Danny and his father Red Shirt used to go on. Their Eyes Were Watching God showcased a woman named Janie, and her struggle to find her true love.
Before her grandma died, she forced her to marry a man who showed love on the outside. He ended up only wanting her to work. Her next chance for love came when she ran off with a man that she met name Joe Starks. He showed much promise in building up a great town for blacks. She ended up not being happy being with him. Her last chance for love came after Joe died.
A man named Tea Cake came and slowly found a way to her heart. He let her be who she wanted to be. Then, when he died, she went back to Eatonville, Joes old town. Both these novels used unique narrative styles and contained many important themes. But how were these literary devices used to make them strong novels? Narrative technique is the way to author tells the story.
For example, if one wanted to write a book describing their life, they might want to start from birth to the present with a few key memories in each stage of their life. This is how Craig Lesley chose to write his novel Winterkill. One might wonder the significance of this median of writing. Most authors write their novels this way. It is when a novel is written with a circular storyline that it captures our attention. Not usually would one come across a novel that ends where it starts.
Their Eyes Were Watching God began and ended in at the same scene. It is an interesting way to shape a book. The reader learns of a small amount of the ending. Then when book is finished, the story in the beginning matches that of the end. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, the opening chapter quickly gives the reader a glimpse of the towns reaction when she came back to Eatonville. This isnt explained until halfway through the book when she runs off away from that town.
This way of writing is an excellent way to get the reader to want to keep reading on. It made reading further, a way to find answers to the questions the first chapter brought. Another piece of narrative technique in both novels was how the past was presented to the reader. In Winterkill, Danny's past was conveyed through his flashbacks.
These flashbacks were written as if it were happening in the present. For example, when Danny recalls his experience at the winter hunting trip, the storyline was as if it jumped back into the past by the way the characters were used. The snow stopped that afternoon and the wind came up, sweeping bare patches on the west slopes. They decided to drive one of the canyons breaking off Black Horse Ridge, with Red Shirt and Danny moving through the canyon and Jones blocking from a position on an old logging road (Lesley, p 124). Separate chapters were exclusively Danny's flashbacks and written in the present. Much of Danny's past was told through these flashbacks.
Almost everything about Red Shirt was told by the flashbacks. Their Eyes Were Watching God was based exclusively on the past. From chapter two to the end, it was all the past. It was pretty interesting how Hurston weaved the quoted speaking into the beginning of the story. Ah know exactly what Ah got to tell yuh, but its hard to know where to start. (Hurston, p 8) Pheobys hungry listening helped Janie to tell her story. So she went on thinking back to her young years and explaining them to her friend in soft, easy phrases while all around the house, the night time put on flesh and blackness (Hurston, p 10).
The next few pages before the end of the chapter are of Janie telling her story, but they are lacking quotations. It is an introduction to Janie's story. Some important ideas to discuss are the themes the authors incorporated into their novels. Some themes that Winterkill showed We can learn from ours and others mistakes, and Fathers and sons share a special bond. Their Eyes Were Watching God had themes that stood out more than Winterkill's did. They included Do not let others thoughts stand in your way and People need a quest to find out about themselves.
Characters in Winterkill found out that they could learn from theirs and others mistakes. Take, for example, Danny. His father made many noticeable mistakes when raising Danny. Danny saw these flaws and did not do them to Jack. The example that sticks out mostly is when Red Shirt and Danny were at a bar during his childhood.
Red Shirt got intoxicated and womanized while Danny sat in a booth eating french fries and a Coke. But Danny knew Red Shirt had drunk too much, because his lower lip hung out, making his mouth slack (Lesley, p 244). Red Shirt would not have been attracted to this certain woman if he had not have drunk so much. He ended up getting in a fight with some guys and running away from them. The lady Red Shirt was attracted to, Verline, took Danny home. Later, they found out Red Shirt had frozen to death in his pickup while running away from those guys.
Now, Danny knew how he felt when Red Shirt did these things to him. He did not want Jack to have to go through the same experiences. This is just one example of Danny learning from his fathers mistakes. There were many other times that Danny improved on Red Shirts parenting. Craig Lesley also showed how fathers and sons share a special bond.
He did this through Danny and Jack. Danny and Jacks special bond came late in the book when they finally held hands after surviving their hunting trip. Ever since Danny brought Jack home, he has wanted to become closer to Jack. He did activities with him that other father and son duos usually do. For example, they went hunting, trapping, looking for their cattle, and camping. These activities were Danny's way of trying to get closer to Jack, but the thing that brought them closer was a simple act of love toward another.
Danny covered his sons hand with his own, knowing they must return next camp. (Lesley, p 306). Jack and Danny's friendship was very interesting because you could see it grow as the book progressed. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie learned to not let others thoughts control her life. Sadly for her, it took her three husbands and many experiences to finally figure that out. Janie's first experience with letting others control her came with her grandma making her marry Logan. Deep down she knew she didnt want to marry Logan, but she felt to small to retaliate at her grandma.
Another instance where Janie let others control her was after Joe died. She was so caught up with the towns thoughts of her that she had to make herself too grieved because it was what the town wanted. After marrying Tea Cake, she was able to break away from this problem, and then finally with the climax, she was totally independent from other peoples thoughts. Another idea that Hurston touched on was how we all need our own quest to find out about ourselves.
As Janie put it, Two things everybody's got tuh do for themselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin for themselves (Hurston, p 183). This idea of hers held true throughout the novel. She obviously learned a great deal about herself during here quest. The narrative techniques and themes were very interesting. Lesley's form of a linear storyline included very informing flashbacks along with helpful themes.
Hurston's themes were built on a unique circular storyline. These two different ways of writing novels were both very excellent.
Free research essays on topics related to: special bond, fathers and sons, narrative technique, tea cake, eyes were watching god
Research essay sample on Comparing Winterkill And Their Eyes Were Watching God
