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Although Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is a widely read novel today, that wasn't always the case. When her novel was first published, many black readers were enraged. It wasn't until the early seventies when Hurston's novel was rediscovered and thus eventually brought back into the literary canon. What aspects of the novel enraged the readers so that it would be forgotten for more than thirty years?



One of the most important aspects of the novel that enraged the black readers was Hurston's portrayal of the white people. Readers complained that Hurston wasn't harsh enough in her critique of the white people's treatment towards the black people. Rather than portraying whites as the stereotypical "Simon Legree" of Uncle Tom's Cabin—the ideal poor, racist "white trash"—most whites that take part in the novel are contrarily very helpful towards the blacks and show great compassion towards them as well. For example, when Janie begins her story we meet the......

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Approximate Word Count: 1377
Approximate Pages: 6 (250 words per double-spaced page)

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