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A review by bioniclib
Mules and Men by Zora Neale Hurston
5.0
This really shoulda been two books; the first dealing with Folk Tales of African Americans in the South, the second on how to become ordained in Hoodoo.
The first part was as lyrical and as funny as the last book by her I read, Their Eyes Were Watching God. It also deals with the African American Culture as a complete culture, for the most part. While the folk tales invariably deal with slavery a lot of the time, and the people from whom Zora is gathering these tales are working for some white man or another, it doesn't do much deal with how African Americans see themselves in relation to whites. There's still a bit of WEB Dubois' double consciousness at work, but that has to do with Zora not being a Southern anymore and not trying to keep an eye on how white people are seeing how black people are acting.
The Southerns call the stories they tell lies. Which I thought was great. The lies often focus on how blacks can outwit whites but still lose. They do not think highly of themselves, or perhaps it's the same mentality that gave birth to The Dozens. I had no idea the game dated back to the 1920s. You may know by the name it's under now; Yo Mama jokes.
But the way with words goes far above just lies. The imagery they use for everyday life is simply brilliant. On other random thought before I finish off this review with some of my favorite quotes.
So often a slave is given a new suit of clothes before being set free it reminds me of how a house elf is set free.
Onto the quotes:
"De sun was so hot till a grindstone melted and run off in de shade to cool off." (20)
"Youse so black till they have to throw a sheet over yo’ head so de sun kin rise every mornin’." (28)
"He didn’t die—he jus’ uglied away.” (68)
"A snail was crossin’ de road for seben years. Just as he got across a tree fell and barely missed him ’bout a inch or two. If he had a been where he was six months before it would er kilt him. De snail looked back at de tree and tole de people, ‘See, it pays to be fast.’” (127)
"Man wasn’t made until around half-past five on the sixth day, so he can’t know how anything was done." (184)
The first part was as lyrical and as funny as the last book by her I read, Their Eyes Were Watching God. It also deals with the African American Culture as a complete culture, for the most part. While the folk tales invariably deal with slavery a lot of the time, and the people from whom Zora is gathering these tales are working for some white man or another, it doesn't do much deal with how African Americans see themselves in relation to whites. There's still a bit of WEB Dubois' double consciousness at work, but that has to do with Zora not being a Southern anymore and not trying to keep an eye on how white people are seeing how black people are acting.
The Southerns call the stories they tell lies. Which I thought was great. The lies often focus on how blacks can outwit whites but still lose. They do not think highly of themselves, or perhaps it's the same mentality that gave birth to The Dozens. I had no idea the game dated back to the 1920s. You may know by the name it's under now; Yo Mama jokes.
But the way with words goes far above just lies. The imagery they use for everyday life is simply brilliant. On other random thought before I finish off this review with some of my favorite quotes.
So often a slave is given a new suit of clothes before being set free it reminds me of how a house elf is set free.
Onto the quotes:
"De sun was so hot till a grindstone melted and run off in de shade to cool off." (20)
"Youse so black till they have to throw a sheet over yo’ head so de sun kin rise every mornin’." (28)
"He didn’t die—he jus’ uglied away.” (68)
"A snail was crossin’ de road for seben years. Just as he got across a tree fell and barely missed him ’bout a inch or two. If he had a been where he was six months before it would er kilt him. De snail looked back at de tree and tole de people, ‘See, it pays to be fast.’” (127)
"Man wasn’t made until around half-past five on the sixth day, so he can’t know how anything was done." (184)