Similar or Different
Many writers have many ways to write a piece of work. Writers also
have different ways of getting a point across to the reader. Throughout the winter quarter
there have been many novels, books, poems, and other works to read and all were different
in some way and all were similar in some way. Two authors, such as Zora Neale Hurston, and
James Welsh, write in a unique way with characters and seem to make things as believable
as possible. Lorrie Moore, on the other hand, is one with great imagination and has a
great way of tricking her readers. There are numerous ways a writer can put things and
ideas but it is amazing how styles, plot ideas and characters can very between writers.
Although Zora Neale Hurston and James Welsh are creative, Lorrie Moore has such a
determined sense to her writing and doesn’t give the reader any clues at the
beginning to give the reader an idea of the stories outcome. She leaves readers to dream
up their own ending by leaving the reader dangling at the end of a story and with no real
sense of the conclusion.
Take character development for example. Zora Hurston and James Welch
develop characters of a simpler and less complex nature. Moore, on the other hand, focuses
more on conflict development. Both Hurston and Welch focus more on the setting and
situations of characters rather than the over development of characters. They give you
great clues to let you visualize the characters. You can picture them in your head with
the elaborate detail given by both authors. Moore’s characters often have more
problems than can be worked out in her short stories. Of course there isn’t enough to
a short story to make it extremely detailed and complete.
An example of Moore’s extreme character development is found in
“Agnes of Iowa” in Birds of America.“When Agnes turned out to not to
be attractive at all, but puffy and prone to a rash between her eyebrows, her hair flat
and bilious hue, her mother backpedaled” (Moore 78). This is her way to give a
description of her main character. She goes on and gives many unnecessary details that
tend to make the reader uninterested, but at the same time wondering what is going on with
the character. She doesn’t give the details that give the reader a mental picture of
the characters.
In Moore’s short story collection, it is almost as if she wants
the reader to think the characters are full of troubles and mystery. With Hurston and
Welch they don’t put so much wonder and mystery to the characters. With Welch he
describes White Man’s Dog, “Not so lucky was White Man’s Dog. He had little
to show for his eighteen winters” (Welch 3). Welch describes his characters just as
they would seem in real life. He doesn’t bother with many analogies. Hurston has a
great way of describing her characters, for example, “The men noticed her firm
buttocks like she had grape fruits in her hip pockets; the great rope of black hair
swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume” (Hurston 2). This
gives the reader a good picture of Janie the main character. By the author having such
fine details it can help the reader to better understand the characters and their roles in
the story line.
Whereas Lorrie Moore works on developing characters, Welch and
Hurston concentrate more on the setting and surrounding of their stories. The setting is
key to many great stories, and all of the chosen authors make the setting a key role in
the works. Still Welch and Hurston focus on it a bit more. They describe they way the
setting has an effect on the character's life and the way they communicate with community
and the world.
Welch, Hurston and Moore all use the setting to set the mood of the
situation and story lines in their works. The setting of these books are all different.
For example, Fools Crow is set in the Indian country where it is wild and living
can be rough against nature. By watching a video on Welch in class, it gave good evidence
on the way he writes about Native Americans. He writes about these subjects simply because
he is a Native American and is very knowledgeable about the Native American culture and
their old ways of living. Whereas in Their Eyes Were Watching God, the setting is
in various little community rich towns of Florida. The setting of this story gives the
reader a calm and easy feeling and is simpler to follow. Hurston also may write about the
subjects she does because it is easier for her because she has maybe lived in the same
types of towns and communities at some time. In Birds of America, the settings of
Moore’s short stories are all unlike but in a way the same because they all have a
person with a problem, and they move to a bigger town. The movement in the stories keeps
the reader eager to keep on reading, and it pulls them into the action of the events as
they are happening.
It is amazing how authors can write the same but at the same time be
so extremely different. By doing the in depth research on these authors, I have found that
there are many different ways writers can interpret their points and views. Hurston
has a very soft and easy to follow way of writing, and Welch is a bit more demanding of
the reader’s attention. Lorrie Moore, on the other hand, takes all of your attention
to keep things straight. Her tone in the stories makes me wonder if she is somewhat trying
to express her own troubles and fears through her writing.
Moore also doesn’t come straightforward with the conflicts of
her stories. This is also one more thing she does to keep stringing you along. She is very
talented and has a keen sense and meaning to her writing. Hurston’s story lines are
very simple and have a great meaning and moral to them usually. She doesn’t worry
about making things complex, but she always has a way to pull the reader back into the
story just when you think nothing is going to happen.
Hurston is very upfront with her conflicts and character problems.
Janie’s flash back at the beginning of Their Eyes Were Watching God tells
the reader from the get go what the story will consist of, the life and marriages of
Janie. The flashback also gives a clear picture of the setting and characters in the
novel. In all the authors are all very clever and know just when to pull their readers
back into the mainstream of the story.
The three writers all have a tendency to tie in family and community
into their writing, and this shows the reader that these things are important to them and
they should be to everyone. Hurston ties in the community and how it plays a role in
everybody’s life. She shows this many times in her novel such as in the beginning of
the her story with the gossipers on the porch. They talked about Janie as she walked by
saying, “What she doin coming back in dem overhalls? Can’t she find no dress to
put on?” (Hurston 2). They go on for a while and this is one way people’s
imaginations develop in a community situation and the same is true in a story line.
Welch doesn’t come out and give any firm signs of community,
but it is more implied because of the ways of Native American life and their history. A
Native American's way of life revolves round their strong family and community bonds.
Moore also has away of tying in community to her writing. Such as in“Willing” --
the girl goes to a new place and finds the community hard and not so welcoming. So in some
cases the community can make you or it can break you. Strong community involvement and
family ties can always help some way and at the most opportune times.
When people look at a book they have a tendency to judge it by its
cover, and with these intense writers, I would recommend looking more into the author's
history before you judge the book or novel. Even though there are many ways to get a point
across, there is always a new way to interpret it too. While Moore is tricking you and
making you think, Welch and Hurston pull the readers in with their ability to write such
believable situations and story lines.
Even though the three writers have different ideas of characters,
plots, and their styles vary, they all know how to keep the reader interested and
wondering. Holly Kulak described Lorrie Moore’s pretty well in a review she wrote and
posted on the Internet. She stated, “Lorrie Moore is an entertaining, imaginative
writer who probes universal preoccupations with insight, humor and inestimable wit.”
The research shows that every writer may be contrasting, but they also have the tendency
to be comparable in the end also.
Work Cited
Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. New York.
HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. 1990.
Moore, Lorrie. Birds of America. New York. Picador USA. 1999.
Welch, James. Fools Crow. New York. Penguin Books. 1986.
January Magazine 1999.
http://www.januarymagazine.com/fiction/birdsof/htlm
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