Unravelling moral and religious values behind characterization in selected novels by Zora Neale Hurston and Alice Walker

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Résumé

This study aims at showing the moral and religious aspects of characterization in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Possessing the Secret of Joy. The characters’ representation in these three novels has been fiercely criticized and condemned in the black community since their publications. While many critics and writers stand against Walker’s and Hurston’s characterizations which, for them, are immoral and therefore without any value, this paper takes the opposite side and scrutinizes the two novelists’ characters to decode the moral and religious values lying behind their portrayal, through the use of Louise M. Rosenblatt’s reader-response theory. Through the lens of this theory, it is possible to clearly see the moral and religious values conveyed by the characters, namely honesty, forgiveness, love, devotion and faith in God. The study reveals that the characters’ projection contributes greatly to moralize readers on truth, integrity, and spiritual values.

Mots-clés

Characterization, values, truth, devotion, forgiveness.