The stories are meant to be humorous, but they reflect the community aesthetic and contain deep-rooted beliefs.

Another common motif are characterizations of “the Lawd,” Jesus, and the Devil and etiological fables. John almost always outsmarts Old Massa-the Negro triumphs over the white man. In particular, tales of John and “Ole Massa” are evidence of the community’s slave heritage. The people of Eatonville exchange folk narratives which describe some aspect of their system of beliefs or social structure. Drawing inspiration from their heritage, their environment, and their relationships, the “boys” spin tales of slave life and creation. Their everyday lives inspire both communication and imagination, as the storytellers weave the ordinary with the legendary. Mules and Men allows the reader to experience the small town life of blacks in the 1930s. Although Hurston represents the African American culture with a mythic realism and stylized language, she nevertheless captures the “Negro imagination” through the witticisms, superstitions, and customs of the members of her community. As both an insider and an outsider, Hurston offers a unique perspective her field work resulted in a colorful, if not a bit exaggerated, portrayal of Southern blacks. In the nonfiction account of her experiences in both Eatonville among friends and relatives and with the hoodoo culture of New Orleans, Hurston documents two unique folk groups of African Americans in the South. Familiar with the Southern town’s way of life, the educated Hurston returned to her hometown as an anthropologist, a folklorist, and a writer to collect the “lies” and anthologize them in Mules and Men. Lying-the telling of folk tales-provided Hurston the material to establish a distinctive voice of working class African Americans. Hurston was exposed to the strong sense of spirit and independence in Eatonville that resonated in the character of its people and the oral tradition of “lying.” She grew up hearing “dem big ole lies” told on the store porch and at social gatherings to pass the time.

Raised in Eatonville, Florida, Zora Neale Hurston bore witness to the rich culture and identity of an all-black community. This book review was written for the Fall 2008 class 'Folklife in America.' Reburn is a Comparative Literature major in the South Carolina Honors College at USC.

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