Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston (Analyzing Themes)

What is a Theme?

• The action or choice of a character

• The written account of a character

• A plot twist

• An idea or topic that reoccurs in a work of literature

Answer explanation

Merriam- Webster Dictinary defines a theme as:

"1 a

: a subject or topic of discourse or of artistic representation

guilt and punishment is the theme of the story

b

: a specific and distinctive quality, characteristic, or concern

the campaign has lacked a theme"

What theme(s) did you find in Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston ( click all that apply)

• Death

• Happiness

• Fear

• Power

Answer explanation

There are many themes. Fear, death, power, opression and human desire, are a few that continued to be presented in her research.

Secret Societies in Haiti used ​ ​ (a)   to keep their rituals hidden.​

• Fear
• Zombies
• Rituals
• Death

Answer explanation

That is Correct! They used fear to keep the towns people and members of their society from talking about their rituals and practices to make Zombies! Do I spy a THEME here?

Take a deeper look:

Although Hurston was writing folklore, what underlying theme was she trying to convey in 'Tell My Horse'

• Third world problems

• The real possibilty of an Apocalypse

• The struggles of oppression

• The heroes in cultish secret societies

     How do the different themes relate to each other and shape the story? (NCCS, RL11-12.2, p.68)

Answer explanation

Death and fear intertwine. Haitians have a fear of dying and being brought back to life to serve with out their soul. This fear allows criminals to keep the people opressed and they get a way with murder, literally.

What is a "Ba Moun" Ceremeony? (p.184)

• A baptizmal ceremony to join a secret society

• AKA the "give man" ceremony. where a man agrees to sacrifice loved ones and eventually himself to the devil.

• A voodoo ceremony to become a priestess

• A ceremony to evoke the dead spirits of lost loved ones

Analyze: what theme did the "Ba Moun" convey and how does it keep the cycle of zombifying ongoing?

"Why do men allegedly make such bargains with the spirits who have such terrible ​ ​ (a)   to reward and punish? When a man is ​ (b)   ​ and sees no way to get there, he becomes ​ (c)   ."(Hurston, p.185)​ ​

• power
• ambitious
• desperate

How does Hurston's narrative tone support the theme(s) in her book?

Match a theme to a quote from your reading in Tell My Horse by Zora Neale Hurston

• "...he could never have been hired to work with his hands, so he was made into a zombie..." (p.182)

• Fear

• "He sprang from his bed in terror and woke up his family by his fear noises."(p.185)

• Desperation

• "I have nothing and I am disposed to do anything to have money." (p.185)

• Death

• "The tomb was open and the body lifted out of the coffin."(p.192)

• Oppression