Community

Many of the fourteen profiles in "The Eatonville Anthology" open with a statement on the outstanding quality of the character they feature. This statement typically defines the character's social status in the community. Whenever this introduction focuses on a negative quality, the narrator defends the character's negative trait with a modification or explanation. With this strategy the narrator signals acceptance of each individual and describes the response of the community. In general, the people of the town are amused and entertained by the eccentric characters being described.

The vignettes in Hurston's "The Eatonville Anthology" collectively reflect the powerful sense of community found in areas where certain cultural groups fight for existence within a larger dominant culture. The African-American, Latin-American, and Asian-American cultures are examples of the many cultural systems that subsist within the dominant Anglo-European culture of the United States. Often the need for community is emphasized by...