Zora Neale Hurston is famous for defying traditional folklore and storytelling conventions and in her famous work, "Their Eyes Were Watching God," she merges feminism with folklore and the classic "coming-of-age" story with an African-American twist. She accomplishes all of this and more by expressing a deep appreciation of African-American cultural roots and tradition in the US, and by celebrating the joy of being black in her writing.
Hurston really does a lot to further the genre of the African-American "bildungsroman." For example, she gives the main character, Janie, a very human fallibility while also giving her very admirable qualities. This is done to show both the humanity and the wisdom of being black in America. In the dialogue, her characters speak with regional, black dialects that one would have found during that time period in the south. This is done to show both the method and the importance of black storytelling, and to show the ways in which black Americans carry their cultural roots around with them.
The author has a very unique tone and writing style. Throughout the story, Hurston takes the time to give detailed descriptions of each character's motivation for their actions. Her tone is often compassionate toward even the least likable characters. Although Janie, the main character, sometimes criticizes those people and holds others to a higher standard, the reader is able to empathize with the choices that those characters make - often, we see how fate forces their hand. Hurston uses multiple voices in order to achieve this; the voice of Janie, for instance, is often lofty and philosophical, while the other voices lend perspective and cover the various aspects of "being black" that Hurston wants us to look upon with admiration.
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