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Zora Neale Hurston was viewed as an outcast among her African-American counterparts because she avoided writing about the plights of African-Americans. Popular writers, such as Langston Hughes and Ralph Ellison focused on the hardships African-Americans had to overcome. Hurston, although she lived in a time of strained race relations, wrote about the peaceful coexistence of African-Americans and Caucasians. This idea can easily be seen through the characters she develops in her short stories Drenched In Light and The Conscience of the Court. The connection Helen feels to Isis and the strong ties Laura Lee and Celestine have support this claim. Hurston’s most obvious portrayal of this message comes through the judge in The Conscience of the Court and his support of Laura Lee.

Zora Neale Hurston wrote many short stories and novels from the early 1920’s to the late 1950’s. As an African-American writer in this time period, Hurston was very much involved in the Harlem Renaissance. Most of the writing from this movement focused on how difficult it was for African-Americans, even after their liberation from slavery. Typical themes from the Harlem Renaissance writers included racism and prejudice. Hurston tended to go in a different direction with her stories than the typical Harlem Renaissance writer. If Wright, Ellison, Brown, and Hurston were engaged in a battle over ideal fictional modes which were to represent the Negro, clearly Hurston lost the battle (Gates Jr., 289). Her ideas of positive race relations were radical for the time period and thus not accepted by African-Americans or Caucasians. Hurston felt as if she did not need to write about the hardships African-Americans faced. She wanted to focus on the positives and that race relations were not a significant issue. Hurston thought this idea degrading, its propagation a trap, and rallied against it. It was, she said, upheld by the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a dirty deal’ (Gates Jr., 288, 289). From this quote you can clearly see that Hurston was not one to sympathize with the idea that African-Americans face a lot of hardships. Instead she often displayed a world where very little prejudice existed.

The first thing the reader notices when reading Hurston’s Drenched In Light are her radical views regarding race. The main characters in the story are Isis, a young, cheerful, African-American girl that flees her grandmother’s wrath and Helen, a young white woman that comes to her rescue. Helen and her husband, Harry, found Isis depressed and on the verge of suicide because she stole her grandmother’s tablecloth to dress in. Helen insisted she must save Isis from her beating because she was so full of life. Everybody in the county, white and colored, knew little Isis Watts, the joyful (Hurston, 17). As you can see from this quote, Isis is used as a bridge between the races. Hurston chose to portray Isis as child because she wanted to show how with each passing generation race relations would become a non-issue. Isis’ grandmother was still very much old world. When Helen approached the Grandmother regarding Isis coming with them to the hotel, the Grandmother was very obedient. ‘Oh, yessum, yessum,’ Grandma cut in. Everything’s alright, sho’ she kin go, yessum.’ (Hurston, 25). The Grandmother did not want to offend the white couple and granted their request without hesitation. However, when Isis is approached by the Helen and Henry at the lake, the social exchange is much more fluid. Isis is quick to change her mind, but that was just because Helen was going to save her from a beating. Isis does not see her race as a reason to obey Helen and Harry’s request. So, you could say that Hurston went in a totally different direction and swapped Helen and the Grandmother’s roles: The reversal of roles evil black woman and benevolent’ white woman is noteworthy for showing Hurston was intent upon breaking with the tradition of using black literature primarily as propaganda in the nascent civil rights struggle. (Gates Jr., xiii-xiv). As you can see by this quote, Isis is very much a bridge between the races because she connected both worlds of race. Her grandmother is very old world and obedient while Isis is very progressive. Hurston was rebelling against the times by proposing a very radical idea in that a white woman would accept a young black child.

Hurston, through the character of Helen, frequently compares Isis to light. The lady went on: I want brightness and this Isis is joy itself, why she’s drenched in light!’ (Hurston, 25). Isis being compared to light represents how her race did not matter to Helen. Not only is Isis promoting positive race relations, Helen is as well. The same might not be said for Harry. Harry seemed a little hesitant about helping Isis. ‘There, Helen, you’ve been adopted,’ said the man with a short harsh laugh (Hurston, 25). That exchange sounds a bit sarcastic. However, Harry does allow Helen to bring Isis to the hotel as she wanted. So, their support for Isis clearly shows how Helen and Harry are not the typical white people of the time. Helen carried herself without prejudice and went out of her way to help Isis. Clearly, Hurston’s intention for Drenched In Light was to show how African-Americans and Caucasians could coexist without conflict.

Hurston displays the same views once again in her story The Conscience of the Court. This story focuses around a white judge that helps Laura Lee Kimble, a black woman, get acquitted from aggravated assault on Clement Beasley, a white man. The judge’s sympathy towards Laura Lee really stands out throughout the story. However, there is one particular instance where his position is clearly revealed:The defendant did no more than resist the plaintiff’s attempted burglary. Valuable assets of her employer were trusted in her care, and she placed her very life in jeopardy in defending that trust, setting an example which no decent citizen need blush to follow. The jury is directed to find for the defendant.’ (Hurston, 176). Based on the evidence, the judge simply makes the decision to find Laura Lee innocent and forces the jury to follow his guidance. The judge’s decision was impressive because he did not favor Beasley, the white man who had been attacked by Laura Lee. In fact, he forced Laura Lee into telling her story even though she refused legal counsel. The judge also forced Beasley to provide him with the promissory note he made with Mrs. Clairborne. The judge uncovered that the due date for the loan was more then three months away, making Beasley’s claim invalid. He actually made the correct decision and did not allow race have any determining factor.

The second relationship that enforced Hurston’s beliefs was between Laura Lee and Miss Celestine Clairborne. When Celestine was a young child, she was frequently cared for by Laura Lee. Ever since than, Celestine and Laura Lee seemed like they went hand in hand. But Celestine wouldn’t allow me to quit loving her. She ever leaned on me, and cried after me, and run to me for every little thing. (Hurston, 172). Celestine did not care that Laura Lee was black and she was white, she continued to look up to Laura Lee as a parental figure even after she realized that this was not really the case. Once Laura Lee and Celestine’s parents had all passed away, Celestine would not leave her friend and went out of her way to provide for Laura Lee. . . . the note made by Mrs. J Stuart Clairborne with the plaintiff. It specifies that the purpose of the loan was to finance the burial of Thomas Kimble’ (Hurston, 175). Celestine went out of her way and borrowed money just so that Laura Lee’s husband could have a proper burial. Obviously, Laura Lee felt the same dedication to Celestine because the whole reason she was on trial was because she was defending Celestine’s property. Hurston is once again using this relationship to show how race relations were not an issue that needed to be focused upon. Instead, the relationship between Laura Lee and Celestine was about people caring for each other regardless of race. Hurston wants to show that interracial friendship can and should be acceptable.

The Conscience of the Court is far from the typical trial story that came from the Harlem Renaissance. The reader would have expected the judge to be sympathetic towards Beasley because of the time period and the feelings of prejudice that dominated that time. One story that came to mind when thinking about the false imprisonment of African-American citizens was the story of Ruben Carter. Carter, the Hurricane, was a prized boxer that was found guilty of a murder he did not commit. Obviously, Hurston went in a different direction with the Conscience of the Court. Hurston wanted to show how the legal system should function properly. The truth would come out and justice would be served regardless of race. She once again feels the need to put the issue of race aside. Perhaps, it was stories like the aforementioned that lead Hurston to writing The Conscience of the Court. Hurston displayed positive race relations and set the proper standard for the future.

Through the short stories Drenched In Light and The Conscience of the Court the reader can clearly see that Zora Neale Hurston wanted to portray the peaceful coexistence of African-Americans and Caucasians. However, this viewpoint did not earn her much respect among her peers. The Harlem Renaissance was believed too radical in exposing the hardships African-Americas were forced to endure. During Hurston’s time, she was considered conservative in her denial of these issue and constant portrayal of the peaceful co-existence of the races. Today we are left thinking that Hurston was the radical one with her progressive ideas.

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