The Inverted U-shaped Narrative Structure And Archetypes In Jonah’s Gourd Vine

Inspired by white culture,African American writer Zora Neale Hurston(1891-1960)infuses her works with Biblical stories,Greek mythology,and Black folklore.By imitating their narrative structures,Hurston displaces amounts of archetypes to depict sophisticated African American life and culture.According to,Northrop Frye,the Bible follows a U-shaped and an inverted U-shaped narrative structure respectively that are reflected in the arrangement of the plot.The utilization of the inverted U-shaped narrative implies that the plot begins as a tragedy and rises to a prosperous and happy state before being disrupted by a disaster and falling back down to a catastrophe.For archetypal critics,archetypes include the plot design,characters,images and so on.Thus the inverted U-shaped narrative structure is an archetype.Hurston’s first novel Jonah’s Gourd Vine(1934)follows an inverted U-shaped narrative pattern,which is embodied in the arrangement of the plot of the protagonist John’s life trajectory.John’s rise to the zenith of his fame and fortune,and the eclipse of his life are accompanied by various archetypal characters like Penelope and Hermes in Greek mythology,Jonah in the Bible,and Esu in Black folklore as well as archetypal images like the winged shoes in Greek mythology,the gourd vine and snake in the Bible,and the water snake in Black folklore.John’s rise to great success and the prosperity of the town show Hurston’s confidence in and praise to her people and culture.Meanwhile,the descent of John and the downfall of the town imply Hurston’s worry for the black community.With the story,she warns black people to keep unified spirit and to stay united within the community.In other words,Hurston displaces archetypal images,characters,and narrative structures to reveal the current life of African Americans and her concern for the wellbeing of black people.Hurston weaves archetypes in the narrative structure to create a unique myth of her race.Hurston imitates a series of archetypes and displaces them,inheriting and re-creating the literary tradition,to make her works impressive and far-reaching.