Zora Neale Hurston's Novel Of Moses
With the Jewish holiday of Passover only a few weeks away, I decided at last to read Zora Neale Hurston's 1939 novel, "Moses, Man of the Mountain". Passover celebrates the Exodus of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, as recounted in the Bible. Hurston's novel tells the story of the Exodus, drawihg freely on the Biblical account, but from her own perspective. I have long been an admirer of Hurston from "Their Eyes were Watching God", "Mules and Men" and other sources and wanted to hear what she had to say about Moses and Exodus.
Passover is celebrated by a festive meal, called a Seder, at which a text, the Haggadah, is read and discussed. A striking feature of the Haggadah is that Moses is barely mentioned. The reason for this, as I understand, is to acknowledge God as responsible for redeeming the Jewish people from slavery and to avoid the tempatation to idolatry that would occur by focusing on Moses as the redeemer.
Hurston knew her Bible well, but I doubt if she knew the Haggadah. In her Introduction to "Moses, Man of the Mountain" she contrasts her approach with the understanding of Moses in Judaism and Christianity. Her approach, and what she sees as the approach to Moses in other cultures, was to focus on Moses as a man, not because he brought the Ten Commandments down from Sinai but "because he had the power to go up the mountain and to bring them down. " For people held in slavery, the story of Moses teaches his power and "the terror he showed before all Israel and to Pharoah and THAT MIGHTY HAND". It is valuable to see this difference at the outset in reading Hurston's novel.
Hurston's novel begins with the edict of Pharoah to kill all newborn Jewish males, and it concludes goes to meet his death after leading the Israelites for 40 years of wandering in the wilderness. The story uses the Biblical account with Hurston's changes and embellishments The book features a shifting and beautiful use of language and tone. The narrative portions of the book are written in an almost Biblical style. Portions in dialogue, particularly involving the Hebrew slaves, are written in the colloquial American Southern black vernacular that Hurston used in "Their Eyes were Watching God", thus combining the African American experience with the experience of the Hebrews.
The portrayal of Moses is complicated, as it is in the Bible, and Hurston emphasizes his relationship to the Egyptians and to the Midianites and his father in law Jethro as well as to the Hebrews. There are ambiguities in the portrayal of race and of identity. The years Moses spent with Jethro and with Jethro's daughter and his wife, Ziporrah, in particular receive much attention in Hurston's story.
The novel includes a great deal of discussion of women, beginning with the birth of Moses and continuing through the years in the desert. Moses' Egyptian mother, his sister Miriam, and his wife Ziporrah receive a great deal of attention, much of which is unfavorable, as also is the case for Moses's brother Aaron.
As Hurston's introduction suggests, the emphasis is on Moses' role as a leader, in bringing the Israelites out from Egypt and in keeping them together in the attempt to form a nation. A major theme of the book is that African Americans and other oppressed peoples need to be strong and take destiny into their own hands rather than blaming others for their plight. Hurson's view of the African American experience differed from many African American writers of her time, leading in part to a neglect of her writings for many years.
The book is long and beautifully written but sometimes tends to wander. It is sometimes criticized for having no clear message or sense of direction. While something may be said for this view, Hurston was the rare writer who tried to think for herself. Her writing cannot be reduced to the feminist, black, or liberal stereotypes common to her day and to our own. Her novel resists easy attempts at moralizing or summation, as is also the case with the Biblical account.
In "Their Eyes were Watching God", Hurston used focused on a discrete place, the African American town of Eatonville, Florida and described it and its residents with great sympathy and particularity. She wrote an unforgettable book using folklore and local life which is universal in its specifics. "Moses, Man of the Mountain" explores some of the same themes but in the context of the Biblical story. It is harder to get a handle and a clear sense of direction for this latter story. It is still an outstanding novel which encouraged me to think more both about Hurston's vision and about Passover.
Robin Friedman
