Dust Tracks on a Road

After her dismissal from school, Hurston was forced to return home and to support herself financially, so she had to discontinue her formal education, a difficult sacrifice given that she had been such a bright student. It was during this difficult period that Hurston found a ragged copy of the works of English poet John Milton in a garbage heap.

Hurston read the book from cover to cover and "luxuriated in Milton's syllables and rhythms without ever having heard that Milton was one of the greatest poets of the world" (98). Hurston's decision to read the book on her own represents her will to learn and the significant role of literature and books in her development as a writer.

Located in Washington, D.C., Howard University is a historically-black university where Hurston (and many other important African-American figures) studied. Hurston arrived at Howard University after years of struggle and financial difficulties. As she stood listening to the alma mater during her first college assembly, she felt a sense of elation and pride at having finally reached her goal of continuing her education: "My soul stood on tiptoe and stretched up to take in all that it meant. So I was careful to do my class-work and be worthy to stand there under the shadow of the hovering spirit of Howard. I felt the ladder under my feet" (131). As a university, Howard is an important symbol of the role of education in Hurston's upward mobility, and it confirmed her belief in the possibility of black excellence.

As a child, Hurston frequently sat on the gatepost of her family's homestead, which bordered on the edge of a major Florida highway that went to Orlando. Hurston writes that from her perch she was able to observe tourists and other travelers from out of town. She would even, at times, hitch rides with these strangers to learn more about them. The gatepost and the road represent the unknown and Hurston's insatiable curiosity.

The porch referenced in the memoir is the front of former Mayor Joe Clarke's Eatonville store. As a child, Hurston was able to eavesdrop for brief moments on the gossip, vivid folktales, and domestic dramas that unfolded at this public site that served as the hub of the town. The porch is a symbol of Eatonville as a community and a site associated with African-American oral culture, a significant influence on Hurston's voice and imagination as a writer.

Hurston was sent away to school in Jacksonville in the aftermath of the death of her mother. Unlike Eatonville, Jacksonville bore all the public marks of legal and social segregation, including Jim Crow signs that forbade African Americans from using certain public facilities and a certain coldness that Hurston encountered among the whites. In Hurston's life, Jacksonville is associated with the rupture of the Hurston family, segregation, and racial prejudice. Hurston's arrival in Jacksonville marked the effective end of her innocent early childhood.