50 pages • 1 hour read
Zora Neale HurstonTell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1938A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Part 1, Chapters 1-5Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 1: "Jamaica"
Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary: “The Rooster’s Nest”
Hurston begins her exploration of Jamaican culture by introducing “Pocomania,” the folk religion of its peasant class. Pocomania is a blend of traditional West African religious practices with elements of Protestant Christianity. There is no centralized ecclesiastical hierarchy; religious leaders guide local communities of believers and preside over “Balm Yards” where they diagnose and treat both physiological and spiritual ailments. These leaders prescribe rituals for luck and protection during important life events such as death and birth, and liaise between supplicants and their gods. They frequently host religious celebrations and ceremonies, many of which Hurston witnessed or participated in. These celebrations involve open air processions, candlelit offerings, healing rituals, and music and dancing.
The vast majority of Jamaica’s inhabitants are descended from African enslaved persons brought to work on English-owned plantations during the colonial era (See: Background). Only 2% of the population is white at the time of Hurston’s writing, with the remainder being Black or mixed race. There is a strict racial hierarchy wherein proximity to whiteness equates to social status, leading many so-called “census white” Jamaicans to have themselves declared legally white despite actually being mixed race. This contrasts with the reported tendency in the USA of considering anyone with Black ancestors to be African American regardless of their skin tone. Hurston uses an instance where Caucasian-passing African American John Hope visited Haiti and scandalized the “census white” Jamaicans by identifying as a “negro” to illustrate the difference.
Many Jamaicans with ambitions of intergenerational social mobility look to produce children who are whiter than themselves, creating a common “Rooster’s nest” situation where illegitimate offspring of white (or whiter) fathers emphasize their paternal heritage while minimizing the African roots of their maternal lines, all but erasing their Black mothers. However, among the younger generations of Black Jamaicans there is a growing discontent with the idolization of whiteness and European culture, and an increasing awareness of the value of Caribbean culture.
Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary: “Curry Goat”
In Port Maria, a Curry Goat Feed is held in honor of Hurston. She is the first woman ever to be celebrated with this emphatically masculine tradition. The ceremonial evening feast consists of only male animals—including the eponymous goat curry—served in multiple courses alongside copious quantities of alcohol. The guests compete in storytelling competitions, sing, and the night’s entertainment ends with an energetic performance from a troupe of male dancers and musicians.
Hurston also attends the wedding of a middle-aged couple who have been living together as husband and wife for many years. They had postponed their actual wedding until they could afford the traditionally lavish ceremony, and Hurston notes that the couple and their community put significant effort into creating a jubilant and romantic atmosphere.
She speaks with a young Jamaican man who laments that American women are not satisfied living solely as the object of a man’s love and is derisive of any woman trying to usurp a “man’s role” by acting or thinking independently. Although initially offended, Hurston converses productively with him, and through him is permitted to observe a traditional process of preparation for a young woman about to marry. The young woman spends the week before her wedding under the tutelage of a professional older woman who instructs her on pleasing a man, has her practice for the wedding night, before finally massaging and physically preparing the young woman. This leaves the young bride unafraid and eager for her wedding night.
Part 1, Chapter 3 Summary: “Hunting the Wild Hog”
Hurston stays with Colonel Rowe, leader of the Maroons in Accompong. While observing their customs, she manages the construction of the settlement’s first modern stove and grows fond of Rowe’s least favorite and much-abused grandson, Little Tom. In the hopes of trying the region’s famous jerked pork delicacy, she convinces a small group of men to accompany her on a dangerous hunting trip. Over the course of the arduous days-long excursion, Hurston is excited and afraid in turn as they manage to track down and kill a large wild boar. Upon their return to the settlement, the community enjoys the fruits of their labor in a celebratory meal.
Hurston becomes acquainted with a local medicine man, and discusses traditional Jamaican folk tales, mythical creatures, and religious beliefs with him. The medicine man uses rituals and magic spells, and is very knowledgeable about traditional herbs, poisons, and remedies. He proves capable of extraordinary feats, such as silencing the frogs on a distant hillside with a single gesture. One member of the community refuses to cut down the fruit tree outside her home despite his advice that the tree is making her daughter unwell, and the daughter eventually dies, seemingly as a result of the woman’s noncompliance.
Part 1, Chapter 4 Summary: “Night Song After Death”
Hurston attends the funeral of a peasant in St Thomas and observes that the funerary traditions in Jamaica very clearly have their roots in West African practices of ancestor worship. Funerary rites are among the most universal customs across Jamaica. Only white and upper-class Jamaicans shun the prescribed rituals in favor of Western-style funerals, although even they share in the superstition of never saying goodbye after a wake.
The community rallies together along with the family of the deceased to complete measures which aim to subdue and banish the “duppy,” or harmful spirit of the deceased. On the first night following his death, the man’s body is brought in a singing procession to his home, dressed in a new shirt, and provided with food and offerings. For nine nights his family holds vigil, and community members share stories and superstitions about duppies, discussing the best ways to protect oneself from the dangers they pose. On the ninth night, the community honors the duppy with further offerings before commanding it to leave the living permanently and cause no harm. The body can now be interred, and the wake ends with music, food, and dancing.
Hurston also attends a “Koo-min-ah” funerary rite for a deceased Maroon. This ritual is held a full 18 months after death and aims to settle a suspected restless duppy prior to sealing the body in a cement tomb. Zachariah, a religious leader known as “The Power,” leads the ceremony. Participants dance to powerful drums and drink the blood of a sacrificed goat, with many losing themselves in a frenzy or collapsing in cramps. When The Power falls, Hurston observes a calabash full of water rise inexplicably into the air before floating softly back to the ground.
Part 1, Chapter 5 Summary: “Women in the Caribbean”
Hurston purports that women in the USA are acknowledged as the superior and privileged sex, while women in Caribbean societies are treated as inferior. Poor women in the Caribbean are given no special treatment on account of their gender, and in many cases are obliged to work physically-demanding jobs just as men do, even if they also have children to care for. Despite this, they are expected to be subservient to men, and it is considered taboo for a woman to intrude upon a man’s role by asserting herself or trying to contribute intellectually or politically.
Men in the Caribbean do not marry outside of their own class and have no obligation to support or acknowledge children born out of wedlock. Polygamy and infidelity are common, and women have no recourse if they are mistreated. Women are seen as objects for a man to love, but a man’s agency and honor are considered paramount. Hurston tells of a mixed-race man who courts and manipulates a Black girl before raping her on the eve of his own wedding to another woman, then abandoning her. Upon the eve of the girl’s own wedding several years later, the rapist tells her husband-to-be about the assault, causing him to reject her for no longer being a virgin. She never marries and now lives unhappily and carelessly.
Another story tells of a spinster who is courted and married by an older man. The morning after the wedding, he accuses her of not being a virgin on their wedding night and casts her out, paying a troupe of men to follow and shame her on the long walk back to her home village. There is no way to disprove such accusations, which are sometimes made by cunning men willing to go to extreme lengths to bed a woman only to then get rid of her. The woman dies in shame and seclusion a handful of years later.
Part 1, Chapters 1-5 Analysis
The first part of Tell My Horse focuses on the culture and society of Jamaica, and Hurston’s experiences there while conducting fieldwork. Jamaican history is not so tumultuous as that of Haiti, nor are its religious traditions so sensationalized as Haitian Voodoo. The topic of Jamaica thus comprises less than a third of the total length of Tell My Horse, with the rest dedicated to Haiti. Despite the brevity of this part, Hurston gives a detailed overview of the main elements of Jamaican culture and traditions, as well as her hopes for the nation’s future.
Hurston’s narrative voice is clear and personable from the outset; she speaks authoritatively of her firsthand experiences and invites the reader to experience the culture vicariously alongside her by using the first-person inclusive plural “we.” She takes a lyrical approach to her prose that nonetheless communicates complex ideas clearly and precisely. This part combines facts with anthropological observations and Hurston’s own opinions and impressions. Interspersed between generalizations are specific examples relating to the lives of individuals in the community, such as Little Tom and the scorned women of Chapter 5, which illustrate her points or provide authentic insights into the community. Her personal anecdotes read like a travelogue, adding to Hurston’s authority as an eyewitness observer and providing detailed descriptions of important cultural celebrations, ceremonies, and events. Hurston values African-American culture and community, both recording and celebrating that of Black Jamaicans in this part.
Hurston’s unique approach is relevant from the outset, as shown in Hurston’s clear willingness to spend a significant amount of time living in the communities she studies. She participates in or observes a wide range of social gatherings and speaks to a number of different members of the communities she visits. Even when she disagrees with her interlocuter, such as the Maroons who treat Little Tom cruelly and the young man who pontificates on the place of women, she is able to communicate respectfully and productively. As a consequence, she is able to take advantage of a number of additional opportunities and can portray a wide range of viewpoints and perspectives on top of her own impressions.
Hurston’s approach to ethnography is revealed in her determination not to rely on staged and inauthentic productions, such as the offered dance shows of the Maroons, preferring instead to make her own observations of unfeigned daily life. Hurston is willing and eager to participate even in difficult and dangerous aspects of Jamaican culture, such as the arduous boar hunt with the Maroons. Her identity as an African-American woman allows her to integrate herself effectively into the community, giving her deeper insight into the lives of those she studies. Her anthropological background and her involvement in the Harlem Renaissance (See: Background) provide the means and motivations for her to study and celebrate Jamaican culture without the prejudices that taint many other such works of the era.
Hurston explores Power Inequalities and Discrimination in Caribbean Societies both explicitly and implicitly through this section. Chapter 1 introduces the racial discrimination faced by Black and mixed-race members of Jamaican society, and the consequences this has on the lives and culture of its inhabitants. Chapter 5 explores the power inequalities between the sexes in depth, including the expectations and restraints put upon women and the unfair double standard that values a man’s honor over a woman’s. The two stories of hardship faced by women at the hands of the men they loved are particularly striking, as they emphasize both the sexual vulnerability of women and their lack of recourse when abused. Hurston clearly condemns such abuses of power, just as she rejects the idolization of whiteness that seeks to diminish African-American identity and heritage.
The Blurred Lines Between Truth and Fiction are an intrinsic part of this work, simply for the fact that subjective experiences and unverifiable beliefs are the cornerstones of ethnographic works. Hurston also shows the malleability of “truth” early on by providing two conflicting accounts of the translation for “Pocomania,” and various explanations for the decrease in the Maroon’s wild hog populations. Uncertainty is a natural and inescapable element of folk religions as well as complex ecological chains of cause and effect. The community discussions around duppies, presented directly as the dialogue occurred, shows the lack of accord even within a community when it comes to beliefs and superstitions, and illustrates the process by which folklore is built collectively. Hurston’s interactions with the medicine man in Accompong are particularly illustrative of this theme, as she herself is uncertain whether the man’s teaching and abilities are legitimate, and she is entirely unable to explain his silencing of the frogs.
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