When describing Joe’s father’s experience at Spunk’s funeral, the narrator uses a simile, as seen in the following passage:
Everyone in the village was there, even old Jeff Kanty, Joe’s father, who a few hours before would have been afraid to come within ten feet of him, stood leering triumphantly down upon the fallen giant, as if his fingers had been the teeth of steel that laid him low.
Here, the narrator notes how Jeff looked at Spunk’s dead body “as if his fingers had been the teeth of steel that laid him low." This simile is notable for a few different reasons. First, it communicates the depth of Jeff’s rage over the fact that Spunk murdered his son. He is so angry—and hungry for revenge—that he wishes he could have been the one to kill the man.
This moment also reveals something important about the way that masculinity works in this society. While some readers might assume that when a violent and dominating man like Spunk dies (of his own devices), there could be an opening for peace or harmony in the community, this is not the case. What this simile communicates is that, when one dominant man dies, others will take his place. The way that Jeff “stood leering triumphantly down upon the fallen giant” suggests that he is enjoying the newfound power he may have in the community in the wake of Spunk’s death.
When Elijah is describing how Joe confronted Spunk (the week before their final confrontation), he uses a simile and a hyperbole, as seen in the following passage:
Lena looked up at him with her eyes so full of love that they wuz runnin’ over an’ Spunk seen it an’ Joe seen it too, and his lip started to tremblin’ and his Adam’s apple was galloping up and down his neck like a race horse. Ah bet he’s wore out half a dozen Adam’s apples since Spunk’s been on the job with Lena. That’s all he’ll do. He’ll be back heah after while swallowin’ an’ workin’ his lips like he wants to say somethin’ an’ can’t.
The simile Elijah uses—“his Adam’s apple was galloping up and down his neck like a race horse”—helps readers to picture how nervous Joe was to challenge Spunk’s authority. Likewise, the hyperbole—in which Elijah says that Joe has likely “wore out half a dozen Adam’s apples” since Lena and Spunk started their affair—uses exaggerated language in order to communicate the depth of Joe’s anxiety about the situation. On the one hand, Joe feels he must stand up to Spunk in order to prove his power and masculinity (as well as his “claim” over his wife) and, on the other hand, he knows that Spunk could easily overpower him and wants to avoid such a clash.
In addition to helping readers understand Joe’s fear in the face of Spunk’s masculine authority, these examples of figurative language communicate Elijah’s gift with storytelling. Hurston intentionally has Elijah narrate much of the story while gossiping with the men at the general store in order to legitimize Black oral storytelling as an art form.
