Drenched in Light


Drenched in Light

by  Zora Neale Hurston

 

Summary

This is a wonderful story about a little girl who is always getting into trouble. She likes to spend her days watching passerbys go into town, while she sits on a fench post. She never listens to her grandmother, and she loves to do fun things. In this story Isis likes to go riding with the Robinson brothers on their horses, she loves to dance and be gay.

 

 

At one point she decides to shave her grandmothers wiskers, then dance at a cabaret in her grandmother's new red tablecloth, after that she gets in trouble and decides to run from a sure beating, and decides to drown herself.

 

She is spotted by some white folks who are looking for directions. She decides to ride with them to their hotel, but they stop off at her home. Her grandmother sure is mad, but the white lady pays Isis' grandmother for her ruined tablecloth and asks to take Isis to the hotel to dance for them. The grandmother wants Isis to get cleaned up, but the white lady likes her just the way she is. So begins her big dance career?!

 

My Analysis

Isis is just an innocent child who is looking to have fun. She simply wants to explore the world and live every day to the fullest. She makes some bad choices, but she's just a little girl. Her grandmother wants to beat her for doing these bad things, so Isis runs away to kill herself. Drowning seems like a nice way to die. What does a little girl know about death?

 

The white lady, who finds Isis trying to drown herself, pays Isis' grandmother for her soiled table cloth and is completely fascinated with Isis and everything about her. She loves the way she looks, with her uncombed hair and unwashed body. The lady's attitude is sweet and yet degrading or patronizing if you will. She sees freedom in Isis. The little girl has no restrictions or constraints and there is nothing holding her back from having a fun day. Perhaps the woman sees something in Isis that she doesn't have for herself. She wants to be drenched in Isis' light.

 

 

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