Their Eye Were Watching God The Liberation of Souls Through the Quest of Dreams: Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God After the Civil War and the emancipation of the slaves, the ex-slaves could not find enough good work to earn a living. Jim Crow laws were installed to push blacks further away from reaching their dreams. These laws were enforced after the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that blacks and whites could have everything "…showed first 75 words of 3989 total…

…showed last 75 words of 3989 total…blacks from gaining ownership of themselves. Slowly, through the foundations of the Tuskegee Institute and the NAACP, blacks were able to get education. This helped them advance in society and caused the Harlem Renaissance, which allowed blacks to maintain and surpass ambitions and gain self freedom. Through gender roles the class system in black society, Zora Neale Hurston develops the movement of blacks toward their goals, and with this, the new ownership of their souls.