Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

Hurston's collected, cataloged and published two folklore collections. However, Hurston integrated the folktale "High John de Conquer" as a spiritual representation of Tea Cake in the text.

Most of the great flame-throwers were there and naturally, handling Big John de Conquer and his works. How he had done everything gig on earth, then went up tuh heben without dying atall. Went up there picking a guitar and got all de angels doing the ring-shout round and round de throne. Then everybody but God and Old Peter flew off on a flying race to Jericho and back and John de Conquer won the race; went on down to hell, beat the old devil and passed out ice water to everybody down there. Somebody tried to say that it was a mouth organ harp that John was playing, but the rest of them would not hear that. Don’t care how good anybody could play a harp, God would rather to hear a guitar. That brought them back to Tea Cake. How come he couldn’t hit that box a lick or two? Well, all right now, make us know it. (157)

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