How and why does Hurston use dialect in the story? Note that the characters’ speech and the narrator’s are in different dialects, with the former being Southern African-American speech and the latter being more traditionally grammatical American English, and so the story has two registers of diction.

Although I understand why some people might find this significant and perhaps point to segregation as the root of author’s choice of dialect, I believe that both dialects are used in order to improve the flow of the story. If the entire story was written in the southern and more informal dialect, it would likely be difficult to read and lack a clear structure. On the other hand, the dialect does plant a specific image of the characters throughout the story. The quotes used allow the reader to gain a deeper understanding of the important factors at play in the story. In conclusion, I do not believe the dialect was chosen for any other reason other than to improve the flow of the story and to present a specific image to the reader.