Spunk

The short story "Spunk" (1927) written by Zora Neale Hurston is a brilliant work of literature that embarks topics that can be related to today's society. The story takes place in an all-black Southern town in the late 1800's, possibly in Eatonville, Florida, and starts off with a bunch of men talking about each other, sharing stories of other people, and so on. These men notice a couple walking away. They start gossiping about Spunk Banks, who is quoted in the story as a "giant of a brown-skinned man." He is known as the strongest and most bravely man in the town. Spunk is a saw-mill worker who is good at getting women and carries a gun with him all the time. The girl who is walking with him is Lena Kanty, who is Joe Kanty's wife. These men begin to tease Joe by talking about his wife and Spunk. This event ignites fire in Joe and so he declares in front of the men that he is going to confront Spunk and get his wife back. No one believes him, mainly because of the size difference between Joe and Spunk. And the fact that Joe had never been in a fight before.

Joe proves everyone wrong. He grabs his razor and attempts to kill Spunk in front of Lena, but he fails. Instead, the worst happens when Spunk takes out his gun and shoots him dead. Spunk proudly tells everyone about the shooting, and no one has the courage to ask him about this particular incident. He explains the situation to everyone by saying "Joe come out there wid a meat axe an' made me kill him." He claims Joe was a coward because he tried to sneak-attack him from behind.

Soon after Joe's death, word gets around that Spunk and Lena are about to marry. One night, as Spunk and Lena are getting ready for bed, a black bobcat circles the house. Spunk goes out with his gun to kill the cat, but the cat looks right into his eyes and frightens him so much that he is unable to shoot. Spunk, who is supposed to be the bravest man of the town, is convinced that the black bobcat is Joe. He believes that because no one has ever seen a black bobcat in this town before. He thinks Joe has come back to take revenge so that Lena doesn't marry him.

Finally, the unthinkable happens. Spunk falls from a log into the saw and fatally injures himself that leads to his death. Before dieing, he accuses Joe of having pushed him into the blade from the back, like a coward. At Spunk's funeral, the whole town comes to see him. The narrator describes Lena's emotions by saying "Lena wept in a frightened manner." The 'frightened manner' in this statement indicates that Lena's cry was totally fake, which proves that she didn't love Spunk either. She is the one who is responsible for both men's' death. She pretended to be in love with both men for one reason only – to get their property and acquire all their wealth.

"Spunk" is a story that opens the readers' eyes and shows them how love can lead to betrayal. Love requires both persons to have positive feelings amongst each other. If there's any negative feeling, the two person's will eventually have a conflict with each other.