Zora Neale Hurston's "John Redding Goes to Sea"

John Redding Goes To Sea by Zora Neale Hurston

My reflections on the short story, “John Redding Goes to Sea”

            From the title at first glance, it sounded as if John Redding was going to the Navy. Perhaps he could even be a fisherman. As the story moves on, the reader sees that the character John Redding longs to go to sea. He wants to see the world. He is held back by his mother and others. His father supports John and shares his dreams though. John has to spend all of his life longing to see the world.

            From the time of being a little boy, John always wanted to see the world. He would go to the water and cast out sticks to see where they would go. His father was with him when he did this at times. Both of them shared a dream to see the world. His father Alf didn’t feel like he could see the world, but could through John’s eyes. The people in the community thought John was weird because he talked of seeing the world. They all thought he should be a teacher and settle down. Day after day, John felt torn to go see the world. He didn’t want to disappoint his mother though.

            John’s mother Matty sounds like a typical mother when her children want to leave home. Mothers always see their children as their babies. It is hard to let them go. John insisted that he would come back and wouldn’t be gone long. Matty would always cry and get mad at him. John didn’t feel he could go on a trip remembering his mother not wanting him to be there. Matty just couldn’t let go and wanted to discourage her son from seeing the world and going to sea.

     John’s father Alf supported his dreams. He tried to help him convince the mother and it often ended in arguments. Matty felt like she and Alf should discourage John, not encourage him. Alf felt like women take away men’s dreams.

      Other people like John’s wife and people in the community could not understand John’s dreams to see the world.  People called him queer. So, when he had the opportunity to help Mr. Hill with the bridge, he took it promising to be back in the morning. When the storm came, the entire family feared for John’s life. When he didn’t come back in the morning, they went looking for him. Some people had been killed, injured or swam to safety. No one could find John until they saw him floating on a log dead. Everyone was distraught at that time. Alf was upset that his son never got to see the world and wanted him to be left to float at sea.

     John Redding had to die before his mother would let him go to see the world at last. John was left floating on a log out to the sea like the many twig ships he sent out.