Mary T

In the short story "Spunk," the author Zora Hurston builds characterization off of the antagonist Spunk. Spunk Banks is the known bully around town that no one really likes except for the character Elijah Mosley who praises Spunk for being so confident. The men in the general store spoke about Spunk by saying "He rides that log down at sawmill jus' like he struts 'round wid another man's wife" (554). Spunk basically did whatever he felt like doing whenever he felt like doing it regardless of what people would think. I believe that this is a form of foreshadowing for the rest of the story. Spunk was not liked by the way he treated people and things he would do so I feel as if this shows us how things could potentially play out for him in the story. Spunk was in love with a married women names Lena and this led to her husband Joe to grow angry.   Spunk's friends spoke about Spunk saying "he wants Lena. Spunk would tackle the job just the same. He'd go after anything he wanted" (554). Spunk however would not back down and wanted to chase after what he wanted which was Lena. Joe decided to confront Spunk and this ended in Joe being shot. I applaud spunk for not backing down when it comes to the things he wants in his life however the actions taken here were for obvious reasons too far.