The gourd vine
The gourd vine is a biblical symbol – according to the story, God made a gourd vine grow over Jonah’s head, but then sent a worm to eat it to teach Jonah a lesson. Similarly, in Hurston’s novel, John receives his wife Lucy almost as a gift – she's intelligent and noble, and more importantly - she supports him and helps him grow. The image of Lucy is present throughout the whole novel. However, he loses her just as quickly as he wins her heart, because he doesn’t learn to treat her properly.
The snake
The snake is a symbol which could be found twice in Hurston’s novel – once when John impresses Lucy for the first time and then later on in John’s dream. In the Bible, the snake is related to the Fall of Man – the story about the expulsion of Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden. The snake tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. In Hurston’s novel, the same could be said about John’s sexuality, which tempts him to engage in affairs with numerous women and ruins his relationship with his wife. His sexuality is what makes him mortal and eventually leads to his expulsion from the church in Sanford.
A second less-known appearance of the snake in the Bible is in the story of The Bronze Serpent. After sending fiery snakes to the people in order to punish them for their unfaithfulness, God instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. The ones who looked at the snake had their injuries healed. This time, the symbol of the snake can be related to healing and salvation. Same could be said about the snake in Jonah’s Gourd Vine, because after each encounter with the animal, John’s life got better – the first time by marrying Lucy and the second – by leaving Sanford and starting anew.
The battle-axe
In the novel, Lucy is very fond of the people calling her husband “the battle-axe” in regard to his strong character. However, a battle-axe is also an expression used to describe a fierce and repulsive older woman. This easily applies to John’s contradictory character: despite his attempts to appear as a powerful man, he often shows weakness – he doesn’t have the courage to tell his father his honest thoughts, he runs away when his daughter gets sick, and at the end of the book, he lets Sally provide for him financially. In this sense, his feminine side often overpowers his male dignity.
The tomcat
The second wife of John - Hattie - compares him to a tomcat during a fight. The term “tomcat” arises from the book The life and adventures of a cat whose protagonist Tom the Cat pursues a lot of women. Today, the word tomcat stands for a lone male cat and symbolizes sexuality and preparedness to fight. Both features apply also to John, who attempts to express his masculinity and his power over women whenever possible.
The African drums
The African drums are also a symbol which appears twice in the novel. Once, in a celebration, and once during John’s funeral. They are an expression of the African heritage which was strongly highlighted during the Harlem Renaissance. However, they also symbolize the mixed feelings the reader’s left with towards John as a character – at the end of the novel, the borders between “right” and “wrong” are blurrier than ever.
The train
John highly admires the train as a powerful new invention of the time. This machine has become a symbol of the modern time altogether, as it is present in many of the prominent fictions of this period. However, in Jonah’s Gourd Vine it plays an important role as a train is also involved in John’s sudden death. This emblem of power leads him to his downfall just as his masculinity destroys his relationship with Lucy and his career as a preacher.
