Read the excerpt from Mules and Men.
So de po' man went on back to de prayin' ground agin and got down on his knees. But there wasn't
no big woods like it used to be. It has been all cleared off. He prayed and said, "Oh, Lawd, right here
on dis spot ten years ago Ah ast you if Ah was called to preach and a voice tole me to go preach.
Since dat time Ah been strugglin' in Yo' moral vineyard, but Ah ain't gathered no grapes."
Hurston evokes the image of a "moral vineyard" in order to
O demonstrate that morality, like grapes on a vine, grows slowly over time.
O suggest the speaker's dilemma in finding guidance, or grapes, from a higher power.
O describe how the speaker needs to grow his congregation, just as grapes grow.
show that morality is tangled and complicated, as are grape vines growing together.