tell stories about John, an enslaved man who outwitted the devil, his white master, and tried to trick God himself. This is the central narrative conceit of Mules and Men and forms the basis of the work. In part two of Mules and Men, Hurston travels to New Orleans to collect folk tales, learning from various practitioners of hoodoo, each with their own specialties. Unlike in part one of Mules and Men, part two does not flip back and forth between frame stories and independent folk tales. Instead, the section is seen entirely through the Hurston’s authorial persona, recounting the events of each hoodoo ritual with a first person perspective. Often, Hurston will help or participate in the ritual itself. Folklore Mules and Men contains over seventy different folktales from across the Black tradition. Most of them concern racism, slavery, or oppression, and feature weaker characters that trick stronger characters. Some of these stories concern personified animals such as Brer Rabbit, or Brer gator, and attempt to explain why something in nature is the way that it is. Others are part of the oral tradition of enslaved people in the United States and offer a look at the forms of resistance and culture developed in the antebellum south. The folktales presented in Mules and Men are short, only a few paragraphs long at most. Several of the most prominent stories in Mules and Men are listed below. Ole Massa and John Who Wanted to Go to Heaven John is an enslaved man who features in several stories in Mules and Men. He is always known for his trickery and intelligence. In one, John prays to God for deliverance from slavery. His master overhears him, and decides to dress up in a sheet to trick John into running away. The master goes to John's cabin and says that he is God, and is going to take John away to heaven in a fiery chariot. John realizes the trick, and when his master comes to his door, tells ‘God’ that he’s too dirty to be in the presence of God and he needs to change his pants and his shirt. Then he tells ‘God’ that “yo’ countenance is so bright Ah can’t come out to you.” ‘God’ agrees to take several steps backwards, away from the front door. When ‘God’ does this, John runs away. How the Gator Got Black This is