On at least two occasions hurston refers to death as square toed which means execeedingly proper or straight-laced why do you think hurston describes death in this manner

I believe it's because he knows that death is a force that cannot be reckoned with and that regardless how hard we try, we cannot escape death.

(square toed shoes are the type of shoes which size couldn't be adjusted and changed by the wearer unlike a laced pair. This implicates the characteristic of death that is also cannot be changed)