How It Feels To Be Colored Me By Zora Neale Hurston Analysis

     Zora Neale Hurston was a phenomenal woman. At the height of her success she was known as the “Queen of the Harlem Renaissance.” She came to overcome obstacles that were placed in front of her. Hurston rose from poverty to fame and lost it all at the time of her death. Zora had an unusual life; she was a child that was forced to grow up to fast. But despite Zora Neale Hurston’s unsettled life, she managed to surmount every obstacle to become one of the most profound authors of the century.

Paragraph: Published in during the 1900s, at a time when being colored was considered unbeneficial, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” depicts Hurston’s audacious (for the time) pride in being an African-American woman. In order to emphasize her thesis, she employs pathos and figurative

Zora Neale Hurston’s “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” can be interpreted as a reverse response of W. E. B. DuBois’ concept of “double consciousness” that he describes in “The Souls of Black Folk.” Hurston shows that not all African Americans experience a sense of double consciousness and that some are instilled with the self confidence required to embrace one’s “blackness.” First, it may be helpful to define consciousness before attempting to explain the notion of double consciousness. Consciousness is defined as the state of being mentally aware of something: oneself, in this essay. Therefore, we can now define double consciousness as the state of an individual being mentally aware of “two selves”: one as you see yourself and the second as

In Zora Neale Hurston’s essay “How It Feels To Be Colored Me”, her racial identity varies based on her location. Towards the beginning of her life when Zora was in her own community she could be a lighthearted, carefree spirit. However, when she was forced to leave her community, Zora’s identity became linked to her race. In this essay I will demonstrate how Zora’s blackness is both a sanctuary and completely worthless.

The memoir “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, was first published in 1928, and recounts the situation of racial discrimination and prejudice at the time in the United States. The author was born into an all-black community, but was later sent to a boarding school in Jacksonville, where she experienced “race” for the first time. Hurston not only informs the reader how she managed to stay true to herself and her race, but also inspires the reader to abandon any form of racism in their life. Especially by including Humor, Imagery, and Metaphors, the author makes her message very clear: Everyone is equal.

The contrast is created by the remark that the white person makes: "Good music they have here." Where the music has driven Zora to these inner feelings, the white person can only sit and admire the music itself. He can get no further meaning out of it as Zora has.

How It Feels to be Colored Me is an essay by Zora Neale Hurston published in the World Tomorrow on May 1928. In the essay she describes her first experience with racism. The purpose of the piece is to show self-confidents and pride in her identity. She shows the reader the positives of embracing your identity and not letting society affect your true selves. Stating “I’m not ashamed to be colored.” (pg.416), meaning that no matter what anyone saying about her being black, she still has pride in herself.

Even though both Hurston and Hughes grew up around the same time period, they had very different ideals regarding their experience as African American’s as well as a different voice used within their works to convey their ideals. Hurston in her 1928 essay “How it Feels to be Colored Me” describes her childhood and coming of age with a delightful zest that cannot be contained. Although the essay does contain some dark moments such as when she describes her experience with her friend at the jazz club and the sudden realization of the racial difference between her and the other patrons, for the most part the work exudes her keen sense of dignity despite the popular opinion of the masses during that period. Lines in her essay such as “But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes…I do not belong to the sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt about it” (Abcarian, Klotz, and Cohen 812) beautifully express her sense of self dignity and refusal to give in to the negative energies surrounding her race. Despite the many hardships that the color of her skin caused her she was proud and determined to never let that stand in her way of

One of Hurston’s stories, How it Feels to Be Colored Me, reflects the author’s perspective of the colored race (specifically herself). According to the story, when Hurston reached the age of thirteen, she truly “became colored” (1040). The protagonist was raised in Eatonville, Florida, which was mainly inhabited by the colored race. She noted no difference between herself and the white community except that they never lived in her hometown. Nevertheless, upon leaving Eatonville, the protagonist began losing her identity as “Zora,” instead, she was recognized as only being “a little colored girl” (1041). Hurston’s nickname “Zora” represents her individuality and significance; whereas, the name “a little colored girl” was created by a white society to belittle her race and gender (1041).

In “How it feels to be colored me” Zora Neale Hurston begins recanting her life in Eatonville, Florida. This little town was a black community and the only white people who ventured in to Eatonville were tourist either coming from or heading to Orlando which was just south of Zora’s home town, Eatonville. The town never gave much attention to the southerners never stopping from chewing sugar cane as they pasted but the Northerners who came through were a different breed. In Eatonville the timid would peer behind curtains, those more venturesome would come on to the porch and watch them past with equal amount of pleasure as the tourist got from surveying the village. Young Hurston was more venturesome then most

I am off to a flying start and I must not halt in the stretch to look behind and weep.” Zora Neale Hurston made being Black apart of her identity as could be seen through her phenomenal

Zora Neale Hurston was one of many authors who left an impact on society, particularly black America. During the 1920’s, women were looked at as submissive and did not have many rights. She gave women a voice. Zora Neale Hurston is a remarkable author who reflects her life in most of her writing. She was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance Era. After much success, she was acknowledged as “Queen of the Harlem Renaissance.” Her literary work was not given proper recognition in the beginning because she chose to write things in a different perspective than the normal political mindset dealing with race. Hurston explored women empowerment and feminism in her writing. Hurston developed very strong, resilient women, but were placed in a

In a blog post titled “How It Feels To Be Colored Me,” Zora Neale Hurston comes off to the reader as an outgoing young woman who is curious about the world around her. During her time in Eatonville, Hurston was fortunate to have not experienced segregation, which was sweeping the South. Moving to Jacksonville changed all of what Hurston thought she knew and left her to adapt to a new lifestyle that she was not excited for. Hurston remained strong, even if it was internally, similar to the character Janie in “Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Janie is a few years older than Hurston when her Nanny arranges her marriage with Logan Killicks. After he treats her like an object to put to work, Janie finds the strength to leave her unfulfilling marriage

Racism is a deeply ingrained problem in our social systems. Even though we publicly denounce racism, it still continues to be an issue in our everyday lives. We choose to be ignorant of racism 's influence until we see people affected by it on the news or in person. Even then, rarely do we choose to act upon what we see. The United States may have come a long way to completing Martin Luther King Jr 's dream, but our biases are still a prominent issue today.

Racism has been a notable part of the American society for centuries. While the colonists raise their voices for freedom, meanwhile, they are in feared of losing their slaves. With this mindset, an individual considered one life to be worth more than another due to their skin colors, this contributed greatly to the racial segregation and tension in America. Up to now, in the 21st century, racism is still prominently part of the United States, as people are protesting all over the nation over white police officers brutally toward black citizens. Even with all of the ethical, societal, and technological advancement our country has recognized, racism continues to be, and remains to be a problem in our nation today.