Zora Identity

Zora couldn’t wrap her head around why when white people came through town, her people would hide. She says “The front porch might seem a daring place for the rest of the town, but it was a gallery seat for me” (Hurston 42). Because Zora is the lighthearted person she is, she was not content with just the porch seat, but she wanted to be on top of the gate-post for the whole world to see “Zora of Orange County” “(Hurston 43). She loved to watch the reaction of those who rode through her town once they saw her waving and greeting. She knew, “if one of my family happened to come to the front in time to see me, of course negotiations would be rudely broken off” (Hurston 42). This shows that young Zora’s personality was just too loud to ignore. She took pride in being the first to welcome the visitors to her state.

In a modern society, race is no longer the determining factor of one’s place in the social hierarchy. Instead, the wealth and fame a person possesses captivates the world’s attention. However, race is still a controversial topic in the United States. Thus racial tensions continue to exist in certain sections of the country. The literal and metaphoric foundation of this currently powerhouse of a nation is built on slavery, the backs of immigrants and people of color who received little to no recognition for their efforts and contributions. The barbarous treatment of African slaves, especially in the South with its large cotton plantations further embedded hatred and hostility between colored people and white people. It took over a decade and a Civil War between the North and the South before the slavery was abolished. However, slavery was merely replaced by Jim Crow laws and segregations that continued to divide the colored from the white. Finally, the Civil Rights movement urged citizens to evolve from racist views. Yet even still racism plays a big part in our culture and is still heavily discussed; our current political climate only fuels the discussion. In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, both racism and colorism are touched on both a symbolical level as well as a literal one through the trials and tribulations of the protagonist, Janie. Despite not having a theme centered around racial issues in the novel, Hurston highlights them throughout the

In her essay "How it Feels to Be Colored Me", Zora Neale Hurston offers the reader an inspiring and positive stance on how she views America's brutal past of racism. She describes herself not even realizing she was colored until she had turned thirteen years old (1). She was born innocent like every other child as we can see when she says "During this period, white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived here." (2). With the use of vivid metaphors and colloquial language she expresses her project as showing the reader that it is possible to overcome the highly negative psychological effects of racism. Knowing the circumstances she was born into as a black female, and knowing the circumstances she lived through to write this essay in 1928, is astonishing.

What does it take for a person to feel comfortable within her own skin? Human beings have struggled with the concept of identity for centuries and for good reason. Who we are as people becomes heavily reliant on what society prefers in a person’s character as well as an inkling feeling of how everyone would prefer to express herself. Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, focuses on Janie Crawford’s life as a fair-skinned black woman in the southern United States within the early 1900s. In more ways than one, Janie provides a definitive example of how people struggle with identity within society, and just how much it takes for a person to feel fulfilled with who she has become. Whether through the learning trials of three

In the nonfictional essay Hurston references her childhood days in the form of anecdotes. As a kid Hurston lived in Eatonville proudly being “everybody’s Zora” (HUR 1060). Since there was

The Great Depression, Segregation, and the Harlem Renaissance were all undeniably important parts of our country’s history, and Zora Neale Hurston was one extraordinary woman who lived through all three. Today considered to be one of the most important African American authors ever, Hurston was a successful author at the peak of her career. Although she had to endure a great deal to get to where she was, Hurston never let her surroundings get her down, “I do not weep at the world I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife” (Zora). Hurston’s effects on the writing community and the world demonstrate the struggles she had to go through throughout her life.

In reading through the works of Zora Neale Hurston, W. E. B. DuBois, and Booker T. Washington, I traveled back in time and felt the pain and suffering of the black folks from the past. The three authors completed their works to the best of their understanding, experiences, and chosen disposition to the matter. While the tones and messages of their works differed from one another, addressing various issues at specific levels of either favouring it or opposing it, Hurston, DuBois, and Washington brought to light a single message: respect the race that had endured so much from the past and yet survived the test of time – the race of African-Americans.

I was now a little colored girl. I found out in certain ways. In my heart as well as in the mirror, I became a fast brown - warranted not to rub or run". (Hurston 115). This response stood out to me because I saw this as a turning point in Zora's life because she realizes

In “How it Feels to be Colored Me,” Zora Hurston tells her story as she transformed into a wiser person. She began to see race as an important divinity for identity and something that should not be viewed as an important to the society. When Hurston was 13 years old, she moved to a school in “Jacksonville” a village where the mass majority of the population were white. Thus, Hurston for the first time in her life, endured alienation by a different racial group. Hence, she was raised in a village where the population was Black. So, she had never been in a situation where her skin was problematic to the society. As Hurston tries to assimilate in Jacksonville she states to have “become fast brown” (line 36). Clarifying, her Blackness was clearly being discriminated, and she began to notice her skin color. However, Hurston didn’t see this as a damaging reflection. She believed that everyone was different, and being colored was one of those differences. Therefore, race should be embraced, and celebrated just like a culture; in other words, we are how we are born; live your life to fullest by looking beyond the discriminative notion of our society.

In the essay “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” the author, Zora Neale Hurston, emphasizes points in her life, those being times where she has felt her color and others where her color seemed almost nonexistent. Hurston’s motive for composing this writing piece is to show the readers that race does not solely determine one’s identity. The author skillfully utilizes writing strategies to assert this, which embellishes and strengthens the impact of her words. Some examples of these approaches include Hurston’s use of imagery, metaphors, and symbolism throughout the entirety of her work. Namely, the imagery presented in the essay allows for the reader to perceive Hurston’s surroundings in her time.

“I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul….I do not belong to that sobbing school of Negrohood who hold that nature somehow has given them a lowdown dirty deal….No, I do not weep at the world--I am too busy sharpening my oyster knife” (“Zora Neale Hurston,” 2009). One woman wrote stories focused on the lives and relationships of black people within their communities. In many of Zora Neale Hurston’s written works, she incorporated her beliefs, race, culture, and personal experiences. Hurston included feminism as well as pride of her race in her literary works to combat issues such as sexism and racism.

Zora Neale Hurston’s text “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” examined notions of self-image, perception, identity, and pride within the black community during the Harlem Renaissance. Throughout her text, she maintains optimistic although many of the people within her community perceive themselves negatively and struggle with their self-image. Throughout the novel her optimism stems from her ability to associate positive notions with her color. This greatly impacted me because one can easily utilize Zora’s ideologies and correlate them to other situations in present times. There are many instances of people in today’s society who struggle with self-image and identity and in her text Zora isolates and exposes the first step to solving this dilemma

Hibben discuss Zora Hurston’s other books comparing them to Their Eyes Were Watching God . Hibben says that all of Hurston’s books are not just from her head but also what’s in her heart. I agree with Hibben when she states that “ It is awfully easy to write nonsense about Negroes. That Miss Hurston can write of them with simple tenderness, so that her story is filled with the ache of her own people”. I agree with this because lots of people write about African Americans but don’t have any clue what African Americans go through. During this time, African Americans were still slaves and were trying make their own community of blacks. Hurston describes a time of Janie’s grandma who was a slave and how she was treated. “ She begin tuh slap mah jaws ever which a’way”. This novel is more famous because Zora Neale Hurston is black so she is telling the story from her people and also gives an African American dialect that other writers could not

African-American literature is the voice of a race and a people who have a very passionate existence. They have existed in harsh conditions in this country for many, many generations. Their stories told orally, and those that were eventually written down, describe life as members of African tribes forced to adapt their cultural beliefs to a new way of life, slaves with almost no rights or respect, finally free men and women, and as American citizens who are also black. In their writings the reader comes to understand the African-American history and community. By far, one of the most wonderful, fascinating aspects of the African-American community is

Nowadays, discrimination is everywhere, especially the racial discrimination. This idea is discussed in How It Feels to Be Colored Me by Zora Hurston. She mainly talks about a positive attitude about how to find inner happiness. Despite facing racism many times, Hurston looks to teach other girls to be themselves and not represented by their color. At thirteen, she was sent to school in Jacksonville. She was no longer Zora, but a little colored girl. Nevertheless, she did not find this tragic, unlike others who thought being colored was a curse. She considered slavery to be in the past and felt that she has been well on the way to become an American out of a potential slave. Blacks went from Africa to civilization at the cost of Slavery and