Category: How It Feels to Be Colored Me

In Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “How it Feels to Be Colored Me” and “Sweat” there are many different elements of modernity in play. Hurston is able to expertly comment on the lives, being and welfare of African Americans at the time of her story in the United States. Illuminating the identity of African American women she gives a voice and draws attention to those that are often silenced and cut down. Embodying the modernist themes of alienation and the assertion of racial and social identity through her upturning of the binary self Hurston had a large impact of the modernist movement as well as other authors in the Harlem Renaissance. Her focus on African American women and progressing the idea of self and a new form of feminism and consciousness has made its mark on modernity.

Within ‘How it Feels to Be Colored Me” Hurston discusses the African American identity and the different ways it has been muddled, disarranged and reshaped. Using this as a means to draw her own clear line on identity by removing the binary characteristics of self she gives a clear sense of oneness to African Americans. Hurston is race conscious and recognizes that there are traits that are placed on you dependent on your race and what you are identified as by other people. Acknowledging the repercussions of living in a post-emancipated society with an understanding that “She is the granddaughter of slaves” (Hurston 1041) and trying to integrate into a culture and society that had a generation prior seen you as property would have its challenges but Hurston rather than seeing things as an impasse chooses instead to disregard this idea and surpass it. Not wanting to focus too much on the past she does not look at the “before and after, but at what is” (Rampersad 60) choosing to instead exalt herself and push forward with what she has been given coming into her own sense of self and identity not tied to the past. In order for African Americans to find their sense of identity they would need to see themselves as who they were before a history of mistreatment and of enslavement. In her short story she uses herself as the subject and is depicted as a strong, stoic and powerful women who understands the disenfranchisement of her race and and the day to day racism African Americans are plagued with. Choosing to see herself as “not tragically colored” (Hurston 1041) she is challenging the stereotypes placed upon African Americans by choosing to remain unphased and changed by them forming an identity that is not based on preconceived notions but instead will draw from her own person. Belonging to no race or time Hurston is describing an identity that is not binary but transcends a sense of being that is wholly and fully herself not defined by the world or people’s view of her. She is not phased by discrimination and instead is amazed at the idea of denying onself her company, fully comfortable with this brown paper bag of identity that is both unimportant and distinctive.

Additionally we can then look at Hurston’s use of female empowerment and feminism to bring forth a sense of identity and remove this idea of the “other”. With this is mind Hurston chooses to use her platform as a way to establish the identity and self of being for women. Hurston begins to form a modern idea of identity through a scope of feminism and women empowerment. Her character Delia Jones has been supporting herself and her husband through the hard work and sweat of her own labor. She begins to recognize after mistreatment from her husband her own power and skills, briefly overcoming her meek attitude and standing up for herself from her husband’s abuse. Becoming an example for the progression of identity within African American women Hurston uses Delia as a way to embody a self that is created through your own personal labor and income. Not dependant on a man, she challenges this patriarchal ideal placed on women and chooses to create an identity that is not reliant on another person. Her husband Sykes embodies a misunderstanding of identity. Representing the lost sense of self that many African American men may have had post slavery. He seems lost in the expectations of manhood and chooses to lash back and abuse the very person who is supporting him and feeding him. We then are given this juxtaposition of identity through Delia who is the ‘breadmaker” of the house and his sweating and working for all that they have. Her sense of identity comes through her own hard work and physical labor that she is then able to use to form her sense of self as independent and self sufficient. This understanding of identity through a modernist view of feminism and more specifically the African American women’s identity shows Hurston’s ability to “identify the black modern and recognize that it was not the same as the white modern” (Rampersad 61) speaking to the experiences and trials of womanhood while zoning in and pulling from her own experiences. Delia becomes a representation of and a staple of the modernist movement and shows Hurston’s intersectionality and versatility through her literary works. Displaying a conscious release of the Africna American identity that remains in the past she essentially is the founder of a new sense of identity that has become characteristic of the modernist movement and shaped the lives and the understanding of many different people. Hurston fully demonstrates that by accepting what is and not looking to the past or the future one can reflect and see who they really are, she takes pride in her color and who she is, using this to bring forth a new identity and self.

In Summation, Zora Neale Hurston was a compelling and dynamic modernist writer who dealt with the idea of self, race and feminism. Addressing modern topics and issues that affect her person she embraces the difficult factors of her world and shows pride in who she is and in what the world is as well as how it can be. Teaching others to love themselves and their identities she embraces women, strength and acceptance. Many different characteristics of modernism appear throughout her works and it gives testament to the impact she has in the literary narrative. The Harlem Renaissance as a whole would have been inherently different without her contribution and her work, her influence and the greater history attests to the importance and impacts her stories have told and the sense of self and being they established.

‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’, written by Zora Hurston, is a book about empowerment because Janie is constantly fighting for her beliefs/rights. For instance, as the book begins Janie meets her wed, Logan Killocks, she is put right to work by him. When she is put to work she starts to dislike him because he will not let her be free, so she flees with another guy named Jody. Jody promises Janie many things, but once again Janie is restricted of her rights and abused so after his she flees with another man allowing her do what she wants. Tea Cake promises her many things and keeps them: in doing so, he becomes jealous, aggressive, and mentally ill. In the end Janie has to kill him to be set free. As you can see there are many times Janie fights for her empowerment. Throughout Janie’s Journey she searches for love. She searches for love because she wants to find peace. Additionally, she wants to be accepted by her partner. It can be seen in the book when Janie and Jody fight, that she has second thoughts and wants to leave. She is successful throughout her journey because as she fights with Jody and TeaCake she ends up meeting her horizon. This search relates to the theme of identity, showing how important it is for one to express their identity.

Janie acquire’s her own voice and ability to shape her own life after Joe Starks and Tea Cakes death. In both relationships she is free at first, but as the relationship between Janie and her husband’s continue the values Joe and Tea Cake held for Janie start to deteriorate. A correlation can be seen between Joe and Tea Cake: both end up getting jealous of Janie, resulting in beating her, and becoming mentally ill. Through both relationships Janie’s can truly express herself and her independence towards the end. Her chief accomplishments are for her to reach the horizon which she ends up doing. In the process of her reaching the horizon, she has to deal with many obstacles: the town gossip, fight for her freedom from Jody, fight for her life with Tea Cake.

The community shows how transferring messages across town were different from now and back then.Without smartphones and other smart devices people played telephone to spread the news. The people of the community’s purpose was to either talk bad about someone or sympathize with many others. The importance of the porch is to spread the news/gossip that goes around town. For example, the story of a mock funeral for the mule was to perceive Jody as the one that cared about the town, as mayor, and to portray Janie to good to attend the funeral: even though the town people did not know Janie wanted to go to the funeral. This example shows the community is bias and will do anything to fit in.

The concept of judgement in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ is very important throughout the book because their are very biased views on situations, that many members of the community follow. In the community, it can be seen that members of it attempt to fit into the community by making sure they can tell or explain the stories of others. They do this to show their strength of not being scared by their fellow members. Additionally, they attempt to do this so they do not face any problems like Janie. Janie, does not follow the communities way of judgement, which leaves her vulnerable to be gossiped about and looked bad upon the community. The judgement is important once again because Janie shows that no matter what the community thinks of her opinion will not be shaped by the community in any way or form. This can relate to the Zora Neale Hurston, when she talks about her life in ‘How It Feels to Be Colored Me’, because in both stories Hurston and Janie take in the comments that offend them, attempting to ignore them to do what’s right for them.

Yes, Janie’s story in ‘Their Eyes Were Watching God’ can be seen as a Hero’s Journey. Janie’s Status Quo can be seen when she meets Logan Killocks beccause she starts to fall in love with him. Her call to adventure is when she meets someone who appreciates her more, Jody. Jody can be seen as her assistance when he advises her in the beginning to do what she thinks is right. Janie’s departure is when she leaves her hometown and goes to Eatonville with Jody. Janie goes through a series of trials when she moves to a new town with her wed. The death of Jody and him forcing her to do things she does not want to, such as tie her hair up and become controlled by him, brings her to her crisis. This is because the death attempts to restrain her even more from her freedom. Additionally, the death of Jody and meeting her new love Tea Cake brings her to the treasure. Tea Cake excepted Janie for who she is and respected her for what she believes in. As the story progresses the result of Tea Cake allowing her to do everything drives him insane and makes Janie killing him. The death of Tea Cake brought Janie to the return. The new life in her journey is when she is not married to anyone any more. The resolution is when she realizes she has reached the horizon.

The status quo is when she becomes an even wiser person and peaceful. This journey can relate to Janie being shown as a modern hero because throughout her adventure she is doing what she is fighting for her rights. She is represented in the book as a woman that is restricted of rights and is attempting to fight for them like women that are doing it currently.

Many authors explain being black and the issues of race in America differently. Authors like W.E.B Du Bois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Toni Morrison all use different types of narration, point-of view, and engagement with historical context to touch base with the issues of race in America.

W.E.B Du Bois was a scholar and activist who became the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard University. Du Bois is most known for his writing and was a spokesperson for African American rights during the first half of the 20th century. One of Du Bois’s well known works is ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ which is a work of American literature published in 1903. ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ is composed of chapters that bring attention to issues of race in America. A chapter in ‘The Souls of Black Folk’ include ‘Of Our Spiritual Strivings’. The chapter opens up with a poem by Arthur Symons, ‘The Crying of Water’. Below the poem is a fragment of a Negro song. A connection between the poem and the song is that the poem was written by a white person and the song was created and sung by Negro people. The putting of the poem and the song ties into the chapter, as Du Bois explains how powerless blacks feel in America and how society treats blacks differently from others. The putting of the poem and the song also shows how similar the poem and the Negro songs are. Du Bois is trying to explain that these two races have similarities and are not so different from one another after all. Another connection between the poem and the song is that they both carry the same sort of message, which shows that these are human issues, not just black people issues. We humans all have the same sort of issues no matter what the color of our skin is. In this chapter Du Bois explains that the one question white people always want to ask Negros is “How does it feel to be a problem?”. Du Bois first became aware that he was a “problem” when a white girl in his elementary classroom did not want to exchange cards with him because he was black. This experience made him realize that he was different in a world full of white people, this being said, as Du Bois stated “The exchange was merry, till one girl, a tall newcomer, refused my card,- refused it peremptorily, with a glance. Then it dawned upon me with a certain suddenness that I was different from the others” (Du Bois, 921). Du Bois tells the story of race in America from his own experiences and tribulations. The story is told through first person point of view and we as readers get an inside look into how a Negro person in America gets through life every day and all the challenges that come with it due to racist white people.

Zora Neale Hurston was an American author. She portrayed racial struggles in the early 20th century. One of Hurston’s well known works is ‘How It Feels to Be Colored Me’, which was published in 1927. In the work of literature, Hurston describes her experiences as a colored person in America. We as readers get to see exactly how she felt and all the experiences she faced as the work of literature is told through the first person point of view as well. She explains that she always felt normal and just like all Americans until her thirteenth year of life, which was when she “became colored”. Hurston, even though treated differently due to skin color, does not let that bring her down or make her feel ashamed that she is a Negro. She is proud of who she is and will not make any excuses to make up for her “differences”, this being said, as Hurston states “But I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all” (Hurston, 534). Hurston tells her story of how she grew up in a full Negro community in Florida. She did not feel colored until she turned 13 years old which is when she and her family moved to another city in Florida, where the community was very different compared to the community of her hometown. In this new city is where she became the “little colored girl”. Hurston notes that she does not always feel colored, but she feels it in most places like the college she attends due to the large amount of white students. Hurston’s mental strength is shown when she states “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company?” (Hurston, 536). This shows, that no matter how “colored” she may feel and how society has failed her and so many other Negros in America, she does not let that bring her down. It almost brings her up and makes her stronger as a person and as a woman. A metaphor Husrton uses in comparing herself and her race versus others is when she states “I feel like a brown bag of miscellany propped against a wall. Against a wall in company with other bags, white, red, and yellow. Pour out the contents, and there is discovered a jumble of small things priceless and worthless” (Hurston, 536). After the metaphor, Hurston goes on to describe the contents of the bag and how they’re all similar in all the different colored bags. Through this it is evident that Hurston’s message is that no matter what color the bag is, the contents inside are very similar. No matter the skin color of a person, all people of all colors share similar thoughts, emotions, and memories.

Toni Morisson is an American novelist. Her novels are known for giving details of African American characters, as she is an African American as well. One of Morissons well known works is ‘Recitatif’, which was published in 1983. In the fictional story, there are two main characters named Twyla and Roberta. We as readers learn that both girls live in an orphanage due to the fact that their mothers are not fit to care for them. Twyla is told that her mother danced all night and Roberta is told that her mother is sick. The relationship between the two girls did not start off on a good note as Twyla the narrator reveals, “It was one thing to be taken out of your own bed early in the morning- it was something else to be stuck in a strange place with a girl from a whole other race” (Morrsion, 606). It is through this that we learn the girls are completely different races. In this story Morrsion uses fictional characters to depict the issue of race. Morrison tells a story of two girls, one white and one black. Even though we know all about the girls and their lives, we never really find out which character is white and which character is black. Morrision through the use of narration, plays with the reader’s mind as she secretly and discreetly inserts things she knows people will make assumptions about when it comes to race. Basically, the characters in the story have characteristics that could be each race, but we are never entirely sure. An example of this would be “Her own hair was so big and wild I could hardly see her face” (Morrison, 610). Immediately after reading this, us readers seem to picture Roberta as black due to her “big” hair. Another example would be “Mary, simple-minded as ever, grinned and tried to yank her hand out of the pocket with the tragedy lining- to shake hands, I guess. Roberta’s mother looked down at me and then looked down at Mary too. She didn’t say anything, just grabbed Roberta with her Bible-free hand and stepped out of line, walking quickly to the rear of it” (Morrison, 610). After reading this, us as readers seem to picture Twyla and her mother as black, due to the fact that Roberta’s mother did not want to shake Twyla’s mothers hand at all. This story takes place during the 50s and during this time, most white people did not want to touch or talk to a Negro person at all. Throughout the entire story, we assume that one girl could be one race but we are never exactly sure. Morrison does this to show that we are all equal no matter our skin color. By having the reader almost guess who is the black character and who is white character helps to prove that we are all equal. Twyla could be black or Twyla could be white and same goes for Roberta, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter because a color does not define a human being. Even though this is a fictional story, we as readers get the reality of ourselves as we stereotype against African Americans. It opens up our minds as we realize that African Americans are judged and stereotyped by the rest of Americans every day and we realize we are the ones who feed into those judgements and stereotypes.

Many authors like W.E.B DuBois, Zora Neale Hurston, and Toni Morrison, explain being black and the issues of race in America differently. All these authors all use different types of narration, point-of view, and engagement to touch base with the issues of race in America. In ‘Of Our Spiritual Striving’ and ‘How It Feels To Be Colored Me’ we as readers get an inside look into how Negro people of America are treated and how the treatment they receive affects them mentally due to the narration and first person point of view. In ‘Recitatif’ we as readers get to know ourselves as we stereotype against African Americans. It opens up our minds to realize that African Americans are judged and stereotyped by the rest of Americans every day and we are included in those who feed into those judgements and stereotypes. These works and their authors are important to understand the United State’s cultural history as we see that these works of literature were written years ago, yet issues of race are still a part of our society and remain unchanged.