When handling a controversial subject, it is important to recognize the opinion of everyone, not just of oneself. If an author does not recognize, at least to some degree, the opinion of everyone in their audience, they risk losing the interest of readers whose opinions are different. African American writers must consider how it feels to be an African American to their audience; they must understand that there is no such thing as one identity for an entire race. Some African Americans view their race as inferior to the white race. Even though the author may not hold this same opinion, it is still important that he or she understands that part of his or her audience does, especially when writing about racial identity. Zora Neale Hurston understood …show more content…
Zora Neale Hurston understood that both opinions existed in her audience. As stated in source B, “during this period, white people differed from colored to me only in that they rode through town and never lived there.” She shared this opinion with members of her audience, but as stated earlier, she also embraced the fact that other people did not hold the same opinions as her. Hurston was not the only African American author to acknowledge the different opinions that exist within an audience; George Schuyler also understood that it is important to consider all opinion within an audience while writing. In Schuler´s ¨The Negro Art Hokum¨ Schuler addresses the fact that some view art made by African Americans different than art made by a white person, but he also expressed his own opinion by saying ¨“It is merely a coincidence that this peasant class happens to be of a darker hue than the other inhabitants of the land” (Source C). Both George Schuler and Zora Neale Hurston acknowledge the opinion of their audience, while also sharing their own opinion. This is important when writing about controversial topics, like racial identity, in order for the author to avoid offending a group with a particular set of
When it all comes down to it, one of the greatest intellectual battles U.S. history was the legendary disagreement between Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. DuBois. This intellectual debate sparked the interest of the Northerners as well as the racist whites that occupied the south. This debate was simply about how the blacks, who just gained freedom from slavery, should exist in America with the white majority. Even though Washington and DuBois stood on opposite sides of the fence they both agreed on one thing, that it was a time for a change in the treatment of African Americans. I chose his topic to write about because I strongly agree with both of the men’s ideas but there is some things about their views that I don’t agree with. Their ideas and views are the things that will be addressed in this essay.
In “Sweat” by Zora Neale Hurston, tells the tale, in which author uses literary analysis and symbolism to empathize the character of Delia’s horrific journey coming to an end in a karmic fashion. Hurston’s parents were former slaves, however, slavery was long abolished during her time. Hurston gave importance to education for which she worked various jobs earned associate degree from Howard University in 1920 (Zora Neale). Hurston’s “Sweat” was influenced by her life in Harlem Renaissance. During that era, where Hurston grew up in town called Eatonville was primarily predominantly owned by “white folks” (Turner). The African-American that lived in Eatonville used to visit across the railroad tracks to white folk’s houses to cook, clean and watch over their children (Wohlpart). ‘Sweat’ is influenced not only by Hurston’s childhood town but also her relationship with her employer, Fannie Hurst (Wohlpart). Hurston met the writer Hurst at Opportunity’s award dinner, May 1, 1925, one year prior to the writing of ‘Sweat’ (Wohlpart). Hurst hired Hurston as a live-in secretary, Hurston felt dependent on Fannie Hurst’s white patronage for recognition, much like Delia did in ‘Sweat’ (Turner), and saw her patron as a restriction to her art (Wohlpart). “Sweat” (Turner) gives a glimpse of African-American women’s life and their anguish shown in Delia’s character through literary devices and symbolism used by Hurston’s life experiences.
It is a great pity that with writers with an attitude towards race such as Hurston there is still such a negative attitude towards racial and cultural differences all over the
Hurston, Zora Neale. “How It Feels to Be Colored Me.” Writer’s Presence: A Pool of Readings. 5th ed. Ed. Robert Atawan and Donald McQuade. Boston:Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2006. 166-170. Print
By Zora Hurston being an African American female she was considered to be a double minority. Minority is a smaller number or part, especially a number that is less than half the whole number. (Oxford Dictionary) Since there were a small percentage of African Americans living in the United States, African Americas were labeled as minorities. Though Hurston is labeled a double minority she did not accept how society tried to view her as an individual through her entire race. Hurston assured her readers that she had a self-found identity and rejected sobering over the suffering of her ancestors. “Someone is always at my elbow at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of a slave. Slavery is sixty years in the past… The operation was successful and the patient is doing well, thank you. (2125) Hurston argued that she appreciates how things have changed from what her ancestors overcame, but she was not victim of slavery and has no reason to feel as if she is a
A dialectic is the process of synthesizing truth by holding contradictory ideas in tension. Since Richard Wright’s short story “Long Black Song” and Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat” have opposing arguments they must engage in a dialectic. Both stories examine the oppression of the African American race, but they find different sources for its difficulties and demise. In “Long Black Song”, Silas, while expressing his frustration for the superiority of the white men, articulates that the black woman is the source of African American difficulties. In “Sweat”, Sykes’s encounter with death reveals that the African American man’s arrogance is the cause of the demise of the African American race. Wright’s short story “Long Black Song” and Hurston’s short story “Sweat” engage in a dialectic, in which “Sweat” repudiates “Long Black Song”, and produce the truth that one’s hubris that is the source of the difficulties of one’s race and the demise of oneself.
Within her article, A Society of One: Zora Neale Hurston, American Contrarian, Claudia R. Pierpont, a writer and journalist for The New Yorker, tells, analyzes, and gives foundation to Zora Neale Hurston’s backstory and works. Throughout her piece, as she gives her biography of Hurston, she deeply analyzes the significance of Richard Wright, author of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, as he accuses Hurston of “cynically perpetuating a minstrel tradition meant to make white audiences laugh”(Pierpont 3). By doing so, Wright challenges Hurston’s authority to speak for the “black race” as he claims that her works do not take a stance, rather she only writes to please the “white audience. ”As his critiques show to be oppressive, Pierpont reminds the reader the
Success is determined by somebody’s dedication to strive for their goals and overcome any obstacles preventing them from reaching their full potential and these themes are present in Battle Royal, Dust Tracks on a Track, and If We Must Die. This theme is shown in the short story, Battle Royal by Ralph Ellison. In Battle Royal, the protagonist has to endure through a battle royal in order to deliver his speech. The speech symbolizes the dreams or goals that people may have and the battle royal symbolizes hardships and adversity. This parallels to the real-world where dreams cannot be achieved easily, one must work hard to achieve it. Dust Tracks on a Road by Zora Neale Hurston also displays these themes. In the story, Hurston lives in a time
"Zora Neale Hurston is Born." history.com. A&E Television Networks, 7 Jan. 2016. Web. 12 Jan.
Without details, the words on a page would just simply be words, instead of gateways to a different time or place. Details help promote these obstacles, but the use of tone helps pull in personal feelings to the text, further helping develop the point of view. Point of view is developed through the story through descriptive details and tone, giving the reader insight to the lives of each author and personal experiences they work through and overcome. Issa Rae’s “The Struggle” fully emplefies the theme of misplaced expectations placed on African Americans, but includes a far more contemporary analysis than Staples. Rae grapples as a young African-American woman that also struggles to prove her “blackness” and herself to society’s standards, “I feel obligated to write about race...I slip in and out of my black consciousness...sometimes I’m so deep in my anger….I can’t see anything outside of my lens of race” (Rae, 174). The delicate balance between conformity and non-conformity in society is a battle fought daily, yet Rae maintains an upbeat, empowering solution, to find the strength to accept yourself before looking for society’s approval and to be happy in your own skin. With a conversational, authoritative, humorous, confident and self-deprecating tone, Rae explains “For the majority of my life, I cared too much about my blackness was perceived, but now?... I couldn’t care less. Call it maturation or denial or self-hatred- I give no f%^&s.” (Rae 176), and taking the point of view that you need to stand up to racism, and be who you want to be not who others want you to be by accepting yourself for who you are. Rae discusses strength and empowerment in her point of view so the tone is centered around that. Her details all contribute to the perspectives as well as describing specific examples of racism she has encountered and how she has learned from those
“How It Feels to Be Colored Me” is an essay exposing Hurston’s feelings about being an African American in a world of white people and her positive attitude despite being black. In the middle of her essay, Hurston reveals that she has times when she does not feel colored, but she also has times when she does feel colored, such as at Barnard. “Among the thousand white persons, I am a dark rock surged upon, overswept by a creamy sea. I am surged upon and overswept, but through it all, I remain myself.” (Hurston, 65-66). In this quote, Hurston explains her feelings of being overwhelmingly outnumbered by white people, which make her feel colored - or African, speaking in terms of double consciousness. Despite these feelings of being alone in a crowd of white people, Hurston maintains her identity as Zora, not allowing herself to become caught in confusion over her race and identity. Although Hurston feels African around white people, she explicitly states that she does not experience double consciousness. “I have no separate feeling about being an American citizen and colored. I am merely a fragment of the Great Soul that surges within the boundaries. My country, right or wrong.” (Hurston, 99-101). From this quote it is evident that Hurston experiences the opposite of double consciousness - she feels that she can be colored and an American citizen at the same time. Hurston feels she is part of America, unlike many African Americans of the time who felt confused about their separate African and American identities. In addition, Hurston believes America is her place to live whether or not she is being faced with segregation and racism. In contrast to many African Americans during the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston did not feel she had separate African and American identities, as shown by her confidence
...DuBois describes only the negative effects of racism and highlights the struggles and hardships that an African Americans comes up against. Hurston goes so far as to show the point of view from the side of the white person, of how a white person can feel as out of place in a large group of blacks as a black person in as a group of whites. These example show that though similar in some respects, Hurston’s reading of being colored in America shows an opposite view of DuBois’ concept of double consciousness.
It is strange that two of the most prominent artists of the Harlem Renaissance could ever disagree as much as or be as different as Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright. Despite the fact that they are the same color and lived during the same time period, they do not have much else in common. On the one hand is Hurston, a female writer who indulges in black art and culture and creates subtle messages throughout her most famous novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God. On the other hand is Wright, who is a male writer who demonstrates that whites do not like black people, nor will they ever except for when they are in the condition “…America likes to see the Negro live: between laughter and tears.” Hurston was also a less political writer than Wright. When she did write politically, she was very subtle about stating her beliefs.
In conclusion, Hurston was a modernist writer who dealt with societal themes of racism, and social and racial identity. She steps away from the folk-oriented style of writing other African American authors, such as Langston Hughes, and she addresses modern topics and issues that relate to her people. She embraces pride in her color and who she is. She does not hate the label of “colored” that has been placed upon her. She embraces who she is and by example, she teaches others to love themselves and the color of their skin. She is very modern. She is everybody’s Zora.
Authors get their ideas on paper in many ways. They can use their imagination making up everything from thin air. They can use their past experiences or experiences that others relate to them. A better explanation about how authors end up writing what we read is best clarified by an author themselves. Ursula Le Guin an American novelist explains, “I don't believe that a writer "gets" (takes into the head) an "idea" (some sort of mental object) "from" somewhere, and then turns it into words, and writes them on paper. The stuff has to be transformed into oneself, it has to be composted, before it can grow into a story.” If that is too complicated to understand we have the help of Robertson Davis a Canadian novelist who says, “I don't get them (ideas) they get me.” We may not ever know completely as readers how stories are created, but we can see that daily life influences everyone. This is no different for authors. What authors encounter in their daily life can easily influence what they write about. After reading some stories by Zora Neale Hurston, one can see how much the era she lived in had an effect in her writing. Her short stories “The Glided-Six Bits" and “Sweat” portray signs of The Great Depression and poverty life that was present during Hurston’s time.