25 pages • 50-minute read
How It Feels To Be Colored Me
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Key FiguresCharacter Analysis
Zora Neale Hurston
Hurston’s self-representation in the essay is of a person who early on had a profound sense of her own self-worth, who is proud of her heritage, and who is optimistic about the opportunities for African-Americans in the twentieth century.
Hurston’s self-confidence is the result of the support she received as a child raised in the all-black town of Eatonville, Florida, and a ferocious sense of curiosity,which is represented by her perching on the gatepost to her town while others merely watched from their homes as tourists came by.
Hurston’s essay recounts her evolving sense of racial identity. Hurston’s portrayal of her growing awareness of what it means to be black emphasizes positive aspects of this identity and rejects the idea of black inferiority. On the other hand, her sense of herself as a person is one that transcends race when she is left to her own devices.
Hurston’s diction and tone throughout the essay reflect her subversive sense of humor, irreverence when it comes to widely accepted ideas, and a voice that is shaped at times by the rhythms of jazz and blues.
The Tragically Colored
Hurston uses the tragicallycolored as foils who help her to define a more celebratory notion of what it means to be black. The tragically colored resent their oppression by society. Their identity, in Hurston’s estimation, is one grounded in a sense of having been victimized by whites in the past and the present. Their identities are past-oriented, as opposed to future-oriented. As a result, they are unable to make the most of the opportunities presented to them as Americans.
The Town of Eatonville, Florida
Hurston’s hometown had the distinction of being a town populated and governed by African-Americans during a segregationist era. The town is one that celebrates Hurston but tries to restrain her exuberance. It exists as a place apart from the rest of the world for Hurston, whose desire as a child is to get beyond its boundaries and explore the world.
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