Zora Hurston How It Feels To Be Colored Me Analysis
In Zora Hurston’s essay, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” she discusses numerous ways of how she perceives her race. During the Harlem Renaissance, 1920s, many different writers and artists expressed their race differently. Of the many different theorists, two emerged and became very prominent to the new movement of black representation, the two being Langston Hughes and W.E.B. Du Bois. Zora Hurston in this essay tells the reader that she is herself throughout her whole life and does not try to change to fit in. This way of thinking best resonates with Hughes argument of black representation because he believed in expressing yourself. However, W.E.B Du Bois would find this particular argument very troubling for many reasons, such as his theory
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Preaching about the advancement of colored people through education and politics, Du Bois would cringes at this very essay because it contradicts everything he believes in. Hurston states that she does not “weep at the world,” but rather she is “too busy sharpening my oyster knife” (Hurston 827). This description implies that she rather than weep and think about the way the world is she would rather just do work and not over think it. This contradicts Du Bois because he believes that education and reflection are the way blacks will advance, whereas Hurston just lives with it and continues to work. This sort of attitude can be compared to Booker T. Washington, which Du Bois had disagreements with as well. Also, another example where Dubois would disagree with Hurston is when she is discusses how “exciting” it is “to hold the center of the national stage.”(Hurston 827) Hurston tell the reader that likes it because the “spectators” don’t know “weather to laugh or to weep.”(Hurston 827) The reason this is different from Du Bois is because he believes if you are center stage or a piece of art you are supposed to advance colored people through propaganda. The way Hurston describes holding the stage shows he thoughtlessness when it comes to how she is perceived. This is shown how she takes excitement for the crowd’s unpredicted response. Du Bois would be ashamed because he believes everything a black artists does is propaganda to make black become more equal to whites and Hurston’s carelessness would disregard his
Preaching about the advancement of colored people through education and politics, Du Bois would cringes at this very essay because it contradicts everything he believes in. Hurston states that she does not “weep at the world,” but rather she is “too busy sharpening my oyster knife” (Hurston 827). This description implies that she rather than weep and think about the way the world is she would rather just do work and not over think it. This contradicts Du Bois because he believes that education and reflection are the way blacks will advance, whereas Hurston just lives with it and continues to work. This sort of attitude can be compared to Booker T. Washington, which Du Bois had disagreements with as well. Also, another example where Dubois would disagree with Hurston is when she is discusses how “exciting” it is “to hold the center of the national stage.”(Hurston 827) Hurston tell the reader that likes it because the “spectators” don’t know “weather to laugh or to weep.”(Hurston 827) The reason this is different from Du Bois is because he believes if you are center stage or a piece of art you are supposed to advance colored people through propaganda. The way Hurston describes holding the stage shows he thoughtlessness when it comes to how she is perceived. This is shown how she takes excitement for the crowd’s unpredicted response. Du Bois would be ashamed because he believes everything a black artists does is propaganda to make black become more equal to whites and Hurston’s carelessness would disregard his