In Zora Neale Hurston's work, "How It Feels to Be Colored Me", the author draws from personal experience and writes not only about his cultural experience within the black community, but also his experience outside his own culture. The work is a detailed memoir of her personal idea of what her culture is to her and what it can mean to others. represents the black cultural community within, in several ways. The work describes how the narrator, Hurston, sees herself, and therefore how she sees her culture. The work reveals quite a bit of insight into how we all fit in culturally. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay. First, Hurston explains how she sees herself in relationships. to its culture. The text reads: “...I don't always feel colourful. Even now I often find the unconscious Zora of Eatonville before the Hijra. I feel more colorful when projected onto a crisp white background (bay. 540).” After analyzing the text, and reading between the lines, it is obvious that Hurston does not notice his race, and that it is others who bring it to his attention; it can be seen on pages 538 and 539 of the text. The lyrics read: “…I lived in a little black town of Eatonville, Florida. It is exclusively a colorful city. The only whites I knew passed through town on their way to or from Orlando... During this time, whites differed from blacks to me only in that they passed through town and never lived there... But changes came ...and I was sent to school in Jacksonville...I left Eatonville...[as] Zora...[and came to Jacksonville as] a little colored girl...I found out...in my heart like this like in my mind. the mirror (Bay. 538-539)”. This section shows that while the narrator (Hurston) lived in her hometown of Eatonville, Florida, she was not very aware of her culture, or the cultures and races of others. In the narrator's early years she did not recognize cultural differences because they were not aggressively presented to her. She understood that there could be people different from her, however, she did not see it in terms of color. As stated in the text, “white people differed from colored people to me only because they passed through the city and never lived there (Bay.539).” From this statement it can be concluded that the narrator did not pay much attention to race, color and culture. Within the text, interactions between the white travelers and Zora, the narrator, are shown. White travelers often speak kindly to Zora and most of the time ask to see her dance and perform. However, Zora found it strange that she enjoyed it so much and thought her audience did the same. These peaceful interactions with the white travelers built Zora's entire impression of white people, and she felt that they were not very different from her. It is clear the place and reasoning behind young Zora's impression of whiteness, and where that first opinion of these people came from. As stated in the text, ...I lived in an all-black town...exclusively [for] niggers (Bay 538)”, since Zora's town was all-black she did not have many opportunities to meet people of different races; nothing but white travellers. Zora remained innocent of racial concerns, because no one was openly present for her to witness it firsthand. However, after Zora moved to a school in Jacksonville, she became more aware of the cultural differences between all of us. In realizing the difference in others, she now realized the difference in herself, and now she was “the little girl ofcolor (Bay. 359)". Realizing that there are other different cultures around her, the narrator also comes to understand her own culture and how some within her culture feel in relation to their culture. Within the text it says: “...But I have no tragic color. There is no pain dammed in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I don't mind [being black] at all. I don't belong to the sobbing school of niggers they claim that nature somehow gave them a dirty deal and whose feelings are all hurt because of it (Bay. 539).” This statement raises several questions. First of all, how do these individuals, those at the heart, really see themselves. interior of the “Negrohood”. The text reads: "..I don't mind at all [that I'm black] (Bay. 539)", in stating this is it indicative that the Negrohood mentioned in the next line matters here? their culture through the text; those who seem to want to belong to another race. This feeling of wanting to change race can be seen in all different cultures and refers to the human desire to "fit in", so to speak. Does the desire to change race have anything to do with where the individual lives and works? My guess is more than likely. An area may be more or less recognizable to a person due to the race of the majority of people who live there. For example, in some areas it is not uncommon to see a large influx of immigrants of the same culture moving into a specific area. They bring with them their cultural ways, the way they live, work, worship and even love. As the area's population grows in volume, this is predominantly reflected in their specific culture. However, this is not really a bad thing, on the contrary, it allows America to be a cultural oasis and gives us the opportunity to learn about other cultures. However, sometimes individuals from different cultures may be afraid of learning and separating themselves from other cultures, and in turn, sometimes other cultures do not want to invite “outsiders” (such as the problem with white people not wanting individuals blacks are incorporated into their culture as seen in many texts). So, if you take a look from another's perspective and see the difficulties they face in assimilating into other cultures, you may be able to understand why someone might want to change their race. Through the integration of cultures has always been a difficult issue, there is still a sign in the text that both the white and black communities are trying, although the cultural differences are obvious, they are still able to blend together. At one point in the text the narrator, Zora, explains that she and a white friend often visit The New World Cabaret, a black jazz club. He explains that while he is with this white friend at the jazz club, his color comes through. She explains in the lyrics that while listening to jazz music, “..I dance wildly inside myself; I scream inside, I scream; I shake the assegai over my head, I throw it towards the target yeeeeeooww! I'm in the jungle and I live in the jungle... My pulse was pounding... [after the music ends] "There's some good music here," he observes, drumming the table with his fingertips... Music. The great purple and red stains of emotion did not touch him (Bay. 540).” This section shows the cultural and personal differences between the two in the jazz club. Zora's reaction to the music was a representation of how the lyrics show how Zora's culture fits into American culture. Music is a perfect example of something that can be shared and blended with other cultures. Jazz music has been a part of American culture for a long time, however, the black community has taken it to the next level and created some music in the process.
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