How It Feels To Be Colored Me (Zora Neale Hurston) Analysis

In the essay, How It Feels To Be Colored Me by Zora Neale Hurston, the author tells an autobiographical story regarding her realization that her color would make others attempt to make her feel different or less than. Hurston, an American civil rights activist, novelist and Columbia university alumni, writes this piece in hopes of getting people to understand that your race should not define who you are. She describes a younger version of herself growing up in “an exclusively colored” (Hurston 114) community in Florida. It’s here that Hurston’s splendid use of imagery comes in as she paints the perfect picture of her childhood, sitting on her neighborhood gate-post welcoming everyone who passed. While many hid in their homes watching from the creases in their blinds as white people passed, Hurston explains how she saw no difference between whites and colored, she only saw people and welcomed everyone the same. The way she described her neighbors and environment help readers understand the tension and skepticism between these two races during this time. She goes on to explain that when she was thirteen years old she had to move to Jacksonville, Florida and all of a sudden she “was now a little colored girl” (Hurston 115). Hurston uses a unique style of diction that helps the reader connect to her childhood self even further. She even describes her life as “helter-skelter skirmish” (Hurston 115), but refuses to accept that it is any less than anyone else’s simply due to the pigment of her skin. It becomes fairly clear that she is speaking to African Americans as she often brings up that fact that they use their ancestry, the way they are sometimes treated and simply their color to determine their emotions and their ability in life. However, she always corresponds those notions with her own thoughts and motivations convinced that color will not steer her life. Her use of diction, imagery and connections to her personal mindset all contribute to her success in conveying her purpose.

"The Skin You're In"

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