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Hurston And Wright Richard Wright Term Paper

Instead Hurston relies on the strength of her personality and her insistent enjoyment of life to carry her through oppressive times. This attitude is significantly different from that of Wright. It appears that whereas Wright at first displays an almost unhealthy admiration for white people at the cost of his own self-esteem, Hurston's greatest confidence is in herself and her personality. This, like Wright's attitude, can be attributed to a great degree to her location and upbringing. Whereas Wright's first encounters with white people drive him away from them, strengthening the divides between them, Hurston's curiosity drives her towards them. She also recognizes that there is a difference between southern and northern whites, which accounts for her relatively positive experience with some members of the other culture. Thus the basis for her future experiences, attitudes and actions rests on the fact that Hurston had a more balanced view of what a person could be than Wright. For the latter author, blackness and whiteness are labels that are almost impossible to overcome. Instead he uses the labels to the best of his ability to overcome his obstacles and...

For Hurston on the other hand, her entire life is a quest for the most that she can gain from living.
Considering the both works, it appears that upbringing and location carry the most weight in how the authors see their blackness. For Wright it is an initial burden and a continually defining element of his life. For Hurston it is merely one of many elements in her colorful life. Gender does not play a big role in either author's attitude. Instead, the particular psychology behind each attitude is shaped by experience and environment, rather than initially internal or genetic characteristics.

Sources

Hurston, Zora Neale. "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" in the Best American Essays of the Century edited by Joyce Carol Oates. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Lashley, Robert. "The glorious conservatism of Zora Neale Hurston in 'How it feels to be colored me'." May 4, 2005. Epinions.com

Wright, Richard. "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch" in the Best American Essays of the Century edited by Joyce Carol Oates. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Sources used in this document:
Sources

Hurston, Zora Neale. "How it Feels to Be Colored Me" in the Best American Essays of the Century edited by Joyce Carol Oates. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.

Lashley, Robert. "The glorious conservatism of Zora Neale Hurston in 'How it feels to be colored me'." May 4, 2005. Epinions.com

Wright, Richard. "The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch" in the Best American Essays of the Century edited by Joyce Carol Oates. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000.
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