Analysis of Angelous Observation and Hurstons How it Feels to be Coloured Me - Essay Example

This poem reads like an awakening of an innocent black girl to the brute world of racism, which systematically worked against the welfare and progress of the black community. The main parts of the story relate to the graduation of the 12-year-old girl from eighth grade when her pride and self-confidence come face to face with the stifling force of racism as represented in the white supremacist speech of Mr.

Donleavy (Angelou 91). This particular speech reverses the pride and confidence that the young black girl had felt about her as the speaker constantly reminds her of her “unfortunate” place in the hierarchy of things within the white supremacist state of things. However, the speech of Mr. Reeds serves to restore this pride as the young girl is made once again to believe in herself (Angelou 74). This poem marks a journey for the young girl from the point of innocence to that of truth. She is confronted by the hard reality of racism as it represents itself in the external world.

From this point, the girl is then empowered to appreciate her identity and not accept any systems or discourses that are designed to diminish the girl’s self-identity. As such, the awakening experience helps her to live a better life. Similarly, Malcolm X’s story, “A Homemade Education” brings out the positive tone of the civil rights movement’s leader who taught himself a great deal about reading while in prison (Malcolm 56). It is a story that narrates the triumph of the human spirit amid the difficult and trying conditions of prison life.

The ability to progress in reading and education outside the guidance of the formal system is a task that requires motivation and sacrifice. In essence, this story is meant to motivate the reader in a manner that would make him aspire to the kind of inner drive, which helped Malcolm X ascend to higher levels of knowledge. As such, the main themes of motivation, strength, and willpower, which seem to inform the course of this story, are brought out as consequences of ambition and focus. Some qualities enabled Malcolm X to transform his life from that of a miscreant in society to one of motivation, a positive personality, and high levels of influence.

Zora Hurston’s story “How it Feels to be Coloured Me” confronts the subject of racism in a forthright and creative manner. This story tells of how a young woman learns to come to terms with the reality of her colored identity. A reality only comes to her after she joins boarding school (Hurston 161). However, she does not feel sorry or seek to apologize to society for her colored identity. Instead, she celebrates her self-worth and seeks every opportunity to illustrate her human values in ways that disregard the racial question.