Hurston and Wright Richard Wright

Hurston and Wright

Richard Wright and Zora Neale Hurston: Experiences of Color

When comparing Richard Wright's essay with Zora Neale Hurston's, significant differences are evident. The most prominent of these is the general attitude of each writer towards the injustices leveled at people of color during their childhood and early adulthood. These differences may be attributed to a number of elements, such as location and gender, as well as the attitude and effect of others on their lives.

Wright's attitude for example is somewhat submissive. He appears at first puzzled, and then to accept the cruel and unjust treatment he receives. It is only later that he finds ways to assert himself and retain a degree of self-respect. He does all this in a very quiet way. Throughout his essay, the author stresses that the events in his life played an educational role for him. It is then these that most influence his thinking and actions as a grown man.

The most significant event in his life is then probably what he refers to as his "first lesson in how to live as a Negro." From the white boys and the fight he has with them he learns that whites have the best tools and skills to survive in the world. His mother reinforces the lesson with a beating and the assertion that a Negro can only survive by being obliged to white people. These lessons carry the young man throughout his growing years and early adulthood, when he makes a success of his life by working for a fairly affluent optical company. Wright's success ensues from being indebted to white people and submitting to them.

The author levels a gentle protest against oppression, which in the end gains for him a measure of self-respect. This occurs in very gradual measures, with Wright always playing a submissive role and gaining what he wants in this way. It appears to work, as in the end he is employed with a prestigious company, and finally learns that self-respect an essential ingredient of respect for others. This elevates him above his oppressors, even when they are unaware of it.

Zora Neale Hurston on the other hand refuses to be either silent or accepting of oppression. On the other hand, she refuses to submit to the anger displayed by many in her position. 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 arrive at a sort of satisfactory situation. For Hurston on the other hand, her entire life is a quest for the most that she can gain from living.