Buy an essay on Racism in “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Z.N. Hurston and “If He Hollers Let Him Go” by C. Himes

The problem of racism is one of the central themes in the American literature. Remarkably, the problem of racism has persisted since the time of slavery and slave trade, when black slaves were treated as mere commodities and whites felt their superiority. The racism emerged and evolved in the course of time. Nevertheless, the antagonism between the whites and the blacks in the US persisted that naturally affected the American literature, which mirrored social problems and complex social, interracial relationships. In this respect, it is particularly noteworthy to refer to such books as “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Z.N. Hurston and “If He Hollers Let Him Go” by C. Himes, which reveal the full extent to which racism was deep-routed in the consciousness of Americans both whites and African Americans. Both novels focus on the problem of racism in the American society, although Hurston focuses on the depiction of racism in regard to African Americans women, whereas Himes stresses the problem of racism in regard to African American men, but both authors reveal successfully that the problem of racism affected both genders and all social classes and groups within the American society.
On analyzing both novels, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that they both focus on the problem of racism and complicated racial relationships. At the same time, both novels reveal clearly the full extent to which racism affected the life of American people. In this regard, African Americans were traditionally inferior to white Americans, to the extent that they were treated as mere commodities, as if they were a sort of inferior race, which can never be equal to whites. At this point, Hurston goes probably too far because she often tends to associate African American girls and women with mules, who are serving to men. For instance, when the described African Americans she reveals the fact that they were deprived of any rights and liberties and they could not stand for their rights and interest. Instead, they had to obey to the whites without any attempt to rebel. For instance, Hurston uses metaphor and allegory to describe African Americans and to reveal their status in the American society dominated by the whites: “These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long. Mules and other brutes had occupied their skins. But now, the sun and the bossman were gone, so the skins felt powerful and human. They became lords of sounds and lesser things. They passed nations through their mouths. They sat in judgment.” (Hurston, 2). Obviously, the author tends to attributes such qualities as obedience and helplessness, which are the characteristics of such animals as mules, to African Americans. In spite of the fact that the author associates African Americans with “mules and other brutes”, she still stresses that they are not totally deprived of human dignity. In stark contrast, they are still eager to fill that they are human and they are equal to whites and other people because as soon as the setting changes and their “blackness” is not seen anymore, they feel comfortable and aware of their human dignity. They change as if by magic from speechless mules into noble humans.
At this point, the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” is similar to “If He Hollers Let Him Go” by Himes. To put it more precisely, the main character of “If He Hollers Let Him Go”, Bob Jones, who is an African American, counts for his successful career development because many African Americans have succeeded and started to receive high wages and get promotion. In such a situation, readers can trace a considerable evolution that occurs to the main character as he changes his attitude to other people and to himself above all. At first, the main character seems to be an ordinary African American, who got used to be an inferior man to whites. He got used to obey and it is obvious that he would never change his lifestyle and his behavior, if he had not got an opportunity to take a different position in his workplace. To put it more precisely, he grew up with the belief that whites are superior to blacks because they are masters and rulers of the world, whereas African Americans always performed low-qualified jobs. However, as soon as Bob sees that African Americans can get the promotion and get higher position in their workplace, he starts working harder and does his best to improve his position in the company. In such a way, Bob changes as change African Americans in the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God”.
At the same time, the aforementioned changes occur at two levels: interior and exterior. At the exterior level, characters described by both authors change when their blackness is not seen, when they are treated as average people but not as blacks. At the inferior level, the characters change and feel their human dignity when they see that they can be equal to whites and when they can succeed in spite of the fact being black.