Identity, Double Consciousness, And Gender - 1811 Words

Martaya Hopkins Professor Willie Toliver English 325 21 November 2014 Identity, Double-Consciousness, and Gender: Passing, Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man, and The Blacker the Berry According to W. E. B. Du Bois, activist and author of The Souls of Black Folks, â€Å"†¦ the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world, —a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world (9).† This double-consciousness is present with in African American men and women. It is the result of always being reminded that you are Black before you are human, â€Å"It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity (Du Bois 9).† The Du Boisean theory of double-consciousness can be seen in Nella Larson’s Passing, â€Å"She was caught between two allegiances, different, yet the same. Herself. Her race. Race! The thing that bound and suffocated her. Whatever steps she took, or if she took none at all, something would be crushed (98);† Wallace Thurman’s The Blacker the Berry, â€Å"More accurately than ever before Emma Lou began to feel that her luscious black complexion was somewhat of a liability, and that her marked color variation from that of other people In her environment was a decided curse (1);†and Weldon Johnson’sShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Double Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston And Invisible Man1335 Words   |  6 PagesDouble Consciousness in a Bildungsroman Self discovery is at the root of many stories. It is easily limited by external and internal factors. Tales about self discovery are often called a bildungsroman. A bildungsroman, essentially, is a coming of age novel. Both Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston and Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison are considered a bildungsroman. In the case of those two novels, there is one unique concept that contributes to their examples of self discovery. 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