Color Struck: A Psychoanalytical Perspective

Color Struck: A Psychoanalytical Perspective

            In “Color Struck,” Zora Neale Hurston (2005) illustrates the tragedy of a couple in the 1900’s.  John, a light brown-skinned man, and Emma, a black woman, attend a cake walk to represent their community and bring home the grand prize.  Emma is so preoccupied with her misguided ideas of the prejudices of others that she inadvertently sabotages her relationship with John.  Her paranoia and insecurity run so deep, that they remain with her for 20 years and ultimately ruin her opportunity for true love a second time.  Exploring a work of literature from a psychoanalytical perspective “aim to reveal the influence of the subconscious in the text’s plot, setting, conflict, symbols, point of view, language, and character development (South University Online, 2010, para. 1). From this perspective it is revealed that the prejudice that Emma accuses everyone else of having is in fact her own personal prejudice that renders her blind to any other way of thinking.[SL1] 

            From the beginning, John and Emma share a very unstable relationship.  [SL2] Emma is so fearful of losing John and is certain that he wants a lighter skinned woman, “You wuz grinning at her and she wuz grinning back jes lake a ole chessy cat!” (Hurston, 2010, p. 6).  John adamantly denies the accusations and alludes to this being a normal occurrence between them, “I wuzn't. I never gits a chance tuh smile at nobody -- you won't let me” (Hurston, 2010, p. 6).  Emma does not want to admit that she loves John for his light skin, and cannot imagine why he would love her being so much darker.  Emma does not acknowledge this as her own prejudice, but is quick to project her feelings onto John.  This is why she struggles to believe John is happy with her.  She is so overwrought with her own prejudice that she is unable to believe that anyone could accept and love her because she has dark skin.

Emma does verbalize her prejudice once she has realized that John has finally tired of her jealousy and gone to dance without her, “Oh, them half whites, they gets everything, they gets everything everybody else wants! The men, the jobs -- everything! The whole world is got a sign on it. Wanted: Light colored. Us blacks was made for cobble stones” (Hurston, 2010, p. 18).  This venomous attitude rules her life.  She feels trapped by her own selfish feelings, “I can't help mahself from being jealous. I loves you so hard, John, and jealous love is the only kind I got” (Hurston, 2010, p. 10).  She sees no way out from under this burden that consumes her.  She has focused so much of her energy on accusing others of suffering from her own flaw, that she cannot see herself out of her own way.  Their relationship falls victim to her inability to change and truly heal.

When John finds Emma 20 years later, there is hope of a love rekindled.  Hurston (2010) is swift to reveal that Emma is still consumed by her insecurities and still suffers from her earlier prejudice.  Emma gave into her prejudice by engaging in an intimate relationship with a light skinned man.  The relationship resulted in a child, but not in a marriage.  We can assume that Emma would not marry a light skinned man, as doing so would prove that she has the same desire that she chooses to accuse everyone else of having.  John acknowledges this and rubs a bit of salt in the jealousy wound, “Talkin' 'bout me liking high-yallers –yo husband musta been pretty near white (Hurston, 2010, p. 26).  Even though John took this opportunity to remind Emma of their tumultuous past, it may have served as a sign to him that Emma had indeed changed her ways in the 20 years they had been separated. [SL3] 

The child is ill and although John is anxious to make plans for their future together, he senses the critical nature of the child’s illness and urges Emma to get a doctor.  She is reluctant to leave him alone and even makes an excuse to leave the door open and assures John that he will not need to go anywhere near her daughter, “Doctor right around the corner. Guess I'll leave the door open so she can get some air. She won't need nothing while I'm gone, John” (Hurston, 2010, p. 30).  Emma is certain that if John gets near her fair skinned child, he will desire her. Emma returns to find John sitting near and comforting the child, her jealousy and preconceived ideas of his actions are so overwhelming that she attacks John physically and spews verbal accusations at him.  This outburst shakes John as he realizes the depth of Emma’s illness, “So this is the woman I've been wearing over my heart like a rose for twenty years! She so despises her own skin that she can't believe anyone else could love it” (Hurston, 2010, p. 31)!

Emma hates that she was born with dark skin and therefore harbors a deep jealously toward women with light skin.  She feels that if her skin were light she would live a more privileged life.  She enters relationships with light skinned men, however her insecurity and paranoia of them leaving her provokes her to inadvertently drive them away.  Emma is so focused on blaming others of her own prejudices that she does not see the need to change and heal in order to move forward in her life.  Her denial ends up costing her the life of her daughter and her one true love.  She has clung to her insecurities for so long that they have rendered her blind to any other possibilities.

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 [SL1]Excellent intro, Chellie.

 [SL2]Yes.

 [SL3]Very good.

Chellie- It’s so refreshing to see a very polished interpretation of this drama. J

Assignment 3 Grading Criteria	Maximum Points
Paper provides an introduction that explains the topic and engages the reader. J	4/4
Paper demonstrates a clear knowledge of the psychoanalytical perspective.	4/4
Essay identifies and expands upon a thesis that explores a character, the audience, the author, or symbol through a psychoanalytical lens. J	4/4
Paper provides supporting details that offer reasons, examples, and quotations from the assigned drama.	4/4
Ideas in paper are ordered logically with appropriate connections within and between paragraphs.	4/4
Paper has an ending that concludes the piece.	4/4
Paper is free or virtually free of grammatical, mechanical, and spelling errors.	4/4
Paper meets minimum length requirement.	4/4
Paper is formatted in correct APA style.	4/4
Total: Terrific paper, Chellie!	36/36