Choosing Sides in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Lone Star Essay

Choosing Sides in Their Eyes Were Watching God and Lone supporter   A major theme in multicultural literature is the search for identity by those of more than one culture. In most cases, one of these cultures is recognized as being more advantaged and powerful than the other. In John Sayless Lone Star and Zora Neale Hurstons Their Eyes Were Watching God, bicultural characters negatively stereotype members of their own inferior or less advantaged background in order to identify themselves with their more powerful culture. The artists ultimately illustrate, however, that choosing sides is an unnatural option and that mixed heritages can have their own advantages.   throng of more than one culture often have trouble fitting into either as Pat Mora suggests in her poem Sonrisas, they live in a doorway / between two roomsMora. For example, in Lone Star, Mercedes, who was born in Mexico plainly resides in Texas, lives up to Moras description of a legal stranger-- someone who is seen as an American to Mexicans / A Mexican to AmericansMora. Sheriff Buddys refusal to publicly acknowledge or inform his son of his affair with Mercedes shows that she does not totally belong to American culture. Mercedes in any case has trouble fitting in with the Mexican community. Her employees lack of respect for her indicates her alienation. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Mrs. Turner, who is also of mixed heritage, fits in with neither African-Americans nor whites. She laments that although she has white folks features in her face...she is still lumped in wid all de rest of the African-AmericansHurston, p.211 by Whites, with whom she tries to be identified. On the other hand, she is also not usete... ...ation if they learn to incorporate both cultures into their personalities. Like Dorothys ruby slippers in The Wizard of Oz, Mercedess restaurant serves as an example of a perfect solution that was always right in front of her face. The restaura nt, which employs an American work ethic but serves Mexican food, becomes a metaphor of her newfound cultural harmony. Sayles suggests that she will have better relationships with her daughter and grandson as a reward for her recently expanded perceptions. Mrs. Turner, on the other hand, never consciously accepts her situation and therefore receives no such reward. On the contrary, she is ostracized by both white and African-American communities. The contrast between Mercedess heartiness and Mrs. Turners stasis in this respect proves Otis Paynes assertion in Lone Star that blood is what you make of it.