African American Literature Setting

The setting of a piece of literature gives the reader a proper understanding of the roots of a story. The setting is an especially important in African American literature, because it shows readers many of the conditions African Americans had to face, unlike caucasians. Works such as Joe Turner’s Come and Gone by August Wilson, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me” by Zora Neale Hurston, and “Equal Opportunity” by Walter Mosey, show different settings, which allows for different points of view on how the typical African American lived. The setting plays a role in the African American experience by where the story takes place, how people fit into the setting, and the overall mood of the setting.
Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, takes place in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1911. The scene is set when the author discusses the newly freed slaves that have come up from the south. The author then goes on to explain that “they arrive dazed and stunned, their heart kicking in their chest with a song worth singing”
In the beginning, Hurston is on her front porch and loves to socialize with the Southerners who pass by. While sitting on her front porch, Zora states, “I’d wave to them and when they returned my salute, I would say something like this ‘Howdy-do-well-thank-you-where-you-goin’” (Hurston 1030). Zoras’ actions show that the socialization was upbeat and well executed in this particular setting. Once Zora moves to Jacksonville, socialization remains how everyone is linked to the setting, but in a different way. When in Jacksonville, Zora realizes for the first time that she is known as being the colored girl. Hurston explains that “I was not Zora of Orange County any more, I was now a little colored girl” (1031). Through the socialization that Zora experienced with the new people in Jacksonville, she unfortunately learned that she was not looked at in the same way as in