Cora Una Studied By Langston Hughes Essay

Langston Hughes, born in 1902, was a writer who specialized in poetry and plays. He also wrote many short stories. One of his famous short stories is “Cora Unashamed.” This short story, set in a predominantly white town in the early 20th century, is regarding the life of a simple African American woman named Cora Jenkins. The story centers around the hardships and mistreatment she dealt with in her life while working as a maid for a white family named the Studevants. Hughes’s main purpose of writing this short story was to address the racial issue, and this can be seen in many of his other works as well. Cora stoically endures many sorrows and hardships in her life, however, she keeps all of her emotions and pain bottled up inside of her due to the issue of …show more content…
Cora, who up to this point was a collected and restrained woman, is a completely changed person after Josephine’s death. “She cussed out God for taking away the life that she herself had given. She screamed, "My baby! God damn it! My baby! I bear her and you take her away!" She looked at the sky where the sun was setting and yelled in defiance. Pa was amazed and scared” (Hughes, 8). She cusses out God, screams, weeps, and yells, much to the astonishment of her Pa. “Cora was not humble before the fact of death” (Hughes, 8). She sheds the humble persona that shrouded her whilst working for the Studevants. Like any grieving mother, she lets out her emotions and anger. However, when she goes back to the Studevants, she is “gentle and humble in the face of life” (Hughes, 8). It interesting to note that she acts in a completely opposite manner in front of the Studevants, and she loves their baby, Jessie, as if it was hers. It is as if she is not allowed to express her grief and sorrow, just because she is a maid. The class conflicts and racial segregation come into play here. Cora has to continue her work as if nothing has