Thurman explains Emma Lou’s segregation from society as a result of the prejudices caused by her own family. She grows up being told that a black girl will only know sorrow and disappointment in life (4), and this idea is drilled into her mind as she becomes increasingly aware and concerned with the color of her skin. She is constantly remin

Wallace Thurman ends his story with Emma Lou leaving Alva as suddenly her tears stop and her insides harden (213). He is showing that, when the character can dismiss her prejudices from her past, she can finally realizes that her happiness can be found within herself, and she becomes a strong, content individual who is capable of anything. Emma Lou discovers that “she had exercised the same discrimination against her men and the people she wished for friends that they had exercised against her-and with less reason,” (210) and because of these actions, she had been used. Emma Lou gave so much of her self without anything in return, and she can forgive herself only through self-improvement. Emma Lou’s new found strength proves that the discrimination did not actually lie in the society around her, but within her head and the society where she was raised, causing her to live a life of self-hatred and loneliness. As soon as Emma Lou realizes her self-hatred and chooses to change, she is no longer an outsider observing life from the sidelines, but she is reborn into an acceptable individual who can finally receive and embrace the world around her where she belongs.

Another example of Emma Lou’s self-inflicted color prejudice draining her happiness may be seen in the way she tries to lighten her complexion and the reactions of her fellow workers in Harlem. Emma Lou notices that the other teachers have lighter skin and begins to imagine that they are discussing her behind her back, because she is so dark (201). In reality, her complexion is not an issue but her excessive use of make-up to hide her true color is the real problem. By applying all the cover-up, she sets herself apart from the others and once again becomes an outsider. The teachers send her a note in an attempt to help Emma Lou avoid the gossip and criticism behind her back. Instead of taking advice, Emma Lou thinks everyone is teasing her for being dark, and she becomes bitter and distant in return. Here, Thurman is showing that Emma Lou’s goal of acceptance is blocked only by her stubbornness. The teachers are reaching out to her, but the deeply imbedded views that her color is undesirable and only through lightening her color will she find the right people forces her to pull away once again. Emma Lou’s views set her apart from her

Some topics in this essay:
Emma Lou, Emma Lou’s, Boise Idaho, emma lou, Wallace Thurman, Lou Boise, emma lou’s, color skin, “the sort people”, emma lou able, emma lou’s self-inflicted, color prejudice, sort people”, happiness found, blue veins, “the sort, lou able, thurman’s character,