Biographical Essay_Oprah Winfrey

One’s identity is formed by experience, family or educational background, and environment - including thought-to-be miserable ones, whether willing or not. Though we do not recognize which factors contribute to forming our identity and think that some elements are too insignificant to influence ourselves, every piece of our lives is involved in the establishment of our identities. Oprah Winfrey is no exception. A successful Talk show hostess, a producer, a Golden Globe nominated actress, the founder of the popular "O, the Oprah Magazine", the co founder of "Oxygen Media", and a generous philanthropist – these are the titles that Oprah Winfrey now holds. Some might assume that her life would have been smooth and easy. However, it was not an easy road to become what she is now. The identity of “the Undisputed Queen of Talk since the mid 1980s and the first black woman to host a nationally syndicated weekday talk show” (no author, 1) is the result of not only good experiences, but also hardships Oprah Winfrey went through including a poor family background, sexual abuses, and dynamic rookie life.

Oprah Winfrey’s unpleasing and unusual family background helped Winfrey become a unique figure. She was raised up under poor, unmarried parents in a small farm village that lacked chances for education and economic wealth. Her mother, Vernita Lee gave birth to Oprah Winfrey at the age of 18. She did not know much about her father, Vernon Winfrey, who was a soldier in the army in Alabama. Since her father was not aware of her birth, he was astonished by the birth certificate that was one day delivered to him, so he did not give any immediate financial help. So, Oprah Winfrey’s childhood was worn out by poverty. When Winfrey was four years old, her mother left her with her grandmother to participate in the Great Migration to Wisconsin, a frontier where promised a greater social mobility. The life in the farm was boring, tough and difficult. Her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee, was very strict with Winfrey, harshly punishing her for any wrongdoings. However, Hattie believed in the importance of education and afforded Winfrey’s kindergarten fee amid such poor financial circumstances. So Winfrey could receive basic education such as arithmetic, reading, writing, and biblical studies. Oprah later recalled, “I am what I am today because of my grandmother; my strength, my sense of reasoning, everything.” (Winfrey) The relationship between Winfrey and her grandmother is similar with that of Frederick Douglass and his mistress in a sense that the chances of education even in difficult circumstances provided circumstances for earning “valuable bread of knowledge.” (Douglass, 45)

Frequent and brutal instances of sexual abuses later became the reasons for building Winfrey’s identity as a generous philanthropist. When her grandmother’s health was at risk, Winfrey decided to move to her mother’s place in Wisconsin. Oprah expected a new hopeful life, but faced even tougher conditions there. Vernita’s new apartment was crowded with many relatives, who used it as a resting place. However, the always-opened-door let a tragedy come in. When Winfrey was taking care of her house for one night, a cousin raped her. She was scared and confused, but did not let anybody know of the fact; she thought that nobody would believe her just because she was a mere child. (Johnson & Fineman, 9) From then, Oprah had to suffer from sexual abuses for several years. “I suffered throughout several years from nine to fourteen, at my home, from different man – this and that and cousins. I thought that those were all my faults, there were something wrong with me.” (Barthel, 56) This horrendous experience later emboldened her to stop further tragedies from happening. As such Oprah now donates hundreds of dollars to various charities and organizations that especially deals with African girls.

The challenging first few years as a rookie contributed to her identity of a successful career woman. An executive of WTVF Broadcast in Nashville thought that Oprah Winfrey perfectly matched with the Affirmative Action, a new policy that gave incentives to enterprises which hired the minorities. Knowing that she was hired as “a pleasing symbol” (King, 79), Winfrey did not fully appreciate her honored position. Her fortune, however, did not last long. When she co-anchored with Jerry Turner in Baltimore, the executives and viewers complained about Winfrey being often swept by emotions. However, such character helped her start a new job as a co-MC of a local talk show, ‘People Are Talking,’ which was a well-fitting suit to her. “When I finished my first show, I thought, ‘Thank you, lord. I found my job. I feel comfortable like I am breathing.’” (Anderson, 37) She then grabbed a chance to host ‘A.M. Chicago’, which changed its title to ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ a year after. Her dynamic rookie years enabled her to trace her inherent talent and identity.

“You cannot tell merely by looking at one of these dots what it’s like” before you carefully think about its roles in forming oneself. (Sagan, 7) Even in the case of Oprah Winfrey, she might not have been selected as one of the ‘Figures of the twentieth century’ by the Times without her awfully poor childhood, unceasing sexual abuses from relatives, and somewhat unsuccessful rookie years. Winfrey herself may not have thought that those unpleasing experiences could be used as a foundation of her identity. However, undoubtedly, Winfrey’s identity was built upon her every experience; whether it be of her happiest mornings or her darkest nights.

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Bibliography

Chris Anderson, “Meet Oprah Winfrey,” Good Housekeeping, August 1986, p.37.

Douglass, Frederick. "7." Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass: An American Slave. New York: New American Library, 1968. N. pag. Print.

Joan Barthel, “Oprah,” Ms., August 1986, p.56.

Marilyn Johnson and Dana Fineman, “Oprah Winfrey: A Life in Books,” Life, September 1997, p.9.

Norman King, Everybody Loves Oprah! Her Remarkable Life Story (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1987), p.79.

“Oprah Winfrey Hosts HOPE worldwide Party in Soweto,” 2001 HOPE worldwide,

<http://hopeww.org/home/2002/12/oprah.htm>.

“Oprah Winfrey Interview, February 1991,” Academy of Achievement, Museum of Living History, http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0int-1.

Sagan, Carl. Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space. New York: Random House, 1994. Print.