Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie's Great Identity Search
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, there
are many lessons on a person's search for identity. Janie's search for identity
throughout this book is very visible. It has to do with her search for a name,
and freedom for herself. As she goes through life her search takes many turns
for the worse and a few for the better, but in the end she finds her true
identity. Through her marriages with Logan, Joe, then Tea Cake she figures out
what is for her and how she wants to live. So in the end, she is where she
wants to be.
In Janie's early life she lived with her grandmother, Nanny. Nanny and
Janie were pretty well off and had the privilege to live in the yard of white
folks. While Janie was growing up she played with the white children. While
she was in this stage, she was faced with much criticism and was called many
names, so many that everyone started calling her alphabet, "'cause so many
people had done named me different names." Soon she started piecing together
what she knew of her odd identity. Then one day she saw herself in a photograph
and noticed that she looked different, that she had dark skin, and she said,
"before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest." From this
point, Janie fell into somewhat of a downward spiral, setting her off of the
path toward finding her own identity in society. Finally when she was older
Nanny saw her doing somethings under the pear tree that she thought were
unacceptable. Nanny quickly arranged a marriage between Janie and a well-off
local man, Logan Killicks. In this marriage Janie resisted. She felt as if she
was losing her freedom was well as her identity, she wasn't Janie anymore she
was now Mrs. Logan Killicks, and she was somewhat obligated to do what he wanted.
Not long into this marriage, Janie has had enough, and when the chance to go
away with a smooth, romantic man, she takes the chance.
The... [continues]
In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, there
are many lessons on a person's search for identity. Janie's search for identity
throughout this book is very visible. It has to do with her search for a name,
and freedom for herself. As she goes through life her search takes many turns
for the worse and a few for the better, but in the end she finds her true
identity. Through her marriages with Logan, Joe, then Tea Cake she figures out
what is for her and how she wants to live. So in the end, she is where she
wants to be.
In Janie's early life she lived with her grandmother, Nanny. Nanny and
Janie were pretty well off and had the privilege to live in the yard of white
folks. While Janie was growing up she played with the white children. While
she was in this stage, she was faced with much criticism and was called many
names, so many that everyone started calling her alphabet, "'cause so many
people had done named me different names." Soon she started piecing together
what she knew of her odd identity. Then one day she saw herself in a photograph
and noticed that she looked different, that she had dark skin, and she said,
"before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest." From this
point, Janie fell into somewhat of a downward spiral, setting her off of the
path toward finding her own identity in society. Finally when she was older
Nanny saw her doing somethings under the pear tree that she thought were
unacceptable. Nanny quickly arranged a marriage between Janie and a well-off
local man, Logan Killicks. In this marriage Janie resisted. She felt as if she
was losing her freedom was well as her identity, she wasn't Janie anymore she
was now Mrs. Logan Killicks, and she was somewhat obligated to do what he wanted.
Not long into this marriage, Janie has had enough, and when the chance to go
away with a smooth, romantic man, she takes the chance.
The... [continues]
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(1999, 10). Their Eyes Were Watching God: Janie's Great Identity Search. StudyMode.com. Retrieved 10, 1999, from http://www.studymode.com/essays/Their-Eyes-Were-Watching-God-Janies-1802.html
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