Janie's Search For Identity In Their Eye Were Watching God

Janie’s Search for Identity

Since its emergence, African American literature serves as a fulfillment of an urgent need to affirm the black identity. The circumstances that surrounded the life of African Americans as a subjugated minority in America and the white supremacy they were exposed create a crisis of identity within the black community. The identity crisis compels black writers to introduce the theme of identity as a central issue in their works. Zora Neal Hurston's "Their Eye Were Watching God'' novel is recognized as a perfect example picturing the identity crisis within the African American literary tradition. The novel centers around the depiction of an evolving character of an ambitious woman named ''Janie''. The heroine is presented through the novel in a journey of self realization despite the fact of the severe social conditions. Although ''Janie'' is raised in a society that valued reliance on man, she from the early beginning of her life shows a

The strength the protagonist acquires at the end of her psychological journey is indeed the result of three marital experiences. Socially speaking, these three marriages were an utter failure except the last one on which there was warmness and love; however, ''Janie'' manages to make a sense of self-realization. Janie was able to get rid of social boundaries that value female reliance on man. The journey of self construction articulates a progressive awareness on the hero decision making. The desire for true love pulls ''Janie'' to challenge the taboo and exceed the red lines of the society searching for her identity. In fact, she demonstrates the ability to listen to her inner voice and wins the battle against the internal conflicts she lives through her journey. At the end, Janie is strong self-autonomous woman who is able to face her community after twenty-year journey of