Were Watching God Identity

“I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want”-Muhammad Ali (brainyquotes). In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie's growth from a young girl without an identity, not knowing her own race, to a woman strong enough to return to her hometown of Eatonville allows her to discover who she is and how she has the power to change her own life. Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God shows that the only way to achieve fulfillment is to ignore society's control and concentrate on one's own desires, while avoiding selfishness. This is revealed as Janie moves through abusive relationships to one which finally allows her room for her own thoughts and

The two were well cared for living in the back of a white family's yard. By the age of six Janie began to piece together the differences between her odd identity to the other white children. Janie states, “Aw, aw! Ah’m colored!’Den dey all laughed real hard. But before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest” (Hurston, 11). Here, Janie began to fall into somewhat of a downward spiral, distorting her path toward finding her own identity for society and for herself. Growing up in a white neighborhood Janie at a young age experienced racial segregation.After constant teasing Janie learned to brush it off. As the children laugh at her for not knowing she was “different” Janie defends her confusion and fights for herself. After a few years, Janie is forced into a marriage that lacks love. As Logan calls to Janie to help with the yard Janie again stands up for herself, “You don’t need mah help out dere, Logan. Youse in yo’ place and Ah’m in mine”(Hurston, 37). This is the first time Janie finally thought about herself before others. After the other children laughed at her she fought for the children to understand instead

Sitting in front of her mirror, “She tore off the derchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston, 87). Here, Hurston portrays Janie's new found appreciation for her life. No longer being tied down and in a position of financial independence, Janie could focus on her own happiness and desires in life. By allowing her hair to fall she takes a stand to be her own person, no longer imprisoned by another's dreams and goals. Though Janie begins to realize who she is as a person, her dream of finding love has not left her. This is, until Tea- Cake comes into her life for the better. after being married Janie starts picking with Tea-Cake in the fields, “Ah naw, honey. Ah laks it. It’s mo’ nicer than settin’ round dese quarters all day. Clerkin’ in dat store wuz hard, but heah, we ain’t got nothin’ tuh do but do our work and come home and love” (Hurston, 157). Janie has finally found the love she was daydreaming about since she was a child. In the process she discovered who she was as a person, an independent but loving wife and friend. Not listening to what the community in Eatonville though or what society perceives a wife to be like, Janie and Tea- Cake prove them wrong. Even after Tea- Cake was taken uncontrollably, the happiness and fulfillment Janie felt from the