How Does Janie Create A Sense Of Self-Esteem In Their Eyes Were Watching God

Self-esteem is confidence in one’s own worth or abilities or self-respect. Janie from Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neal Hurston and Jefferson from A Lesson Before Dying by Ernest Gaines both struggle with establishing a positive self-esteem or a sense of self-worth. Both characters get so overwhelmed by the supremacy of someone or something around them that they doubt their own power, thus, creating a feeling of doubt for themselves and the voice that they have. In order to gain a sense of high self-esteem, a person must endure points of self-doubt.

The societal stereotypes associated with African Americans creates an unrealistic idea about how men and women of their race can think or act. Because Janie is an African American woman

in the early 1900’s, she was considered to be inferior, usually in comparison to a male counterpart.

Logan Killicks, Janie’s first husband says to her in the midst of a fight, “You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh” (Hurston 86). Logan does not think anything more of Janie than a helping hand. This goes to show African American women’s role in society, for it was to be in the background or in their husbands shadow in order to assist or give moral support. Janie is presented with overbearing husbands that believe nothing of her such as Logan Killicks. Because of this, she is given little to no freedom over what she can think or do. This contributes to the lost confidence the reader sees in Janie. Jefferson is presented with a similar problem. Jefferson is an African American man who is found guilty for a crime he did not commit in A Lesson Before Dying. In contrast to a gender stereotype as in

Janie’s situation, the group of people restricting Jefferson from saying or thinking what he wants is a racist, white society. African Americans were subject to being in the shadow of white men in the time period of the novel like Janie was in comparison to her male equivalent. Jefferson’s defense attorney describes Jefferson as mindless and incapable of doing anything more than pulling corn for that was the mindset of the society. They viewed him as lesser or inferior as Janie’s husbands viewed her. Through this, both characters endured many points of self-doubt.
Another common issue throughout both novels is the equating of both Janie and Jefferson to an agricultural animal.

Throughout A Lesson Before Dying Jefferson is compared to a hog while Janie is indirectly compared to a mule throughout many parts of Their Eyes Were Watching God. When Jefferson was on trial, his defense attorney, as stated previously, stated that he was not smart enough to plan anything. That Jefferson was not a man, he was only an animal or a hog. The reader sees this mentally break Jefferson. At a single point in the novel, Jefferson gets down on his hands and knees and eats out of a basket using only his mouth as a hog would. At this point, Jefferson is at his lowest mental state. The reader sees Janie at her lowest mental state when her husbands take away her voice. Janie deals with this for several years. She is not allowed to speak her mind but is allowed to work wherever and whenever her husband needs her. When Janie is accepting of this role as a mule, she become doubtful of herself and her voice, “the years took all the fight out of Janie’s face”. After a while she did not believe she had any fight in her soul. When Janie tries to break out of this and makes men in front of the store laugh, Joe gets angry and slaps her. Janie is now feeling useless and depressed. She is subject to the idea of a mule; she is to be silent but hard working. She was not directly identified as a mule as Jefferson was but the animal symbolized her role throughout the

novel. This animal comparison breaks down both characters and makes it hard for them to cope. It puts them in a low mental state.
Janie and Jefferson are both overwhelmed by a stereotypical society determining who should be more powerful over them. This causes them to lose their own sense of power or voice. Janie’s husbands took her confidence and sense of self-worth away while a racist society took away Jefferson’s. This contributes to each character’s struggle of self-doubt but also gives them motive to find their own voice and to be heard. Both characters needed to feel down before they felt could get up.