Self Identity In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Zora Neale Hurston’s, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937), the story highlights the main character’s journey towards finding love. The protagonist, Janie Crawford, chases true love throughout the course of three marriages. Initially, Hurston establishes the tone of the novel through the sexualization of the act of pollination. Among the beginning scenes, the relationship between an insect and a flower entrances Janie. The imagery in this scene suggests Janie’s forthcoming obsession with love. However, her marriages fail to bring her true love, therefore, creating an alternative theme of self identity. During the novel, Hurston develops a theme of self actualization through the trials and errors of Janie’s marriages. At first, Janie is filled with optimism and confidence for the idea of true love.

In fact, he expects her to serve him as a symbol of his masculinity: “a pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’ self” (Hurston 36). Stark’s superiority complex causes him to be a misogynistic, possessive husband to Janie. Furthermore, writers elaborate on this topic in their literary criticisms pertaining to the novel. Throughout the book, Janie continuously battles the masculinist domination that makes women, specifically of color, vulnerable in society (Bealer Par. 5). It becomes evident to the reader that Starks only values Janie for her looks due to his desire to parade her in front of other men. Once Janie realizes that she is only there for display, she becomes apathetic towards Starks as she awaits his pending death. Janie’s second marriage comes to an end when Starks dies. Janie’s lack of sorrow proceeding her spouse’s death suggests that she is becoming more familiar with her sense of identity. The disrespect and demoralization that Janie overcame in her first and second marriages, lead her to her third