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.

Her first marriage exemplifies her naive hope that love hinders one’s flaws. In a specific scene, her spouse, Logan Killicks, compares Janie’s work ethic to that of his previous wife’s. He complains that Janie should obey him when it comes to chores or anything else, effectively treating her as a possession (Hurston 26). In the dissertation, “The Kiss of Memory” by Tracy Bealer, she comments on the development of masculine roles and their purposes in Hurston’s novel. She states, “this allows the novel . . . to detail the myriad ways marriage and love have become distorted by masculinist domination” (Bealer Par. 4). This event within her first marriage suggests that men have significantly downplayed the importance of marriage, eventually making it more beneficial to love oneself. Janie learns her first lesson when her lack of submission causes Killicks to threaten her life. This experience causes her to realize that love does not necessarily bring security. This allows her to be better equipped for her second marriage.
In sharp contrast to her first husband, her second husband, Joe Starks, does not expect anything from Janie.

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

marriage.
The third and final marriage of the novel has many flaws, yet it becomes Janie’s closest relationship to true love. Her third husband, Tea Cake, has many opportunities to disregard Janie, however he constantly asserts his grandiose appreciation for her. For example, Tea Cake states that Janie needs not to worry about losing him because he plans to stay by her side and be a man for her (Hurston 191). Janie’s all consuming marriage to Tea Cake allows her to experience love as she dreamed, before the acquisition of rabies dramatically affects his personality. Laura Korobkin analyzes this concept in her literary criticism of the novel. She states, “this transforms the troubling question of Janie’s ultimate achievement of independence and autonomy” (Korobkin Par. 4). When the reader views the story as a quest for self identity, rather than a quest for love, it allows him to see Janie as a triumphant, self actualized character. After having to mercifully kill her true love, Janie’s tarnished memories with Tea Cake bring her quest for love to an ultimate end.
Hurston intentionally develops a need for Janie to find herself through specific events in each marriage. She establishes the progression of Janie’s self worth through the succession of her three marriages. This idea, combined with the narration and voice within the novel, suggests that Hurston was attempting to influence the power structures of society (Bailey Par. 3). Although many people may interpret the overall theme of the novel as love or romance, Hurston shows countless times that the main idea is Janie reaching a point of self actualization.