Their Eyes Were Watching God Identity Analysis

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Everyone faces a time in their life when they feel the need to “find themselves”. This is a phase that can take short periods of time as well as long ones. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God” the protagonist Janie Crawford ends up taking longer than most to find her “identity”. It takes her 3 marriages, the first in which she runs away from him, the second where he dies, and the third with the man she fell head over heels for, and then he later died as well. All her life she was told what to do and what to be so finally when she had no one left she had time to find herself. Throughout this novel many motifs take place one of the main one’s being Janie’s long, thick, beautiful black hair. Janie’s hair was a part of her and is how people recognized her except Logan who ignored it and Joe who forced her to hide it. Teacake was the only one who showed her how to embrace it.
When Janie was married to Logan she was put to work like a man, there was absolutely no romance or physical attraction like Janie always wanted with a man, not to mention she was only 16 years old. Since Logan even ignored her beautiful hair like no man ever did she felt as if she were no one, with no identity. When Janie left Logan for Joe thinking the grass would be …show more content…

Janie finally found herself in her search for identity. Once she is on her own she realizes she doesn’t need a man to have an identity she just has one, because she’s Janie and she’s important too, just like every man she’s ever been with, not being treated like a slave with Logan or being only “the Mayor’s wife” with Joe or even Teacakes cougar. Janie realizes no one can make Janie truly happy except Janie. Of course she misses her soulmate Teacake, but she knows he’s with her every step of the way in her heart and she can’t wait to see what lies ahead. She has found her identity and no one can stop her

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