Zora Neale Hurston Head Rag

Upon first analyzation one can the importance of the timing of wearing a head rag between both Janie and Celie. Celie tends to wear her head rag periodically, but always when she is performing some type of domestic work. On the other hand, Janie consistently wears her head rag when she is married to Joe Starks, and then frees herself after his death. Janie’s hair is a recurrent and powerful motif and is a solid representation of power or possession that is crucial in Janie’s hunt for self discovery. It has an effect on almost every character that Hurston introduces. Whether Hurston describes people sitting on their porch to customers at the store they all have some desire to either touch or comment upon Janie’s beautiful hair. More specifically

a man named, Walter, “[brushes] the back of his hand back and forth across the loose end of Janie’s braid” (Hurston 55) which initially cause Joe to force Janie to wear a head rag. Joe Starks, is jealous and possessive, he cannot bear the thought of other men enjoying the sight of her long, beautiful hair.

Janie's reluctance to do so demonstrates her desire to be loved and accepted by the community as who she is, all aspects of her personality included, rather than who she is expected to be. One of most powerful scenes written by Hurston is after the death of Janie’s second husband, Joe Starks. Janie, after her initial grief feels liberated and proceeds to free her hair, as Hurston writes, “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there” (Hurston 87). Joe forced Janie to tie her hair up because it threatens his male dominance and because its feminine beauty makes him worry that he will lose her. Therefore, Janie is wearing the head rag to uphold the ideal of what others think of what a mayor’s wife is expected to

be. The circumstance Janie finds herself in is similar to African American prior to the Harlem Renaissance, in the fact that Janie is being forced in acting a certain way because she does not have a culture of her own to show her own identity. This causes Janie to pretend to be someone she is not and takes away a key part of her personality, similar to African Americans of the time. Yet, it is important to note after the death of her husband Janie is still not completely freed, she proceeds to retie her hair up to still maintain an image of what society expects of her.

On the contrary, The Color Purple, signifies upon the idea of the head rag by only having Celie wear it while performing domestic tasks in the home. The purpose behind such a change is to demonstrate that Janie’s oppression stemmed from the view of others, while Celie’s oppression come from within the home. Celie, unlike Janie, is not forced to wear the head rag, however, it is all she has ever known. Walker uses the head rag to show the oppression of women within the home through signifying on Hurston’s symbol of oppression. It is not until Celie gains the courage to stand up to Mr. _____ and speak her opinion at the dinner table that she no longer feels the need to wear the head rag in her own home. Therefore, she was finally able to overcome her oppression and free herself from the social norms of what was expected of women during that time. However, Walker signifies on Hurston by allowing Celie an outlet to express her frustrations to female companion, Shug. Shug is crucial in motivating Celie to stand up to her oppressive husband through offering her to an escape and an opportunity to be cared

for. It is ultimately Shug whom gives Celie the confidence to “let her hair down”. Not to mention, Celie is equally important in Shug’s life as she serves to comfort her in her times of anxiety and nerves by brushing her hair. Walker intend to show men are not needed in a women’s pursuit of independence, as they are actually their own form of oppression. Relationships among women form a refuge, providing reciprocal love in a world filled with male violence. Said relationship shows that women need each other in order to build their confidence and stand up to their oppressors, through the symbol of caring for one another’s hair. In contrast to Janie, who went out on an adventure to discover her identity and then returned to the town to tell her friend, Phoeby. After listening to Janie’s story, Phoeby is then inspired to tell others and spread the message of equality in that manner. Therefore, Walker is attempting to expose that women should always work together, instead of one person living through the experience and then slowly spreading the word, as Janie does. Through signifying, Walker intends hair to be seen as the female identity, but only pictures other women taking care of it, therefore, conveying women need to rely on each other to overcome oppression. This creates the message that female relationships are the key to disassembling the hierarchical system that places black women at the bottom. Opposingly, Tea Cake, serves as the trickster figure that essentially inspires Janie to develop her own identity and “brush” away the past abuse she has endure, in a similar manner that Shug does for Celie. While, Tea Cake does Janie a favor by allowing her to realize her self worth, he is still serves as an oppressor of Janie in multiple ways throughout the story. For example, he hits Janie to assert his dominance, he has an affair with Nunkie, he is irresponsible by gambling etc... Therefore, Janie has endure her own journey with little help from others, as opposed to Shug who had the help of all her female companions. In both stories their new found confidence and compassion is pivotal to the way they are treated by others in both novels. While in both stories the women rid themselves of head rags as a symbol overcoming oppression, Walker takes a slightly different approach that tweaks the original meaning to fit in with current events.