Kasamira Wojcik

Everyone wishes to be heard and recognized as their own distinct person. They also wish to have the freedom to be themselves without hindrance from anyone else. Zora Neale Hurston shows this desire in her book Their Eyes Were Watching God through her character Janie. Janie is a black woman with a very independent spirit who goes through her days looking for the right person to love and who will help bring out the real her. She has her ups and downs, at first finding one man she hopes will be that special person, but ends up not being the one. Later, she successfully finds the special person, but then after some time, has to see this person pass away. All of these trials, though, help to develop and cultivate her independent spirit and help her learn she has a voice of her own.

The first man Janie is with is Jody. He at first seems good and kind, but after a while, it becomes clear he wants to control Janie’s actions because it makes him feel more powerful and in control. As a result, Janie is never allowed to speak out, which is hard for her because she has so much to say. The following quotation helps give an idea of what Janie’s thoughts are like. “There is a basin in the mind where words float around on thought and thought on sound and sight. Then there is a depth of thought untouched by words, and deeper still a gulf of formless feelings untouched by thought.” This shows how deeply Janie thought, but all of it was suppressed by Jody, which hindered her from being who she truly was.

Another quotation that shows how Janie is forced to suppress herself is as follows: “she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see.” She has to conceal who she is for the sake of others. She is, in reality, a vibrant person who feeks strongly about different things, but she is unable to show this. The main reason she suppresses these thoughts and feelings is because she wants to please Jody, even though he is only making her be silent for his own selfish reasons.

Over time, though, Jody’s suppression becomes too much and she slowly begins to break away from his oppressive hold. The beginnings of this process can be seen in the following quotation:

“Then one day she sat and watched the shadow of herself going about tending the store and prostrating itself before Jody, while all the time she herself sat under a shady tree with the wind blowing through her hair and her clothes. Somebody near about making summertime out of lonesomeness.”

Janie feels as though the shadow of herself is in the world with Jody, while in her mind she is somewhere else. In her mind, she is free in nature with the wind blowing in her hair; she is free to feel the way she wants to feel.

“She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew how not to mix them.” This shows how Janie begins to recognize there are two separate Janies, the one she puts up for others and the real one she keeps hidden away. She is careful not to mix them or show the real her to others, especially not to Jody. This is still because she wishes to please him, not yet realizing why he is so insistent upon her keeping quiet and staying out of the way. She still thinks what he is having her do is for her own good and he does it  because he loves her.

But, in Jody’s case, all good things must come to an end. Janie eventually cannot take having herself cooped up and being unable to express herself. “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there.” Janie’s hair is one of the main symbols in Hurston’s book. It represents the youth, beauty, and untamableness of Janie’s spirit. Janie’s hair is always long and beautiful no matter how old Janie grows. As a result, it makes her more attractive and Jody, therefore, has her put it up and keep it out of sight. He does this not only to keep other men’s eyes off of it because of his own jealousy, but also because it reminds him of his own aging and how Janie still seems young and beautiful. It makes him feel less powerful and in control. This quotation shows one of the first main breakaways Janie has from Jody’s control. It represents her letting herself out and being who she really is instead of keeping herself contained like Jody wants.

This final quotation shows where Janie stands by the end of the book. “Two things everybody’s got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.” It is mainly from the second man Janie is with she learns this lesson. His name is Tea Cake. Tea Cake does not try to suppress Janie at all. Instead, he encourages her to try new things, speak her mind, and do things the way she wants to do them. Tea Cake helps Janie learn how to live for herself and not let anyone control her like Jody had done.

No one should ever try to suppress who they really are, and oftentimes it is not even their own fault if they are doing it. Sometime it is their peers or others closer to them who convince them not to speak their minds. People always want a voice and what they fail to realize is if they want to be heard, then they need to speak out no matter what others are telling them. Janie did not realize this at first. She was still trying to figure out how life worked and where she fit into it. It was not until she found the right person who helped bring out her independent spirit that she really started to be herself. Sometimes, that is what it takes, just finding the right person to bring out someone’s voice so they can be heard for who they really are.

Works Cited