Their Eyes Were Watching God Identity Analysis

The next theme to be discussed is loss of identity within the main character, Janie. In the beginning of the novel, on page 19, readers learn that Janie is a product of rape, just like her mother was from Nanny. Her mother is not around to raise Janie because of the toll of the assault got to her now she is out of the picture. When she gets older, readers learn that Janie years to find love, like love is part of her identity. However, some bad relationships make her lose her identity as a whole. For example, during her second marriage with Joe Starks, he sort of takes the life from her, metaphorically. When they were married, he forced Janie to wear headwraps to cover her hair, which is a symbol of her identity. Doing so, he hides her identity and makes her into what he wants her to be. On page 76, the author says,” The years took all the fight out of Janie’s face. For a while she thought it was gone from her soul. No matter what Jody …show more content…
Readers follow the main character as she endured different relationships while also finding herself in the process. In this work, there are major themes and symbols that are prominent in the novel like love and relationships, loss of identity, and the influential presence of nature. After thoroughly analyzing the text and some of its themes, I believe that it has changed my perspective of the work in a positive manner because all these themes that I have mentioned has caused the main character, Janie, to show character growth, which is another major theme, as the story progresses. In the beginning, she was a girl that only wanted love. After enduring 2 bad marriages, she starts to care less about love, and more about doing what she wants and finding herself. In the end, she gains that fulfilling love with Tea Cake, without sacrificing herself. In the scholarly article, the author