Name and Identity and Their Role in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Introduction

At a young age, you begin to start experiencing who you are, but it isn’t really into later on throughout your life when you can sit on one idea of who you truly are. In the book Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston takes us through Janie’s life, who is faced with different experiences of identity through the names she is given. That being said, we are able to see Janie’s identity through the process of names she is given, throughout her growth and maturity. Often, Janie is beaten down, ignored, physically abused, and silenced. Yet, all these demoralizing episodes strengthen Janie’s identity. She begins with her problem of name and identity as a child, then as she gets older to her first marriage to Mr. Killicks, and lastly her next two marriages, with Joe and Tea Cake. Yet, from these events she emerges stronger to find her place in what would be her true name. In a seemingly absurd way, the times in her life that she cannot be her “name”, are ultimately what makes her find her “name.”

Name Identity Crisis in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Janie’s name identity crisis occurs early in her life at around the age of six when she is split between opposite sides of whether she is black or white. Janie at a young age would spend a lot of her time with white kids, so to others that might be unusual for a black kid. Janie is shocked when she realizes she isn’t white in a photo. It understandable for a young child, due to the amount of time she spent with her fellow white friends. You can see how she was surprised when she was hit with the news. “Dat’s where Ah wuz s’posed to be, but Ah couldn’t recognize dat dark chile as me. So Ah ast, ‘where is me? Ah don’t see me.”(Pg9) This is where Janie is hit with one of her important events in life. Yet, when you are a youngster and this event is taking place, you have too many mixed emotions and start asking yourself questions. You start feeling a sense of fear. Have they been hanging out with me, so I don’t feel different? I was so happy being white, do I want to be black now? She just can’t stick with both, because that will come back to haunt her as she grows up. This is where we see where she is torn from being named a white or black kid. Trying to sit in the middle, doesn’t work out and it hurts more now that people are calling her ample of names, because she just can’t be both. You can see this where Janie says “Dey all useter call me Alphabet ‘cause so many people had done named me different names.” (Pg9) Now Alphabet isn’t her name. It’s Janie! The crisis continues as she can’t just be called her name. Experiencing this verbal words and being called a handful of names, doesn’t make you feel complete and stops you from just being Janie. She feels out of place and now her confidence of speaking out is hidden from her mixed emotions that don’t sit well. We don’t have Janie here yet. We have to stick with Ms. Alphabet. Young Janie still has a lot more to experience, but this first one is building her for what your final goal would be as Janie.

With Janie’s name identity crisis at a young age we can see how it sets a tone on the future and how she has stops on her journey before reaching her destination. As Janie grows somewhat older, she comes to accept an arranged marriage with Logan Killicks. Being forced to marry someone that is not your other half, shows and tells you that your freedom is lost. Your not Janie doing what you can or want to do. Your now being forced to accept a heartbreaking experience which you can’t control. When I say can’t control, I mean can’t control, because overtime Mr.Killicks has began to become more demanding. Demanding Janie to do this or to do that. Some relationships ship you have there. Treating your wife as a slave. His verbal abuse can be seen when he says 'You ain’t got no particular place. It’s wherever Ah need yuh. Git uh move on yuh, and dat quick.' (Pg31) We see Janie has no say in her actions. She is so frustrated with the situation she is stuck in. She is no longer Janie, able to do as she wants, but she is Ms. Killicks. More like Mr. Killicks’ puppet. She is just in his shadow and can’t find her way out of it with all his commands. She is not being the person she is or better that, she is not being her true name, Janie. The meaning of Mrs. Killicks just how her name identity is not being involved in these one sided relationship. Telling Janie she has no place, or telling anyone that, strongly impacts them by bringing their self esteem down for example. How can Janie be Janie, if she has no place? Event the unexpected events, which would be her first marriage, can lead to name crisis. As Alphabet transcends to Mrs. Killicks, Janie begins learning that she needs to help herself out. It is all part of the build and those are the building blocks.

The Building Blocks of Janie's Identity

As Janie’s journey gradually moves on, she decides that another marriage is her best bet to find who she can be. Will it be the right decision? As Janie and her newlywed, Joe, move to a town called Eatonville, instead of Janie's true name identity waiting for her, she is hit with a maze and too many directions to go. As the relationship began smoothly it soon had to tilt as Joe became mayor of the town. While she was with the now mayor of Eatonville, Janie felt like she had a position where she couldn’t question Joe, because he didn’t see her as an equal. The position of mayor blinded him to realize that it was his wife who he kept telling what to do. The people wanted to hear from Janie, since of course she was the wife of the mayor. Yet what they thought what Janie’s words, were basically what Joe made her say. Janie was once more another puppet. As the wife’s mayor, you would think there is supposed to be a sort of balance, but once again Janie is now not who she should be. As Mrs. Mayor Starks emerges as the new Janie, she continues to be told what to do if it is running a store or the post office. Joe increasingly takes advantage of his power as he makes Janie wear a head rag to cover herself. It was bound to happen at some time, and this is the time where Janie begins to question her placement in Eatonville. Is she really the mayor’s wife? She begins first off questioning what he forces her to do. “Nobody can’t git me tuh tie no rag on mah head.”(Pg49) This is great. A step in the right direction in the maze for Janie. Beginning to feel the unbalance and thinking what she can do. Not resolving to her old methods and standing there with her mouth closed. As soon Joe died we are told, “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there.”(Pg49) Janie got to take off her puppet identity and was able to take off her head rag that she was forced to wear. This shows how she was able to let down her freedom and show it. She could do as she wanted. She could tell the people what she felt. She could work in the store how she wanted. She was beginning to become Janie, yet there are still more blocks for her to discover.

We then transition into Janie’s final relationship with a man named Tea Cake. Will she finally be happy and romantic? Janie’s feeling of the relationship’s success shows how happy and joyous she is. We can see it here: “But you come ‘long and made something’ outa me. So Ah’m thankful fuh anything we come through together.”(Pg167) In her marriage to Tea Cake, Janie finally had peace and love. She wanted to do most of whatever Tea Cake was doing. She did not feel any obligation to work outside with Tea Cake, she just wanted to. Tea Cake made her whole again. It began with change of location for Janie to where she could start new. “Wild cane on either side of the road, hiding the rest of the world. People wild too.”(Pg129) The everglades or “muck” so how this marriage was something new. It showed how it was going to be a new start and how the outside or previous experiences don’t have to affect you. We see that Tea Cake has built Janie, to where she is known as Janie. Where she can feel comfortable after Tea Cake has helped her find herself. She would now go through anything with Tea Cake and she is proud of herself for that. She doesn’t feel forced to do what she does. She is able to make her own decisions. She is no longer Alphabet, Mrs.Killicks, nor Mrs. Mayor Starks, but she could finally rest her case saying she is Janie.

Conclusion

In this novel, Zora Neale Hurston shows many points on her view of a woman’s place in America. One of the points she makes is that women are supposed to search for their identity, especially their name. Women should not settle for a simple life of being controlled by men, being put down, and not being able to be true to themselves. They should move on to things that satisfy them. If your name is not Mrs. Killicks, move on. Joe took advantage of her, like a puppet and we can see that with Mr.Killicks as well. They wouldn’t let her be what she is, they made her another part of themselves. Janie’s young experience split between the two sides, teaches her about, there is a true identity for her, she just needs to find it. The experiences Janie had throughout her life building her to become Janie. It is absurd that this big of a theme, starts at a young age as well. Your going to be hit with decisions in life that test you if you know your true self. For Janie, it was her relationships. If I hadn’t made it clear enough, we are able to see Janie’s identity through the process of names she is given, throughout her growth and maturity. Zora Neale Hurston doesn’t an excellent job emphasizing that and teaching that to readers of Their Eyes Were Watching God. 

Works Cited

1. Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were Watching God. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2006.