Self-Discovery in Their Eyes Were Term Paper

Again, we see a strong, confident woman in Janie. She is also mature. Hattenhauer maintains that we can see this in they way Janie understands certain truths about life. She states that the "tragic truth, Janie has learned, is something no one could have told her, and something she cannot tell anyone" (Hattenhauer). While Janie may be in denial of her immediate death, it is clear that she knows it will come to her sooner or later. When she tells Phoeby that so many individuals never see the light at all, we know that "she sees the light at last: her fate is to wait and see if God's will is to take her life" (Hattenhauer). This is proof that Janie has emerged a strong, independent woman.

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a glorious and painful story of one woman's discovery of her own voice. Janie evolves as a person though experience - most of it being painful. Janie learns from the bad relationships she has lived through. However, while her fist few relationships might have been painful to her, they allowed her to appreciate the love she found with tea Cake. By the time she met Tea Cake, she was developing her voice and was confident enough in herself to love another.Self-discovery is a journey that takes all of a lifetime and the learning never seems to end. Janie moves from being an object to being someone with a voice and a message. She aged well because she did not let life beat her. It was her ability to keep searching for her voice that allowed he to keep her open attitude toward life. While many may see Their Eyes Were Watching God as a tragedy, we must remember that with every tragedy a hero emerges and Janie is the heroine in her own life. She accepts what life hands her and she does so without compromising herself.

Works Cited

Hattenhauer, Darryl. "The Death of Janie Crawford: Tragedy and the American Dream in 'Their Eyes Were Watching God.'" GALE Resource Database. Site Accessed April 05, 2008.

Hurston, Zora Neale. Their Eyes Were….....