IndexIntroductionName Identity Crisis In Their Eyes They Were Watching GodThe Building Blocks of Janie's IdentityConclusionWorks CitedIntroductionAt a young age, you begin to experience who you are, but that's not the case. It's really not the time in your life where you can sit on an idea of ​​who you really are. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston takes us through the life of Janie, who deals with different experiences of identity through the names she is given. That said, we are able to see Janie's identity through the process of the names she is given, as she grows and matures. Janie is often beaten, ignored, physically abused and silenced. However, all these demoralizing episodes strengthen Janie's identity. It begins with the issue of name and identity as a child, then, as she gets older, comes to her first marriage to Mr. Killicks, and finally to her next two marriages, to Joe and Tea Cake. Yet, from these events he emerges stronger to find his place in what would be his real name. In a seemingly absurd way, the moments in her life where she cannot be her “name,” are ultimately what causes her to find her “name.” Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Name Identity Crisis In Their Eyes We Were Watching God Janie's name identity crisis occurs early in her life, around age six, when she is torn between opposing sides of whether she is black or white. Janie spent a lot of her time with white children at a young age, so to others this may be unusual for a black child. Janie is shocked when she realizes she isn't white in a photo. It's understandable for a little girl, given the amount of time she spends with her fellow white friends. You can see how surprised she was when the news hit her. “That's where Ah should have been, but Ah couldn't recognize me in that dark boy. So Ah, where are they? Ah, don't see me." (Pg9) It is here that Janie is hit by one of the important events of her life. Yet, when you are young and this event occurs, you experience too many conflicting emotions and start to ask yourself questions. You start to feel a sense of fear. They dated me, so I don't feel different? I was so happy to be white, do I want to be black now? She can't just stay with both of them, because that will come back to haunt her as she grows up. This is where we see where she is torn from being called little white or black girl. Trying to sit in the middle, it doesn't work and it hurts even more now that people are calling it a lot of names, because it simply can't be both. You can see this where Janie says "All the users call me Alphabet because so many people called me different names." (Pg9) Now Alphabet is not his name. It's Janie! The crisis continues because we cannot simply call it by its name. Experiencing these 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 in speaking out is hidden by her conflicting emotions that don't mesh well. We don't have Janie here yet. We have to stick with Mrs. Alphabet. Young Janie still has a lot to experience, but the former is building her towards what would be your ultimate goal as Janie. With the identity crisis of Janie's name at a young age we can see how it sets the tone for the future and how she has stops in her journey before reaching her destination. As Janie grows a little, she comes to accept an arranged marriage with Logan Killicks. Being forcedto marry someone who is not your significant other shows and tells you that your freedom is lost. You're not Janie doing what you can or want to do. Now you are forced to accept a harrowing experience that you cannot control. When I say I can't control, I mean I can't control, because overtime Mr. Killicks began to become more demanding. DemandingJanie to do this or that. Some reports are sent to you there. Treating your wife like a slave. His verbal abuse can be seen when he says "You have no particular place." It's everywhere I need you. Go ahead, eh, and hurry.' (Pg.31) We see that Janie has no say in his actions. She's so frustrated with the situation she's stuck in. She is no longer Janie, able to do whatever she wants, but she is Mrs. Killicks. He looks more like Mr. Killicks' puppet. She is simply in his shadow and can't find her way out with all his commands. It's not who she is, or rather, it's not her real name, Janie. The significance of Mrs. Killicks is precisely how the identity of her name is not involved in these one-sided relationships. Telling Janie that she has no place, or telling someone, has a strong impact on them, for example by lowering their self-esteem. How can Janie be Janie if she has no place? Even unexpected events, which would be his first marriage, can lead to a name crisis. As Alphabet transcends Mrs. Killicks' direction, Janie begins to realize that she needs to help herself. It's all part of the construction and these are the building blocks. The Building Blocks of Janie's Identity As Janie's journey gradually progresses, she decides that another marriage is her best bet to discover who she can be. Will it be the right decision? As Janie and her newlywed, Joe, move to a town called Eatonville, instead of finding Janie's real name waiting for her, she finds herself in a maze with too many directions to go. When the relationship started off smoothly, it soon had to take a turn when Joe became mayor of the city. While with the current mayor of Eatonville, Janie felt she had a position where she couldn't question Joe, because she didn't see her as an equal. The mayor's position prevented him from realizing that it was his wife who he kept telling what to do. People wanted to hear from Janie, since she was obviously the mayor's wife. Yet what they thought of Janie's words were basically what Joe made her say. Janie was once again another puppet. As the mayor's wife, you would think there should be some sort of balance, but once again Janie is not who she should be. As Mrs. Mayor Starks emerges as the new Janie, she continues to be told what to do if she runs a store or post office. Joe takes more and more advantage of his power as he makes Janie wear a rag over her head to cover herself. It had to happen sooner or later, and this is when Janie begins to question her place in Eatonville. Is she really the mayor's wife? She first begins to wonder what he forces her to do. “No one can convince me to tie a rag over my head.” (Page 49) This is great. A step in the right direction in the maze for Janie. Starting to feel the imbalance and thinking about what it can do. Don't accept his old ways and sit there with your mouth shut. As soon as Joe died, we were told: “The girl was gone, but a beautiful woman had taken her place. She tore the handkerchief from her head and let her abundant hair down. The weight, the length, the glory were there.” (pg.49) Janie was able to take off her puppet identity and was able to remove the rag from her head that she was forced to wear. This shows how she was able, 2006.