In life to discover our self-identity a person must show others what one thinks or feels and speak his or her mind. Sometimes their opinions may be silenced or even ignored. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, the main character Janie would sometimes speak her ideas and they would often make a difference. The author, Zora Neale Hurston, gives Janie many chances to speak and she shows the reader outcomes. When dealing with all of the different people Jaine faced, she would find a way to speak her ideas, receive a response, and through this exchange she developed her sense of self-worth.
When Janie found a way to speak her ideas, they would have an impact on everyone. Though, Janie did not always speak her ideas. She would often do something that made an impression on someone. The first real action Janie took was to leave her husband, Logan Killicks. By doing this, she has shown the community that a person can not always be happy with material things when she or he is not in love. Janie says, "Ah want things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think." She shows her grandma that she is not happy with her
Janie's next husband, Joe Starks was very nice to her and gave her everything she wanted. When it came to Janie wanting to talk or speak her mind, he would not let her, and that made her feel like she was less of a person than he. Until one day, towards the end of their long marriage, when Jody made a very mean comment about Janie's body. She came back with, "When you pull down yo' britches, you look lak de change uh life." After these words came out,
Jody hit her. These harsh words could never be forgiven. At the end of their marriage, before Jody died she finally told him her feelings. "....And now you got tuh die tuh find out dat you got tuh pacify somebody besides yo'self if you wants any love and any sympathy in dis world. You ain't tired