Close Reading: Their Eyes Were Watching God Free Janie

On page 87 in Their Eyes Were Watching God, the speaker is the narrator, and at the very end of the paragraph it is Janie yelling that her husband has died. The narrator is illustrating Janie's realization and how she can finally be free now that Jodie is dying. The speaker is reliable because they are stating the appearance of the situation without any opinions. Before the passage Jodie has always been over protective of Janie; he would not let her wear her hair down and force her to work in the store. Janie submits to Jodie and becomes quiet and bottles her emotions, in this passage she explodes and fiercely confronts Jodie to regain her power she has lost to him. The passage sheds light on the rest of the novel because Janie is changing her life and not allowing herself to be out spoken. She realizes she is still beautiful, not old and ugly like Jodie was accusing her of being. “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there. She took careful stock of herself, then combed her hair and tied it back up again.”(pg87) The main idea of this passage conveys how Janie has broken free and is now going to show her own strength and not fall under others. She has grown as a woman and is no longer a child whose face has definition and a story to it. She no longer has Jodie to hold her back and her new journey is just beginning.
-Tiana