Theme of Janie's Hair in Their Eyes Were Watching God Essay Sample

In the novel “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, observations of Janie are identified as she lives her life through sorrow, happiness, and tragedy. But out of everything in the novel, what represents Janie best is her hair. Janie’s hair can be seen as a symbol of everything she has gone through, such as her toxic, manipulative relationship with Joe. Janie’s hair can also symbolize her beauty and her independence as she lives life throughout the story. 

Janie’s hair plays a colossal role when Joe forces her to hide her hair whilst she is working at the store. The story says “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it. Her hair was not going to show in the store.” (Page 55 Chapter 6) Janie’s hair represents her relationship with Joe here as her hair was kept away against Janie's will, just as Janie was. When Joe finally died, Janie was once again represented by her hair because she was free from everything, just like her hair. The story says “She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. (Page 87 Chapter 8). Joe had died and Janie was free at last! Along with Janie being free, her hair was free as well from Joe as she no longer needed to keep it hidden. Her hair represents her immensely here as she was free and beautiful, as she was before, just like her hair. She was the same Janie that never left in the first place.  Another example of when this was symbolized was when Janie burned all of her rags, The story says “Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist.” (Page 89 Chapter 9). Joe, the one who held her back all of these years was gone forever and no one would ever hear from him again. Janie’s hair represents her as her hair will never be hidden away by any more headwraps, They were all burnt to a crisp and were to never be seen again. 

Janie’s hair does not just symbolize her leaving Joe, but her beauty similarly. Janie had beautiful hair as in chapter 6, the text says “And one night he had caught Walter standing behind Janie and brushing the back of his hand back and forth across the loose of her braid ever so lightly so as to enjoy the feel of it.” (Page 55 Chapter 6) Janie’s hair symbolizes her beauty best, when Joe forces Janie to wear a headwrap and the text says “That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was.” (Page 55 Chapter 6) Janie’s hair was so beautiful that even Joe, who was quite the egomaniac, and was berserk about the power of everything, was jealous of people looking at it. Janie was so beautiful that people would do the unthinkable and that was greatly portrayed. But her hair does not just represent her looks whilst she was younger. When Janie had her hair down and was working in chapter 1, the other women made a considerable deal of it saying “What’s that old forty-year-old woman doing with her hair swinging down her back like some young gal?” (Page 2 Chapter 1) This indicates that Janie is at the same level of beauty she was when she was younger. Having your hair down was seen as a young and beautiful sort of trend, but Janie was forty and still had these comments. Janie’s hair down symbolizes that she was still beautiful even if she was not young like the other women. 

This connects to the real world since all people must come to the realization that everyone is beautiful and that our bodies help represent somebody. Every part of our body represents an experience in a different beautiful way and shows a different journey of ours. Janie’s hair, for example, assists in seeing her beauty, Joe’s imprisonment, and her happiest moments throughout the book. What can your hair help to represent about you?