Throughout the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” the author, Zora Neale Hurston uses many different symbols to convey specific themes and ideas. One of the most prominent symbols Hurston utilized was how Janie’s hair represents her freedom and individuality. As Janie’s hair is covered and uncovered, her personality and independence change accordingly. When Janie marries her second husband, Joe Starks, her freedom is greatly repressed, and, as her hair is representative of her freedom, it is likewise confined to a head-rag. This came about after Joe caught one of the men caressing the ends of Janie’s hair one night in the shop, so he forced her to bind her hair and wear a rag over her head. “The business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody[Joe Starks] was set on it.
Her hair was NOT going to show in the store.” (6.55) During her time with Joe, she was given little room for her own opinions or discussions which significantly supressed her personality and individuality. (Shmoop: Janie’s Head-Rags in TEWWG) She became submissive and compliant, allowing all her decisions to be made for her by the overpowering and controlling Joe, and consequently losing much of her freedom, power, and independence. Another instance Janie’s hair strongly represents her freedom is when Joe Starks dies from liver failure after almost 20 years of their marriage, and she is finally able to let her hair down; both literally and metaphorically. “The young girl was gone, but a handsome woman had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair. The weight, the length, the glory was there.”(8.87) She realizes how much time had past in her time with Joe, how different she was from the girl who had once fantasized about a perfect marriage, and how much Joe had held her back. She also burned her head rags, as a final removal of Joe’s control over her life. (Prezi, “Their Eyes Were Watching God Motif: hair”) “Before she slept that night, she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house the next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist.” (8.89)
Disposing of the head-rags and allowing her hair down symbolizes her passage into freedom after so many years of oppression and confinement by Joe’s domineering personality and the boundaries and restrictions he placed on her (Washington.edu: Annotated Passage). With Joe no longer hovering over her, critiquing her body and actions and holding her back, she’s finally able to begin to develop her own identity for the first time since she was 16.Although Janie is finally free from Joe Starks, she is not, however, free from the expectations of the community. She still ties up her hair to present herself to the people of Eatonville. “She took careful stock of herself, then combed her hair and tied it back up again. Then she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see.” (8.87)
Although she is no longer was confined by Joe, she still feels she needs to behave and appear a certain way in order to achieve the social expectations of the people of Eatonville. It is only after she departs from Eatonville that she is finally free to be herself, and she unbinds her hair. This is evident when she returns to Eatonville, at the beginning of the book: “the great rope of black hair swinging to her waist and unraveling in the wind like a plume.” (1.2) This imagery of her hair swinging free represents her freedom, as wearing her hair down shows her independence. Throughout the novel, as Janie’s levels of freedom change, her hair accurately represents her independence. When Joe controls and represses her, her hair is restrained in her head rags. And when Joe dies and she is able to express herself somewhat, her hair indicates her freedom through the absence of the head-rag. Then, when she finally frees herself from the expectations of both Joe and Eatonville, she allows her hair to be completely free.
