umiliated the citizen's of Eatonville in similar ways as the white man and forced her into slavish servitude reflected in the identity-confining head rag he made her wear. She fought his tyranny by telling him off just before he died and reclaiming her identity by burning up "everyone of her head rags". Similarly, she encountered Mrs. Turner who was a symbol of internalized racism. Again, Janie remains true to herself and continued to form her own identity by refusing to leave Tea Cake and class off as Mrs. Turner suggested.She experienced true happiness with Tea Cake while taking in new lessons of life. She had a sense of freedom and regained innocence with him. He made most of the decisions, but she was treated as a person so she went along gladly. They lived in the marshes, worked side by side, and danced at night. Eventually her innocence was again replaced with a harsh reality, death. Janie wore her overalls because "she was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief". She had come full circle in her life and learned that there are "two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves." Though she endured many hardships she discovered herself and life. Her journey was one every human being must take and she learned what every human being must learn...how to live.Rather than self-destruct under the constant harsh realities she received throughout her life, Janie does the opposite at the close of the novel. The novel's final image states what Janie does throughout the story, taking her difficult past and growing stronger and wiser as a result of it. In her defining moment of identity formation, Janie "pulled in her horizon like a great fish net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see". Her story is of a beautiful black women who foun...
