Theme - Self-Reliance Connection

In assessing the end of the novel, I found that I was able to draw multiple parallels between Huston’s central themes and those of Emerson in his work, Self-Reliance. As the plot unfolds, Janie continually puts self-reliant traits on display. While she might enjoy the profits of her husbands’ labor at times, these profits would never exist without her own efforts and contributions. From working in the store or laboring in the bean fields of the Everglades Janie is never completely dependent on anyone. Beyond physical dependence, Janie is also self-reliant in that she never losses sight of her true self and her true dreams. From that significant scene under the tree early in the novel Janie knows that she wants pure and mutual love in her life. When she does not find this with her first husband she leaves him, and when Joe does not give this to her she fights him too. After Joe’s death Janie again moves forward only to find the love she wants with Tea Cake in the Everglades. In all these instances Janie exemplifies Emerson’s line, “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” Time and time again she remains strong and follows her gut. She does not anyone hold her back from reaching her dreams, and due to that she is able to exemplify the central theme of Emerson and Hurston’s works; that the most important part of life is staying true to your own aspirations and overcoming anyone that tries to get in your way of achieving them.

Janie’s self-reliance is seen best at the end of the novel when she is talking to Pheoby about her journey. The quote that best demonstrated this to me personally was when Janie said “Dey gointuh make ‘miration ‘cause mah love didn’t work lak they love, if dey ever had any. Then you must tell ‘em dat love ain’t somethin’ lak uh grindstone dat’s de same thing everywhere and do de same thing tuh everything it touch” (191). Hurston uses this point by Janie in the same sense that Emerson used his “To be great is to be misunderstood” quote. Both works show that as human beings we are all unique, and that following the flow of society does not mean taking the right course. Both prove a theme that says one must embrace his/her individuality and, as stated before, ignore the fetters and criticisms of society. Janie has a conflict with the other resident’s of Eatonville because they do not understand her decisions, and instead see her as a self-mutilating insurgent. Yet by ignoring their commentary, believing in her own goals, and staying true to her dreams she finds her own versions of greatness and success. That, in my opinion, is self-reliance at its best.