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Perception In Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God

Decent Essays

This idea of perception is also presented in Hurston’s Their Eyes were watching God. At the beginning of the novel we see Janie coming to the realisation of her skin, ‘”Aw, aw! I’m coloured!” ‘Den dey all laughed real hard. But before Ah seen de picture Ah thought Ah wuz just like de rest.’ Janie’s lack of awareness about her skin can be seen to be the result of her surroundings; she grew up with a white family, went to a white school, and lived in a white area. This becomes one of the few times what we are aware of her mixed heritage, as her race is replaced by the significance of her hair. The repeated images of Janie’s hair becomes her identifier; it is her hair that attracts men, and it is her hair, which also places her outside of the

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