Zora Neale Hurston's novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, uses a struggle that WEB Du Bois describes as "double consciousness" to chart Janie's journey Crawford in individuality. In “The Souls of Black Folk,” Du Bois describes African Americans as gifted and cursed with “two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings” because of their race. Hurston's text applies this theory, not to the struggle to find individuality within the demands of two different races, but to the struggle of a woman seeking individuality among the differing demands of society and herself. At the beginning of the novel, Janie plays roles that others expect of her, rather than fulfilling her own desires. This disparity between her needs and her actions creates a divide in her, leaving her with two selves: the self that follows society's expectations and the self with its own desires. Janie's journey to selfhood is revealed in the gradual dissipation of the submissive self and the emancipation of the inner one. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The text first establishes the division between Janie's two selves when the nanny discovers Janie kissing Johnny Taylor. In her heart, Janie wants to be a "blossoming tree" and feel "the embrace of love" (11). His soul cries out for the "struggle with life" (11) and the liberation of his newfound sexuality. The nanny, however, believes this to be "harm and danger" (13) and wants to save Janie from it by marrying her "not decent" (13) to Logan Killicks. The nanny's phrase, "marry decently" (13), indirectly conveys to Janie that she must conform, marry, and avoid her sexuality to be acceptable. The word "decent" suggests that sexuality is indecent, improper, vulgar, and unacceptable. Even though Janie's inner self does not agree with this interpretation of sexuality, Janie acts accordingly. She feels that marrying Logan Killicks would be "desecrating the pear tree," but she doesn't "know how to tell the nanny" (14). At this moment, Janie splits into two selves. One submits to Nanny's belief that sexuality is vile and wrong and agrees to marry Logan Killicks. His unrealized other self continues to desire "to be a pear tree" (11) and to embrace his sensuality. The fact that Janie fails and does not convey this desire to her nanny demonstrates her inability to assert her individuality. Furthermore, his behavior demonstrates that he values ​​the demands and beliefs of others above his own. In her marriage to Jody, Janie places her husband's desires above her own, but ultimately becomes aware of the self within her that struggles against his submission. Jody “wants her submission” (71) so he can force her to sit in a “high chair” and have her as a symbol of his own greatness. He stops her from attending porch talks and other community events because he says she is above "that mess and banality" (60). At first, his submissive self gives in to Jody's demands. To accommodate her desires, "she [does] not change her mind but agrees with her mouth" (63). For a while, she "learns to silence" (71) her own desires and to play the role that Jody and the town expect of her. However, unlike Nanny, Jody realizes that she herself "knows few things" (71) and must not silently submit to Jody's beliefs as if they were more valid than her own. Furthermore, his numerous disagreements with Jody cause her to realize that she has "an inside" (72) where her forbidden desires and ideas lie. He discovers that his "inside" (72) contains "a multitude of thoughts that he has never expressed" (72). This discovery marks a.