ENLL: DFW Empathy and Human Experience in TEWWG
Wallace's essay of how life "is about simple awareness — awareness of what is so real and essential, so hidden in plain sight all around us" ties in perfectly with the journey of Janie's character. Her coming of age story is her journey in realizing who she is, not as an African-American, not as a woman, but as an individual, as Janie. One thing that resonated to me with her story is the emotional clarity, in fact, I found it so interesting that I did extra research and came across the interpretation of 'Maslow’s Hierarchy of Personal Development' in the book. The connection just so happens to fit in with the idea of human experience and with Wallace's essay. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Personal Development refers to the diagram of motivational theory in psychology comprising of a five-tier model of human needs, and so this would look at the novel at a psychological lense. From the bottom of the hierarchy upwards, the needs are physiological, safety, l
