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, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualization.

Janie was born with no status, not knowing who her parents are, no personal identity, racial dysphoria of living in a white neighborhood, no self-expression, constrained by her strict mother. This life she leads is the first step of the hierarchy, she could fulfill her psychological needs, but that was all. 

The second level is safety, which is the life she had with Logan Killiks. His main purpose, the reason Nanny made Janie marry him, was to provide security, as that was the basis of marriage to Nanny. However, this still kept her in a dissatisfied with life. 

The third level is love and belonging: What Logan Killiks lacked, Jody was able to provide. Her need to be free was manipulated by Logan to make the illusion that he can provide her just that, and as time passed, she came to break that illusion. 

The fourth level is esteem. With esteem comes confidence, achievement, and respect. Tea Cake was able to provide that and more. With him, she learned how to hunt and was free to be herself. This is reinforced by the fact that Tea Cake tells Janie "ave de nerve tuh say whut you mean", giving her the freedom she always yearned for. 

And the final level is self-actualization: this relationship is with herself. Thanks to Tea Cake, she was able to reach this stage. When he had gone mad because of rabies, Janie had to act to save herself: She had to let go of her love, realizing there was no coming back for him and she has to carry her life by herself. The fact that she had created an identity, with the help of Tea Cake and her failed marriages, allowed her to defend herself from Tea Cake, realizing her worth.