Just after the beginning of chapter 2, Hurston performs perfect sequencing as she uses Janie's recounts of her first childhood kiss to expound upon the single idea of pear tree and the fruit of which it bears.
The kiss occurs just outside of Nanny’s house while Janie believes that her grandmother is asleep. To her surprise, Nanny catches Janie and Johnny Taylor kissing over the gatepost but before this event takes place, Janie is depicted lounging in her backyard. For three days, Janie is described spending most of her time beneath a blossoming pear tree behind Nanny’s house. Captivated by the intriguing performance of the flowers, Janie finds herself consumed by her insatiable curiosity regarding the bloom of the flowers, as “It had called her to come and gaze on a mystery” (Hurston 10).
Perhaps the pear tree and the blooming flowers function as Janie’s first taste of self-revelation. By spending so much time under tree in the backyard, Janie is introduced to the details of life and at this very moment, begins her quest for a purpose. Essentially, she was tired of “Waiting for the world to be made,” so Janie begins her search for the instruction manual (Hurston 11). “She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her” (Hurston 11). Janie’s glossy leaves and bursting buds serve as her light-bulb moment, her own personal ‘Eureka!’ The first step of self-revelation is acknowledging the existence of a purpose. The next step however, is determining what the ‘Purpose’ is.
I agree! Janie definitely had self-realization, and beautiful displays her identity by connecting herself to nature! Springtime is the time where trees bear fruit, just as a girl transforms into a woman. She has been hibernanting and as you said now she is "blooming". Well said.
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