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Macon Leary, the protagonist of Anne Tyler’s The Accidental Tourist, is lead throughout the novel on a journey to self-discovery. Macon develops his sense of what he wants out of life, and what would really make him happy. This scenario is very similar to that of the main character in the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. In this book, Hurston tells the story of a black woman named Janie, and how she slowly comes to realize the workings of her heart and soul, in similar fashion to Macon. The reader views the change from childhood to maturity in both characters, although in Macon’s case it is through reminiscences of his own. As a result of their spiritual transformations, both characters realize their specific needs, and adopt new lifestyles accordingly. To begin, the most significant change that Macon and Janie undergo is in their perceptions of love and what they individually need out of a partner. In Tourist we learn that Macon met his first wife, Sarah, as a high school student, and had dated her ever since, without experiencing any other women. Thus, Macon felt a deep attachment to her, and was subsequently lost when she left him. Janie’s romantic beginnings were much more complicated than th