The Face on the Milk Carton

Janie’s questions about her identity form the backbone of the novel. Even before she suspects her kidnapping, Janie thinks about how her name shapes perceptions of her identity. Judging her given name “too dull” (2), she prefers “Jayyne Jonstone,” calling it “the name you would have if you designed sequined gowns for a living, or pointed to prizes on television quiz shows” (3). By changing the spelling of her name, Janie tries on new identities. When she finds out that she really has another identity, though, Janie longs for the simplicity of life as “Janie Johnson.”

Janie’s focus on identity only increases after she sees her photo on the milk carton. In the immediate aftermath of the discovery, she believes her identity has been fractured. Janie “learned that her body could function without her” as it goes through the motions of a normal school day (13). That split feeling intensifies as Janie begins to remember her childhood and reaches its apex when Janie prepares to speak with Mrs. Spring: “A split personality,” she thinks, “I am truly two people” (184). Because the novel ends without revealing the results of Janie’s conversation, readers cannot know whether the split in Janie’s sense of self resolves.