Analysis Of Janie's Relationship With Tea Cake In Their Eyes Were Watching God

In the book, “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Janie had many relationships with men. And just like all of her other male companions, Tea Cake played second fiddle to the main character of Janie. In “Their Eyes Were Watching God”, Janie had many different love interest which included the likes of Logan Killicks, Jody Starks, and eventually Tea Cake. Before meeting Tea Cake, Janie was just stringing along in two different marriages that just were not in Janie’s favor in terms of her happiness. Janie’s first two husbands ended up basically being duds when it comes to pleasing and treating Jane properly. However, Janie appeared to have finally found her true happiness once she met Tea Cake.

Janie shows determination as she persists and struggles to define love on her own terms through her marriages. First, her determination shows when Janie runs away with Jody. She becomes aware that her marriage with Logan does not satisfy her goals and dreams for love, so she takes a chance and marries Jody. Hurston states, “Janie hurried out of the front gate and turned south.

Self-discovery is essential to a prosperous life. In the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie, the main character, discovers who she is through her relationships. Janie learns from each of her experiences, but the most significant are her husbands: Logan, Jody, and Tea Cake. Each of these people attempt to control her thoughts and actions, but Janie rebels against them. Janie stands up for what she believes in, and through these confrontations, she better understands herself.

During Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie had three husbands. Two of which died, and the other she left for the second. It is not a hard question to answer when asked which husband was best for Janie. The first husband, Logan, was an older man that worked as a farmer. The wedding was set up by Janie’s grandmother in order for her to ensure Janie had a stable life as she grew up. Even though Logan was not a bad man, Janie did not love him, and ended up leaving him for her second husband, Jody. Now, Jody was a great man who had ambitions and treated everyone the way they should have been treated in the beginning, but that didn’t last very long. A few years into the marriage, Jody started beating Janie because of his own insecurities that were too much for him to control. The main two of these insecurities would be jealousy and his own aging body. These two things do not go very well when mixed with having a beautiful and young wife. Even though Jody had started beating Janie, she stuck with him for twenty years until

Their Eyes Were Watching God is a detail long fiction tragedy that traces the attitude changes of Janie. As an African American, she denies the social tradition, gender and racial discrimination.The pursuit of true love and independence prompts her to “watch God,” and follow her free will.

Zora Neale Hurston, an author during the Harlem Renaissance, wrote Their Eyes Were Watching God, an amazing novel written about the losses and loves of a lady named Janie Crawford. The author describes the way Janie found out who she really was and what love was throughout her three marriages. Janie’s first two marriages were unfulfilling and not healthy for herself. Janie realized what true love was when she met Tea Cake.

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, the protagonist Janie, is influenced by others to change her ideals. Hurston vividly portrays Janie’s outward struggle while emphasising her inward struggle by expressing Janie’s thoughts and emotions. In Kate Chopin’s The Awakening the protagonist is concisely characterized as having “that outward existence which conforms, the inward life which questions,” as Janie does. Janie conforms outwardly to her life but questions inwardly to her marriages with Logan Killicks, her first husband, and Joe Starks, her second husband; Janie also questions her grandmother's influence on what love and marriage is.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie suffers from hardship in two relationships before she can find her true love. Janie explains to her best friend, Pheoby, how she searches for love. Therefore Pheoby wants to hear the true story, rather than listening to the porch sitters. Throughout the book Janie experiences different types of love with three different men; Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Vergible "Tea Cake" Woods.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God Zora Neale Hurston develops a contrast between the male and female genders of the time period of the story, and the male and female gender of today. Hurston wrote this novel in or about a time when women were considered simple-minded , women were disempowered by the empowered man in the relationship, and women can only gain power through marriage.

Instead of telling Janie what to do he gives her options, creating a two way relationship instead of a dominant partner. As well as being a good man, the circumstances change, in the past Janie had no way to support herself and was younger. In comparison to her old relationships, Janie is older and has quite a bit of money to keep herself standing while with Tea Cake. Janie also loves how sweet and caring Tea Cake is. He expresses his love constantly, like in chapter eleven when he claims, “Things lak dat got uh whole lot tuh do wid convenience, but it ain’t got nothin’ tuh do wid love."(Hurston ).

She questions why Janie would marry a dark man like Tea Cake. Mrs. Turner falsely assumes, like the rest of the people form the town, that Janie only married Tea Cake for his money because she could not possibly love him. Janie informs Mrs. Turner that her assumption is incorrect because Tea Cake was not wealthy when they met, and he is the only person that has made her truly

When tea cake shows up janie 's feels something she has never felt before, she is set free but the townspeople don 't think so. “‘Ain’t you skeered he’s jes after yo’ money him bein’ younger than you?’” (Hurston pg.133)Janie is in love with Tea Cake because he loves her for her youthful young side that was forced into hiding for so long because of her previous husbands. However the rest of the community is discouraging her and trying to keep her in the image as a mayor 's wife. They told Janie that Tea Cake was after her money

Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder. So much of life in its meshes! She called in her soul to come and see” (265). Hurston beautifully depicts this image of Janie’s soul emerging as a statement of her love for Tea Cake and of her vulnerability when she is with him. Likewise, at the end of the story, Janie calls on her soul to come out yet again at the moment in which she reflects upon her life with Tea Cake and in a way thanks him for allowing her to be free.

Janie had a spiritual reassessment, which caused her to realize that none but her has a choice in how she lives her life. Janie is, somewhat, putting the pieces of this philosophy together throughout her journey; but she does not have a full reawakening until the very end, after Tea Cake’s death. It is at this point that she realizes the full extent of her worth and right to free will.

Tea Cake as his name announces, like a piece of cake with a cup of tea at the end of a very tiring and long day. The book demonstrates how similar tea cake to Janie’s horizon by announcing that he looked familiar to Janie. (Hurston, 94) The connection between them was made almost immediately. Freed from Nanny, the culture, Jody and Logan’s control, life’s rule of materialism to be secure and independent, now Janie can choose for herself the person with whom she is going to be and also whether or not to stay with them among a variety of options from all those who would die for Janie.