Joe And Tea Cake's Funeral Analysis

Both Joe and Tea Cake’s funerals are representative of how they lived as people. Joe constantly exuded an aura of power and dominance and made people respect him. As a result, he was seen as a god-like figure by many and in a sense was impossible to relate to. The imagery of “[p]eople on farm horses and mules; babies riding astride of brothers ' and sisters ' backs” (88) makes it seem as though they are going on a religious pilgrimage rather than grieving over a loved one. By mentioning how the “expensive black folds” of the coffin “were resurrection and life” Joe may be likened to Jesus in how he was resurrected after three days of being killed (88). However, although many idolized him, Janie did not feel remorse during the funeral. Rather,

This is significant because it is strongly implied that Joe’s funeral was orchestrated by the community of Eatonville rather than Janie, making Tea Cake’s funeral seem more personal and important to Janie. She was the one who hired the undertaker and the ten sedans for the funeral in addition to buying a “brand new guitar” and flowers to put inside Tea Cake’s coffin. Such actions signify that Janie truly wants to send Tea Cake off in the best way that she can. Lastly, in wearing only overalls at the funeral, Janie was mention to be “too busy feeling grief to dress like grief”. For a wife to act this way shows how much she loved Tea

At the very end of the novel, Janie is described to have “pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net” (192). With the horizon being a recurring metaphor for dreams, Hurston presents a novel that details how a female can go though many trials and tribulations and defy gender roles. By “pulling [the horizon] from around the waist of the world and drap[ing] it over her shoulder” (192), it gives a sense that Janie is in complete control of her dreams rather than having them come to her passively. This is because the word “pulling” carries with it an active connotation in that Janie is the sole individual that takes hold of her dreams. In addition, such imagery contrasts strongly with the opening lines of the novel that state how only men are able to have big dreams. As a result, Hurston creates a situation in which a character in her novel goes against the words of the narrator sending a message that widely accepted notions of how men and women are at the time can be