Their Eyes Were Watching God Negative Effects On Janie's Life

Tea Cake’s Negative Impact on Janie's Life

A successful marriage requires more than just love; it requires trust, communication, and mutual respect. In the book “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie's relationship with Tea Cake begins as a fairytale, but ultimately leads to the destruction of her life. The lack of trust, communication between the two, combined with Tea Cake's financial recklessness, overbearing ego, controlling nature, and domestic abuse all played a negative role in Janie's life, eventually leading to the downfall of their fairytale type romance.

Tea Cake’s irresponsible and selfish behavior when it comes to money plays a detrimental effect on Janie and their marriage. Janie had money saved, hidden

He uses the stolen money to host a lavish party for him and his friends. His irresponsible decision to spend the stolen money on himself rather than on Janie or their relationship exemplifies his self-centeredness. On the surface, it appears that Tea Cake is generous as he is throwing a party for his friends, however, his true motivation behind the act is to present himself superior. Janie's trust in Tea Cake is understandably shaken by Tea Cake’s actions, causing her to reevaluate their relationship and to form a negative view on marriages in general. Later when Janie decides to confront Tea Cake his recklessness is apparent. In an attempt to earn the money back he decides to gamble for it, “You done married one un de best gamblers God ever made”. This shows a complete disregard for the consequences of his actions and an unjustified confidence in his ability to recoup the money. His lack of regret and casual

This is evident when Tea Cake restricts Janie from working in the fields, "Ah wants yuh to quit workin' in de fields…Ah done told yuh Ah don't want yuh talkin' 'bout nothin' wid no other man." Here, Tea Cake's jealousy and possessiveness begin to control Janie's life and limit her autonomy. He wants her to be solely dependent on him and is not comfortable with her having friendships with other men. This type of behavior is a clear indication of how Tea Cake's ego is negatively impacting their relationship as Janie is not able to fully express herself and make her own choices. Another example of Tea Cake's ego is his tendency to exert control over Janie, even to the point of dictating her appearance,"Ah wants yuh to dress up all de time." This statement shows Tea Cake's desire for Janie to reflect his own self-image and lack of respect for her individuality. Furthermore, his behavior reflects his self-importance, as he sees Janie as an extension of himself and not as an independent person. Tea Cake behavior is also very similar to that of Joe Staks, as they both are very controlling of Janie. This type of behavior ultimately causes Janie to re-evaluate her views on marriage, as she realizes that Tea Cake's ego is limiting her freedom and preventing her from being her true self. Janie realizes that she needs a partner who accepts and respects her individuality and not one who wants to control