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Trials And Tribulations In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Did you know that 74% of girls say that they are under pressure to please everyone (Girls Inc, The Supergirl Dilemma)? In our society, young girls are not taught to give to themselves, for that is being selfish. But instead to give themselves to others. We are socially enforced to give time, energy and love to people, specifically men, but not taught to provide that same energy and love to ourselves. Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel written by Zora Neale Hurston, perfectly articulates this concept. Zora tells a tale of a young woman in the midst of a spiritual Odyssey for love and self-knowledge. Janie, the main character, goes through trials and tribulations to achieve an inner strength and self-confidence that is unwavering by none. These trials and tribulations came in the form of men. Janie’s first …show more content…

In this stage of her life is where she met Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods. Free-spirited Janie and carefree Tea Cake fall upon a love at first sight moment. The love they had for each other was right, not forced or opportunistic. He is fun and respects her as an equal, which he proves by playing checkers with her and wanting her to work with him. Logan Killicks wanted her to work like a worker that he can control and dominate. Joe Starks wanted her to work to display her beauty to the townspeople, as a trophy wife. Tea Cake listens to Janie, he talks to Janie. He doesn’t order he around or shut her out. They’re partners. With Tea Cake, Janie fully finds her inner strength. She is strong for herself, out of self-love. This is proven when she had to kill the love of her life to save her own life. If she had not pulled the trigger on rabies-infested Tea Cake, he would have pulled his trigger on her. In this moment, we understand that Janie’s character has developed into her own being. With Tea Cake’s love, she flourished into a strong and self-confident

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    Janie would be able to choose to have a relationship with Tea Cake instead of it just being a step up of what she previously had this relationship would be her own decision and it would not be used as a getaway from other marriages. When Janie decides that she can trust Tea Cake this could also suggest that this thought about Tea Cake could be challenged and he will do things that could possibly break Janie’s trust that she has created with him. With this you can see how much Janie has grown from her past relationships and how she has taken something from each one. This helps her come into womanhood and really grow overall as a

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    He strolls into Janie’s shop after Joe’s death to begin his courtship, however, Janie doesn’t believe he is being sincere and brushes off his advances. This all changes after Tea Cake does something no one ever considered for Janie, he teaches her to play checkers. With this he planted the first seed of love in Janie’s heart without her recognizing it. Tea Cake and Janie eventually fall for each other and decide to move to the Muck where Janie begins to work alongside Tea Cake. This provides an excellent example on the true love Janie holds for Tea Cake because she refused to work in the fields with Logan Killicks, her first husband, for even a day.

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    Then she meets Vergible Woods, an impoverished young gambler who goes by the name of Tea Cake with absolutely nothing to offer her. Nothing to offer that is except his respect, friendship, and love. The power dynamic between Janie and Tea Cake is unlike that in any of Janie’s previous relationships, instead of viewing her as an object or an animal he sees her as a person. Tea Cake’s respect for Janie is expressed in many different ways, for example, he cares about what she has to say, teaches her how to play checkers, and does not put her down in order to build himself up. However, Janie did not just fall for Tea Cake immediately, in fact, she initially drew back, scared that he was playing her for a fool or taking advantage of her.

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