Zora Neale Hurston: A Literary Analysis

During the late 19th century to the early 20th century women, especially black women, barely had a say in anything done within the family. Janie was different, she was able to control her own destiny simply by leaving Logan for Joe, and marrying Tea Cake after Joe’s death. Janie was raised by her grandmother due to the fact that her mother was not around during this time. Her grandmother was raised in a time where there was no hope for a chance at a better life. Her grandmother told Janie that black women were the mules of the world (Hurston 14) , representing that they are the lowest of society and are used by people. Although the main ideas are clear, the symbolization in each of Janie’s marriages with Logan, Joe, and Tea Cake all symbolize different ideas. To begin with, Janie’s relationship with Logan was prearranged and she had no say whether she wanted to marry him. At first, she was optimistic and believed their marriage will be what she dreamed of. Soon reality sets in after her grandmother died and she realized her dream was not going to come true. Logan then acted, especially different to her now that her grandmother died. The incident that triggers Janie’s loss of faith was when Logan buys a mule. He buys the mule in hopes of making Janie work the fields with

She had finally found her true love and nothing else seemed to matter. Tea Cake, much like his name, was sweet and charming, he genuineness loved Janie. Though many people warned Janie that Tea Cake was just trying to get some of her money, she did not lose faith with her dream. She knew Tea Cake was the one and nothing can change that. The main difference between Tea Cake and Janie’s past relationships was that he valued her and hence no symbolization with a mule when Janie was with him. The one symbolism eluded to Tea Cake and Janie’s relationship was the hurricane and how later on Tea Cake