Analysis Of Tea Cake In Their Eyes Were Watching God

Unlike her previous husbands, Tea Cake does not stifle Janie’s potential, but instead allows Janie to comfortably express herself due to the “possibilities opened up by [their] relationship,” as evidenced by Professor Tejumola Olaniyan’s criticism of the novel. (Olaniyan 34). Not only is Janie free to behave in whichever way she desires, she is also confronted by a man who genuinely loves her. Moreover, Janie feels a “self-crushing love” with Tea Cake, that makes her feel content enough that “her soul [crawls] out from its hiding place” (Hurston 128). By finally allowing her soul out into the open, Janie unlocks her inner strength,

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston follows the main character Janie’s journey to find love on her own terms. The first man she married, she married to appease Nanny, her grandmother. The second man she marries is Jody Starks, who she marries because she failed to find love for her previous husband. After the oppressive Starks dies, Janie remarries Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods, the only man she has ever loved. They move to “the muck” where Janie feels more at home than ever before because she is with Tea Cake and because she can choose to indulge in her own relations without anyone telling her what to do or with whom to associate.

He thought the only thing she could do was work at home. Tea Cake has a very different idea about women. He thinks that Janie can do anything she wants to do, that she is just as smart as a man and has the capacity to learn and do many more things than what Joe would allow her to do. Throughout their marriage, Janie seems to have taken Joe’s ideas to heart and believes them herself. Tea Cake rejects these ideas and helps Janie begin to feel confident in herself and forget what Joe made her

     As two different people, Janie and Tea Cake are allowed to live their lives as equals. When living with Joe, Janie is never allowed to do things such as speaking her mind, playing games, or doing anything which is not completely ladylike. Tea Cake encourages her to do things which were previously not open to her, such as playing chess, speaking openly about her feelings, and hunting. He teaches Janie to shoot and hunt wild game.

Tea Cake returns after Janie’s money was stolen; “He took her head in his hands and eased himself into the chair. She still didn’t say anything” (121). Silence is a major instrument in Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship because instead of fighting him she uses silence as a source of empowerment. Janie learns that her silence shows Tea Cake more insight to her apprehension in their relationship, than verbally attacking him will do. In her relationship with Joe, Janie uses her voice to insult Joe to show her displeasure, but with Tea Cake, she knows how and when to use her voice and understands both herself and her emotions. In the Everglades, Janie actively participates in conversation; “Only here, she could listen and laugh and even talk some herself if she wanted to” (134). In Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship, equality is a major aspect, Janie has both a voice and a position in their marriage. Janie feels like an individual both with Tea Cake and the people in the Everglades, in contrast to her relationship with Joe where people view her as subordinate to Joe. Tea Cake slaps Janie out of jealousy and control and as a result, Janie does not raise her voice back at him. (147). Tea Cake physically abuses Janie, but never tries to mentally overpower her, and

Throughout the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, self-growth is evident in one specific character, Janie, by the help of her significant other. Teacake is an ideal mate for Janie because he helps her achieve freedom. Shortly after the two meet, Teacake automatically views Janie as an intelligent and able being instead of regarding her as inferior to the male race. Teacake offers Janie to a game of chess, and she cannot help but be fascinated over the thought that, “Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it was natural for her to play. That was even nice” (Hurston 96). In general, men in Eatonville regard women as physically and morally weaker than men due to the strict basis of gender. On the other hand, Teacake notices that Janie has more to her than just looks and is bright enough to partake in common-folk activities without being

She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points” (Hurston 96). Checkers was an activity Janie’s prior onerous husband, Joe, had not let her participate in, therefore by using Teacake as a foil character to Joe the reader incorrectly assumes that he will be the one to free Janie, as their relationship is based on equality. However, it soon becomes apparent of his trickster ways. The first being Teacake’s use of Janie’s hidden money without her knowledge leading to his disappearance. Without any knowledge of what was going on Janie assumed that Teacake must have taken her money and left. Yet, the reader later discovers he used the money to go out to dinner, go to party, buy a guitar, etc. all without Janie’s knowledge (Hurston 124). Despite Teacake eventually winning her money back his conniving behavior, inherent to tricksters, is used to manipulate Janie into falling in love with him even though his faults cause her to stress and risk loss for his benefit. She become dependent on his love for her happiness as Hurston states, “But it was always going to be dark to Janie if Tea Cake didn’t soon come back” (Hurston

Jus’ yo’ hands is enough. Dat’s right, come on!” (Chapter 18). Here Tea Cake keeps her from drowning by talking her through the process of swimming to the cow because she had never learned how. Once she was on the cow’s back Tea Cake realized the dog on its back was going to attack her.

This is not because she did anything wrong, but rather because a neighbor’s brother showed interest in her. Tea Cake was not, truly, free of the misogynistic stereotypes of women, and the event showed deep down the possessiveness he felt for her. “Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession” (147). Again, Janie is in a marriage where her husband thinks of her as a property. Tea Cake’s character brought much hope for a lifestyle in which Janie could be independent and powerful, participate in conversation and checkers, and be respected on an equal level. Ultimately, Tea Cake was still possessive, and in many ways was not in fact free of the suppressing beliefs of society as a whole. His character is evident of how deep rooted the beliefs were. Tea Cake passed away, but Janie carried on, returned to Eatonville, once again showcasing her

One day while she is in the shop, a man walks in and starts talking and joking with Janie. She finds out his name is Tea Cake and starts to flirt with him. After he sits around and talks to her after a while, he starts to teach Janie how to play checkers. While they are playing Tea Cake makes a move and they are saying” Ah got uh right tuh take it. You left it right in mah way.” “Yeah, but Ah wuz lookin; off when you went and stuck yo’ men right up next tuh mine. No fair”(96). This little act of playfulness shows that Tea Cake wants Janie to be involved in other things besides running a store. Janie then goes to Jacksonville to be with Tea Cake and marry him. They meet there and get married, but Janie doesn’t tell Tea Cake that she hid two hundred dollars in her dress in case he didn’t have the money to pay for things that night. Then, the next morning Janie wakes up to see that Tea Cake and the two hundred dollars are gone. She is worried but not about the money but that she had trusted a man that just wanted her for a quick hit and then leave. But Tea Cake came back and explains what happened. When he gets back he says “Ah see whut it is. You doubted me ‘bout de money. Thought Ah had done took it and gone. Ah don’t blame yuh but it wasn’t lak you think. De girl baby ain’t born and her mama is dead, dat can git me tuh spend our money on her”(121). Tea Cake proves that he really does love Janie and won’t leave her. He also show later how he will do what he says he’s going to do, like when he says he’s going to win Janie’s money back and he does. This shows that Tea Cake truly loves Janie and wants to be with her no matter where they

In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their eyes were watching God the main character Janie is on a quest for self-fulfillment. Of Janie’s three marriages, Logan and Joe provide her with a sense of security and status. However, only her union with Teacake flourishes into true love.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship is healthy and positive because they both value words of affirmation. When Tea Cake visits Janie in the middle of the night and confesses his feelings, Janie says, “Well, Ah love tuh find out whut you think after sun-up tomorrow. Dis is jus’ yo’ night thought” (Hurston 105). Janie likes people to share their feelings with her, because it makes her happy and makes her feel like she is worth something. When Tea Cake confesses his feelings during the night, Janie thinks he doesn’t mean it and wants him to come back in the morning to prove to her that he really does care for her. Later, when Tea Cake asks Janie to go to a picnic with him he tells her, “You got de keys to de kingdom”

Tea Cake, the third man, gives Janie the affection she wants in a relationship. The couple is depicted deeply in love through kissing and dancing scenes in the film. However, Tea Cake is not the perfect man. He steals her money and leaves for a whole day. The actress portraying Janie shows the betrayal and disappointment that she must have felt at this point in the relationship. The scene is performed as if the audience can almost see the horrible possible situations running through her mind. The novel shows many cases where the behavior of Tea Cake hurt her. At one point a woman named Nunkie and Tea Cake flirt continuously and "Janie learned what it felt like to be

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, a young teenager Janie is lectured by her grandmother, whom she calls Nanny. Nanny teaches Janie to be the best girl she can possibly be. Nanny tells Janie stories about her own personal experiences with men as well as Janie’s mother Leafy’s: “Dat school teacher had done hid her [Leafy] in de woods all night long, and he had done raped mah [Nanny’s] baby and run on off just before day” (Hurston 19). This leaves Janie with the overall message that men can be cruel and that a relationship with them that consists of both love and happiness as well as respect is unrealistic. Despite Nanny’s advice on men, Janie becomes involved with boys very early on- around her mid-teens, which upsets Nanny: “Nanny’s head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by storm” (Hurston 12). This ultimately results in Nanny putting Janie into an arranged marriage. While Janie is unhappy with her because of the arrangement, Nanny’s true intentions demonstrate her love and hopes for Janie. Her true intentions for Janie is that she will end up in a relationship with someone who can provide for her, keep her safe and that love, if even possible, will be just a bonus.

A major theme in Their Eyes Were Watching God is the search for real love. Janie Crawford goes on a journey in order to find her true love and what true love really means. If Janie didn’t have that desire, all the marriages she was in would not have a point. Men don’t always treat her right so when she meets Tea Cake things are different. The search for love is a hard search and only some people are lucky enough to find it in their lifetime.