How Janie Develops Her Ideas of Love in Their Eyes Were Watching God

Similarly, Janie makes another great sacrifice when she decides to leave her life of ease and luxury in Eatonville, so she can start a new life with Tea Cake. In Eatonville, she had authority as the store owner and as the former mayor’s wife, but she decides to follow her heart which ultimately leads to her fulfillment of self-actualization with the help of Tea Cake. Without Tea Cake, Janie could not have found herself, and his impact on her remains even after his death. Janie recounts her life lesson to Phoeby saying, “Love is lak da sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore...Two things everybody’s got tuh do for theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (191-92). Through Janie’s words, the effect of Tea Cake on her is eminent through how Janie learn about life and herself and leads her to becoming independent. Because Janie sacrifices her luxurious life in Eatonville, through Tea Cake, she fulfills her need of self-actualization, a recurring idea in the book. Janie’s values concerning her life and of Tea Cake are also illuminated in her conversation with Phoeby before she leaves Eatonville. She and Tea Cake “‘...[had] done made up [their] minds tuh

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed us to better understand the restraints that women in society had to deal with in a male dominated society. Her marriage with Logan Killicks consisted of dull, daily routines.  Wedding herself to Joe Starks brought her closer to others, than to herself.  In her final marriage to Vergible Woods, also known as Tea Cake, she finally learned how to live her life on her own.  In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie suffered through many difficult situations that eventually enabled her to grow into an independent person.

Tea Cake is Janie’s prince in shining armor. He is her fairytale ending, at least for now. Tea Cake is the embodiment of true love. True love is expressed through respect, trust, and honesty. Tea Cake not only does these things, but he also bases his happiness off of Janie’s happiness, believes that Janie’s age is just a number, and eventually envelops Janie into his world. Tea Cake loves Janie so much that whenever she is happy, he is happy. This normally only occurs in cases of true love, because you need to be practically selfless in order to base your happiness solely on someone else's. When Tea Cake comes back to the store a second time to see Janie, he started humming and mimicking playing a guitar. He did not enter the building, but

The final stage in Janie’s development as a woman is her marriage with the twelve years younger Tea Cake. Both are totally in love with each other and Janie lives a live she has never lived before. She experienced a big change when she moves from her formal live as “Mrs. Major” (43) in Eatonville to the Everglades where Tea Cakes teaches her how to farm, fish and hunt and introduces a totally new rural life to her. Janie described her lifestyle in these days with "...we ain't got nothin' tuh do but do our work and come home and love" (127).

As a young woman, Janie wanted love, true love. In the beginning of the novel and Janie 's journey, she is under a blossoming pear tree where she spends most of her days. She is watching the bees fly to the blossoms, when she has an epiphany. “So this was a marriage! She had been summoned to behold a revelation. Then

all without Janie’s knowledge or consent. Another aspect in which Tea Cake helped was integrating Janie into society. Tea Cake and Janie eventually move down to a place called the “muck”. Here Tea Cake works in a field with the other residence of the town, while Janie stayed home. The town members mock Janie as if she is too good to work with them, until one day Tea Cake convinces her to join him, claiming, “Ah gits lonesome out dere all day ‘thout yuh.

Tea Cake does not believe in dominating women, rather in living a life based on equality with creativity and joy. Janie allows herself to flirt with Tea Cake because she is independent and can choose a relationship on her own. Tea Cake’s attraction a relationship with Janie is based on mutual interests in creative and joyful activities; He teachers he checkers, takers her to baseball games, they go fishing. They enjoy each other’s company. Furthermore, Tea Cake teaches Janie how to shoot a gun, pick beans, and socialize with the workers down South. She feels alive again as he teaches her checkers, takes her to baseball games and goes fishing(112). She finally finds a man who enjoys her company. All of the activities that she would never be able to do with the other two husbands. Tea Cake is not using Janie for her labor or her money. He does not want Janie's money to support them; he tells her “from now on, you gointuh eat whutevere mah money can buy uh wear de same"(128). He feels manly being able to provide for her and his controlling the money does allow him to enact a stereotypical male role. However, Tea Cake is dissimilar to Logan and Joe in that Tea Cake values Janie's opinions and thoughts. He is not afraid to console her when she is feeling

After Tea Cake’s symptoms worsen, he ends up threatening Janie with a gun. Janie had no choice in the end but to shoot him in self defense. The author says, “It was the meanest moment of eternity. A minute before she was just a scared human being fighting for its life. Now she was her sacrificing self with Tea

Tea Cake’s actions leave Janie distraught and increases the feeling of angst in Janie when she has an epiphany that Tea Cake might have run off with a younger

Tea Cake treats Janie fairly and allows Janie to see her full potential instead of stifling her natural talents and abilities. Other than the scene where Janie was forced to kill Tea Cake, Tea Cake had been a positive influence towards Janie’s self actualization, and he allowed her to experience skills she had never knew existed such as her shooting ability. Janie keeps Tea Cakes memory alive in her mind and other and feels as though her life has been full and

Tea Cake is also a hard worker who could farm for a living, but also was also able to gamble well, like when he won Janie’s money back and more they said, “They counted it together-three hundred and twenty-two dollars. It was almost like Tea Cake had held up the Paymaster” (127). All of Janie’s husbands could very much provide for her and were all able to live a somewhat successful

Even with her heightened confidence, she does not want to disrupt the town. Giving in to Tea Cake’s charm, Janie soon ignores the perceptions of her community. The woman succumbs to Tea Cake’s love and her “soul crawls out of its hiding place” (128). With the help of Tea Cake, Janie experiences a real relationship, one of love and respect. She tells Phoeby that “love is lak de sea.

In this relationship, Janie finally gets to experience what its like to love and be loved. Not only did Tea Cake express his love through words, he took Janie out to play checkers, go dancing, fishing, and more. Tea Cake even took Janie out to the fields because he just couldn’t live without her by his side for more than a couple hours at a time. They were both madly in love and enjoyed life as much as they enjoyed each other. Janie says “…we aint got nothin’ tuh do but do our work and come home and love”(127). Tea Cake ends up dying and Janie returns to the town of Eatonville. At this point in the story, Janie has given and received love, which completes her developmental stage as a

Even at his own funeral he retains his power. Joe’s funeral is described as “The finest thing Orange County had ever seen...The little Emperor of the cross roads was leaving...just like he had come” (88). Joe Enters and leaves the town like a white man. After Joe’s death, Janie becomes infatuated with Tea Cake, however many people do not approve of their relationship, including Hezekiah, “Dat long legged Tea Cake ain’t good for doodly squat. He ain’t got no business makin’ hisself familiar wid nobody lak you” (103). Hezekiah does not like Tea Cake for a few reasons, one of them being his social class which contributes to his lack of power. Tea Cake is broke, and has been broke for sometime, he is known as a wanderer and a vagabond, whereas Janie is a prominent figure in the social life of Eatonville, she even has several wealthy suitors from nearby towns who would gladly take her hand in marriage, all with more influence and power than Tea Cake. However, Tea Cake and Janie connect through their lack of power rather than their possession of power, Janie would be reverted back to the submissive wife she was with Joe if she were to accept one of the suitors request. Because Tea Cake not trying to take control of her, and Janie’s needs to be free “Tain’t dat Ah worries over Joe's death, Pheoby. Ah jus’ love dis freedom” (93). The development of Janies freedom causes a shift in power

Tea cake’s recognition of Janie being his equal is portrayed through his invitation to play checkers, as it shows his ability to overlook the social norms for the time. This is