Janie Themes

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

After the death of her second husband, she meets a man named Tea Cake. Janie sets out find love between them but is very skeptical. “Tea Cake wasn’t strange. Seemed as if she had known him all her life. Look how she had been able to talk with him right off “(Hurston 99). His presence makes Janie feel warm and comfortable inside. She feels like they a connection but she does not want to move to fast. “So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth and quenching the thirst of the day” (Hurston 99). After Janie meets Tea Cake, the sunset foreshadows a negative theme later in the novel. Janie and Tea Cake become close friends and eventually

Janie’s horizon epitomized her land of the possibility, to bring change and to open her eyes to the world around her. Although her relationships with Logan and Joe obstructed her for half of her life, her time with Tea Cake illuminated her to a world where she could explore and enjoy herself. Moreover, her delight in the thoughts of the pear tree expressed her desire to find pleasure in life and to pursue that in the marriages she had experienced. Although, spending her life with Logan and Joe had impeded her from earning the love she deserved, Tea Cake’s presence blessed her with the bliss that life brings in one’s journey. Consequently, her bee and blossom dream being undermined many times due to dismal relationships and neglected feelings finally brought her to Tea Cake, her true love. He cherished every moment with her and motivated her to carry on her life with the same happiness, joy and affection she once received from him. Janie’s life-long experiences and sufferings have brought her to a place where she can connect her memories, her future ambitions and be herself. Despite her past, she will continue to cherish it as her life has ripened from the spirited yet restricted teenager she once was, into a woman who has fulfilled her own destiny and one who will not

The fourth and final section of the novel focuses on Janie's marriage to Tea Cake. Finally, Janie met someone who provided the love she longed for her whole life. Janie experiences true happiness for the first time. The framework of the novel ends as Janie's story is complete and Pheoby returns home to her husband. The reader understands the story through Janie's eyes while a narrator tells the story in third person to allow the reader to know more about the other characters and their perspectives.

Janie’s relationship with Logan, her first husband, is seen as unacceptable to her due to his old age and the fact that Janie did not have any say in the marriage. Due to Janie’s opposition to being with Logan, he “seem(s) violent without actually committing violence”. Hurston uses Tea Cake’s youth and the fact that Janie was not forced into a relationship with him to make Tea Cake appear to be a ‘better’ person than Logan. However, Tea Cake is the one who actually whipped Janie. Tea Cake commits many violent acts, but because of his attractiveness, Tea Cake is excused “even when he executes violence” (Harris, 92). Tea Cake had shown signs of abuse and had a gambling addiction, whereas Logan was verbally cruel to Janie, but never physically hurt her. Hurston emphasizes the faults of society through Tea Cake and his effect on Janie. Tea Cake is the cruelest of Janie’s husbands, but the way he is presented makes it seem as if he is the best of them. Tea Cake, representing society, initially encourages Janie to be strong, then molds her into an object of his pleasing. In Janie’s mind, Tea Cake is perfect and cannot make mistakes, even after he whipped her. Mrs. Turner, who lives in the Everglades, believes that Tea Cake is too colored for Janie and that she needs to be with a lighter skinned man, like her brother. She pushes her brother

Her dream is to find that man and when it finally happens tragedy strikes. When Janie was young her grandmother made her marry a wealthy man that was a little older than Janie. Janie had no feelings for the man, “Please don’t make me marry Mr. Killicks (Hurston 15).” But Janie’s grandmother made her. That was not the true love that Janie wanted and ended up leaving Mr. Killicks. Then she married Jody, an entrepreneur that convinced Janie to travel with him. Jody created hit own little town that he become the governor of. At the beginning, they were both happy but as the town grew so did the responsibility. They began to nag as they got older and before long he died. Finally she met a man called Tea Cake, who took her heart. Her dream was fulfilled. But all was not happy and dandy, Tea Cake was bit by a rapid dog and started to go crazy. Janie was then forced to shoot him and away went her husband and her

In their relationship, they both experience their times of jealousy, but by working in the Everglades Janie and Tea Cake find mutual joy. A hurricane comes, Tea Cake is given plenty of warnings and even an opportunity to flee, but instead he chooses to stay. While trying to get away from the storm, Tea Cake saves Janie from a dog but gets himself bitten instead. Tea Cake gets rabies from the bite, and develops an aggressive behavior over Janie. At the end, Janie has shoot Tea Cake to save herself. She's is then accused for murder, but found innocent. After Tea Cake’s funeral, Janie returns home to Eatonville. She cannot bear to remain in the Everglades because all the memories that remind her of the love of her life. Once is Eatonville she meets up with an old friend, Pheoby Watson, and tells her the whole story of her life. Thus, the story, which actually spans nearly 40 years of Janie's life, is "framed" by an evening visit between two friends. This frame becomes the first part of the structure of the novel. The rest of the story is told chronologically in order of Janie’s

She experienced true happiness with Tea Cake while taking in new lessons of life. She had a sense of freedom and regained innocence with him. He made most of the decisions, but she was treated as a person so she went along gladly. They lived in the marshes, worked side by side, and danced at night. Eventually her innocence was again replaced with a harsh reality, death. Janie wore her overalls because "she was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief". She had come full circle in her life and learned that there are "two things everybody's

In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie has allowed the audience to better understand the limitations, and emotional challenges that women had to deal with in a male dominated society. Janie’s relationship with her first husband, Logan Killicks, consisted of tedious, daily routines. Her second husband, Joe Starks, brought her closer to others, than to herself. In her third and final marriage to Tea Cake, she eventually learned how to live her life on her own. Janie suffered through many difficult situations that changed her as a person, and her opinion on love.

She is soon swept off her feet by a man who is much younger named Tea Cake. Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake is extremely different than her previous relationships. She is stronger and more independent now. She also is married to him because she chose to be, not because she is forced to be or was tricked into marriage.. Tea Cake’s acceptance and respect towards Janie helps her grow and allow her to let her guard down. For the first time, Janie is happy and in love. During this time, love was rare in a marriage because most marriages were set up simply for financial stability. In her previous marriages, the men wanted to control and mold her to be the perfect wife. Tea Cake just wants Janie to be happy and does not expect her to be his trophy wife. Because of this they have a more enjoyable and adventurous relationship rather than a strict and controlling relationship. Though their relationship did end tragically, Tea Cake has shown Janie the true meaning of real

Janie Crawford: Janie is the most significant character in the novel, as the plot revolves around her and her marriages. She longs to find true love while also maintaining her independence. She undergoes two poor marriages, one to Logan Killicks, and one to Joe Starks, before finally marrying Tea Cake, a man she truly loves.

Theme: The theme that is showed throughout chapters 1 to 6 is that of love, which is developed effectively as the book continues. There is a lot of indirect love mention, such as the caring love that Janie receives from her grandmother. As the plot advances Janie begins her search for love, first by marrying Logan Killicks. As she spends time with Logan, she comes to the conclusion that she doesn’t love him.

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

Janie initially feared that she was too old for Tea Cake, but she could not help but to fall in love with his charm. To the town’s disapproval, Janie left behind everything that she had ever known to start a new life with Tea Cake. The townspeople believed that Tea Cake couldn’t “do nothin’ but help her spend whut she got” (Hurston 111). Janie loved Tea Cake and Tea Cake loved her. After moving to the Everglades with Tea Cake, Janie embraced her new life with Tea Cake and their newlyfound friends. After being in the Everglades for some time, a hurricane struck, causing Janie and Tea Cake to flee. While fleeing, Janie was almost attacked by a mad dog, but luckily Tea Cake was there to save her. After rescuing Janie, Tea Cake wanted Janie to know that “‘it’s uh man heah’” (Hurston 167). Hurston uses this diction to emphasize how much Tea Cake loved Janie and what it means to be a man and husband. Tea Cake loved Janie so much that he was willing to risk his life to save hers. Tea Cake gave Janie the same type of love that she gave and wanted back. By being with Tea Cake, Janie was finally able to obtain the type of love in which she always desired. She declared that Tea Cake could be a "bee to a blossom — a pear tree blossom in the spring" (Hurston 106). Hurston uses this symbolism to show that Tea Cake was Janie’s true love. He fulfilled both Janie’s emotional and physical

Tea Cake proves to Janie’s true love. He is not the ideal man for Janie in the view of Janie’s society as he is twelve years younger than Janie, lacks the land and respectability that Logan provides for Janie, and the entitlement stability that Jody provides for Janie. In fact, her relationship with Tea Cake brought upon malicious gossip and a negative view upon Janie. However, Tea Cake replicates the love that Janie expresses for him, which brings forth a two-sided relationship, rather than a one-sided relationship that Janie experiences in the past. Janie’s ability to fall and stay in love is rare in the novel because in Black fiction it is common that love is one sided in order for one of the partners to achieve success (O’Banner 46). Moreover, “Tea Cake neglects the form of the material relationship of marriage ordained by Nanny and realized by Logan Killicks and Joe Starks” (Gates 83). In addition, he adds on this youthfulness and adventurous side of Janie that she is incapable of seeing due to the restraints placed on Black woman (Gates 88). Unlike her previous marriages, Janie is not confined and is able to find herself. Tea Cake makes a vital contribution in finding her own values and search for