Zora Neale's Character Analysis

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

Janie was no longer letting anything control her any longer. She was making her own decisions now by talking to Jordan and not listening to her grandmother, who told her to respect her husband. With the results of this, Janie ran from Killicks to marry Joe for numerous years while waiting for her hunger for love to be filled. However it never was with Joe. After the death of Joe, Janie soon found Tea Cake, who gave her the love she starved for: “after a long time of passive happiness, she got up and opened the window and let Tea Cake leap forth and mount to the sky on a wind” (Hurston 107). Hurston gave Janie Tea Cake to show that she was no longer going to wait around and wait for love. She was now going to find it herself. Proving that she was no longer the naive girl who sat under a tree and dreamed all day.

Throughout the book Janie struggles to find the true definition of love and how to make herself happy with her relationships. She goes through several different ideas of love before finding that it is mutual compassion, understanding, and respect that makes her the most happy.

Even before Joe’s death, Janie “was saving up feelings for some man she had never seen. She had an inside and an outside now and suddenly she knew not how to mix them.”(75) Joe’s influences controlled Janie to the point where she lost her independence and hope. She no longer knew how to adapt to the change brought upon her. When she finally settles and begins to gain back that independence, the outward existence of society came back into play. “Uh woman by herself is uh pitiful thing. Dey needs aid and assistance.”(90) Except this time Janie acted upon her own judgment and fell for someone out of the ordinary. Tea Cake was a refreshing change for Janie, despite the society’s disapproval. “Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.”(128) This was what she had always dreamt of. When she was with Tea Cake, she no longer questioned inwardly, she simply rejected society’s opinions and acted upon her own desires.

Another desire of young Janie is to find true, passionate love in a relationship. Returning to the metaphor of the pear tree, Janie says to her Grandma, “‘Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think’” (Hurston 24). Janie dreams of a peaceful, pleasant, and comfortable love in her marriage, similar to the quiet bliss of sitting in the shade of a blossoming pear tree. In her article, Kubitschek also points out Darwin Turner’s understanding that “‘All Janie wants is to love, be loved, and to share the life of her man. But . . . she must first find a man wise enough to let her be whatever kind of woman she wants to be’” (qtd. in Kubitschek 109). Unfortunately, this love and freedom was not acquired in Janie’s first marriage. Despite her hope that feelings of true love would develop with her first husband Logan Killicks, “she knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (Hurston 25). Discontent with lack of passion in her first marriage, Janie decides to abandon her dream of finding love with Logan and does not hesitate to run away with Jody Starks when the situation presents itself. Deborah Clarke comments on this change in heart, writing, “Janie thus gives up a

This loneliness was supposed to be filled by another man, her second husband Joe Starks. She continued her development as a woman especially in the beginning of the new relationship when Joe “spoke for change and chance” (28). The problems Janie had to face in this marriage were that her husband did not treat her equal but rather treated her as an ornament. She found out that the love he provided to her in the beginning was rather part of the ulterior moves Joe had about becoming an important landlord and major. Joe gave only material goods to Janie who felt again as if something misses in her life.

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 through the novel Janie travels through valuable life experiences allowing her to grow as a woman. Janie at first has a difficult time understanding her needs rather than wants, but as she continues to experience new situations she realizes she values respect. Janie’s first two marriages turned out to be tragic mistakes, but with each marriage Janie gained something valuable. When Janie is disrespected in her second marriage with Joe Starks, he publicly humiliates her, disrespecting her as a wife and woman. This experience forced Janie to come out of her comfort zone and stand up for herself.

Every creature goes to journey on an seemingly endless rollercoaster as life can be. Dreams that lie beyond the horizon is something people continually try to achieve and Janie is no exception to this as she defines her own strength and self worth. From facing gender roles to endless criticism she has the strength to keep moving forward. As the story's main conflict is concentrated around Janie relationships through she acquires the desire to want more for her own life. Where these hardships she gains experience to live independently and especially learn to stand up for oneself no matter the adversity. Characters like: Nanny, Logan Killicks, Joe Starks, and Vergible “Tea Cake” Woods gave her experiences that help her gain her own ambitions and accomplish the quest of happiness Janie searches for. The bravery exemplified by the author, Zora Neale Hurston throughout the story is perfect to learn from as strength is exemplary to live today.

Throughout the novel, Hurston describes Janie as a young woman with a compelling desire for seeking unconditional love. As Janie searches for her inner self, she begins life not knowing who she is. Janie endures harsh judgment from many people throughout the novel, which help build the qualities of independence and strength. Throughout everything she has learned, she matured and transitioned from a defiant teenager, to a woman in complete possession of herself. Janie 's quest for the “horizon” of herself finally lead her to a place in which she is defined, despite the society who denies her power because of her black ethnicity. The “horizon” demonstrates the distance one must travel in order to distinguish between illusion and reality, dream and truth, role and

Most directly, Janie was alienated by her Grandmother. Janie sought after a natural and passionate relationship with a man from the beginning, believing that marriage was the only option for a young woman such as herself. Throughout her journey she desired a perfect relationship. She thought that a mutual love would quench her desire, while her grandmother sought for her merely a good man, which caused resentment to arise inside Janie. “Please don’t make me marry Mr. Killicks… Lemme wait, Nanny, please, jus’ a lil bit mo,” ( Hurston 15). Her Grandmother forced upon her a marriage she did not want. “Neither can you stand lone by yo’self,” a statement that her grandmother made quite evident (Hurston 15). It is from her grandmother that she

Janie's quest is for self-discovery and self-definition, but she encounters many obstacles while trying to win this quest.

Janie had many marriages and not one of them went how she pictured in the future. Then came tea cake, the one that she thought would be the one. To her he was just a stranger at first but little did she know that he would be another lose to Janie. Towards the end of the novel things change, event that make Janie optimistic. The author described how love was like the sea it moves from shore to shore with a different view. Janie faced a hardship of love, seeking one man to another to only find herself back to square one.

Throughout her first two marriages, it seems Janie’s dreams are simply out of reach, but Joe’s death brings her a new sense of freedom and promise. “The young girl was gone, but a handsome women had taken her place. She tore off the kerchief from her head and let down her plentiful hair” (Hurston 87). For the first time, Janie feels her life has the possibility to become everything she desires. This is proven true when she meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake is the epitome of everything she longed for in a lover; the flesh and blood figure of her dreams. Her love is tested during the hurricane when Janie claims she would rather die with him than live without him. Janie also mentions how her eyes were watching God, waiting to see what His next move would be and if He would let her keep her beautiful life, or if he had other plans. It seems Janie’s eyes were watching God not only during the hurricane but throughout the whole novel. Her eyes weren't watching God Himself, but His plans for her. Her eyes were watching fate; waiting to see where it would take her in life and what it would do with her dreams. Janie was waiting to see if even after she had found what she was looking for, it would take that away from her. The end of the novel shows how fate had a mysterious power over Janie that she did not understand until after she returned to Eatonville alone, but with Tea Cake’s presence still with her. Even through Janie had lost Tea Cake in the most tragic way, she did not lose the emotions she felt towards him or the beautiful memories he had given her. Tea Cake was Janie’s breath of fresh air. His body had died but his soul has not. Janie still feels his love. To everyone else in the town of Eatonville, it seems Janie had lost her dream, but in her mind she has found it, and holds on to it so tight not even death could break her from

Accordingly, in the process of changes, the traditions, values, habits, food and all the defining elements of its culture have survived, at least in the minds of most people has been missing. For example, Neal in Ghostwritten claims, “Even today, the word “Wales” brings back the taste of tuna and egg, sandwiches and weak, milky tea, and the memory of my dad looking out over a murky lake walled in by cold mountains.”(G82) Neal senses a nostalgia towards his life in Wales. Consequently, he also asserts that, the things that make the characters who they are the foundations of one’s identity as human beings. Moreover, he also senses the dissimilarities in the food habits. In the past, Neal lived a life so close to nature, they ate fresh vegetables