Love and Friendship in Their Eyes Were Watching God and The Things They Carried

As time went on Jannie began to realize that Tea Cake was extremely different, that he meant what he said and truly loved her. He even thought that she was one of the greatest people there was. Tea Cake was a huge improvement to Joe Starks. When Janie looked at Tea Cake she “felt a self-crushing love” (pg. 128), that she had never felt with Joe or with Logan. Tea Cake was the one who helped Janie to transform into a happier and hardworking woman, who was very loyal to her new husband. She learned to put trust into him and she learned what marriage was supposed to be like. Tea Cake showed Janie that, as the wife, she wasn’t supposed to be treated as if she were a slave, but she should be treated as if she were royalty. Tea Cake was able to convert her outlook on life from fairly negative to very positive, and she loved Tea Cake more than any of her former

Janie endures her final marriage with Vergible Woods, better known as Tea Cake. Tea Cake is twelve years younger than Janie. Despite the age difference, Janie finds an interest in Tea Cake. However, initially, Janie is afraid of being disappointed for a third time which causes her to be hesitant in building a relationship with Tea Cake. Eventually, Janie overcomes her fear of being hurt and decides to marry Tea Cake. Although Tea Cake ultimately becomes the love of Janie’s life, soon into the marriage, Janie begins to realize Tea Cake’s flaws. Tea Cake has a

From the beginning, Janie’s happiness is abundantly clear in her relationship with Tea Cake. Although she is now a woman in her forties, Janie acts very youthful and unrestricted with him. She wears “new dresses and...comb[s] her hair a different way nearly every day (111)”. Tea Cake allows for Janie to be herself, in stark contrast to misogynistic Joe who constrained her individuality daily. Janie reports that “Tea Cake love[s] me in blue, so Ah wears it (113)”.

In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tea Cake proves to be affectionate but reckless. Together these traits create a flawed character. Janie has already developed an increasing proud sense of self, but Tea Cake furthers her spiritual growth and fulfillment. Instead of stifling her voice he supports it, allowing her to be herself in a relationship, opening her eyes to new experiences and life skills. Tea Cake’s character and personality cause Janie to learn things about herself she never knew in her marriages to Logan nor Joe. As said in the novel, “So the very next morning Janie got ready to pick beans along with Tea Cake. There was a suppressed murmur when she picked up a basket and went to work... But all day long the romping and playing they carried on behind the boss’s back made her popular right away. It got the whole field to playing off and on. Then Tea Cake would help get supper afterwards” (Hurston 157). This proves that Tea Cake is affectionate by giving Janie the choice/option of working beside him, he doesn't instruct her to do so, showing that he really cares about her overall happiness. This is something different for Janie because throughout her previous marriages she is made to do things. This gives Janie a sense of equality and independence.

Tea Cake loved Janie so much that he would rather himself get hurt than her, which is something Janie had never experienced: true love. Without Tea Cake’s role in Janie’s life she would have never experienced true love and actual happiness. Tea Cake is a mysterious man from the

The film and novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, shows the three kinds of romantic relationships Janie endures throughout her life. The cinematographers clearly had the goal of the film concluding with a happy ending. To do this, they eliminated many of Tea Cake flaws in the relationship. Many details are lost in films based off novels because the time is limited to explain the story given. The author in of the novel can express their emotions

Although Tea Cake loved Janie from the start, Janie was skeptical but he reassured her by saying “‘Nobody else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom’” (Hurston 131). Janie most likely felt like she had the world in her hands while Tea Cake stated this about her. Her other marriages were not love and were not true, but Tea Cake’s love was another story and he had soothed her with what he had stated about his love to her. Most readers might think he is just playing he based on her old marriages but I believe Tea Cake means his words. He must truly love her to spend time so much time with her even when the town judged and labeled him as a gold digger. Tea Cake makes sure Janie knows how much he loves her because of her history and does not want to hurt her like the people in her past. Nanny hurt her by forcing her into marriage with Logan Killicks who treated her like a dog. Even when she ran away and married Joe Starks, he controlled her life for 20 years by telling her what to wear and how to act (since she was the mayor’s wife). He broke her apart of the lower class crowd even though those people were her friends and a life she wanted to live. Tea Cake was different from the other two because he was kind, treated her with respect and took her into consideration. He would not control Janie like Joe did and brought her back to the lower class ways because he means his love and has

Janie struggles with her marriages with Logan Killicks and Joe Starks throughout the novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston, but finds a good man and husband in Tea Cake. Logan goes to marry Janie because Janie’s grandmother forces her to marry him because Nanny wants her to have a good marriage and thinks Logan can give it to her. While Joe comes in and shows Janie he has authority and is loving, but later tries to control her and what she does. Tea Cake on the other hand show Janie love and is willing to let Janie be herself and do the things she likes to do. Janie doesn’t love Logan or Joe because they try to change and control her, while Tea Cake loves her for who she really is.

She marries him because he starts seeing her secretly at her current home with Logan Killicks. He convinces her to run away with him to Eatonville where they establish a town. Their relationship starts very loving and close, but as time passes their love fades away slowly. Jody is a man who needs power and rule to satisfy him; therefore, he seems to be a bit bossy. He was in charge of the town, the store and more and “They bowed down to him rather, because he was all of these things, and then again he was all of these things because the own bowed to him.” (Their Eyes Were Watching God 50). At the end of their marriage Jody gets sick and dies. Janie is left a widow for six months until she meets Tea Cake, a store

In the novel, “Their Eyes Were Watching God” by Zora Neale Hurston, Janie Crawford had a host of marriages that didn’t go how she planned. She was married a total of three times, two of her husband's happen to pass away. Which makes me think to myself that Janie was probably getting fed up with the pain and suffering made her feel that love was not the things for her due to all the problems that occurred in the past relationships. Real love doesn’t come easy nor it comes and go. Real love is solid and stays with you forever.

He had the good qualities of Jody, but did not view her as a trophy, instead treating her with respect and pure admiration. Although Tea Cake is much better than her last two husbands, he still has a flaw that appears to be a common issue in this book: he is abusive. Tea Cake even admits that he doesn’t abuse Janie because she did something wrong, but he did it to “show them Turners who is boss.” (Hurston 148). Janie has experienced all kinds of abuse by the time she married Tea Cake, and we see a difference in her demeanor and in the handling of his abuse.

Janie’s love life was not always the (Perfect Love Story) in all three of her marriages something was always missing. Zora Neale Hurston,Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie,Tea Cake,Killicks,Jody Starks In this novel Janie marries 3 different men and she faced many difficulties in each of her marriages she married Logan Killicks first then Janie’s first love Jody starks and her second love Tea Cake.In Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God Hurston uses symbolism to illustrate difficulties through Janie’s marriages.

Janie didn’t marry Tea cake until after the death of her second husband, Joe but again chose to marry him on her own account and how she loved him. Even though Janie loved Tea Cake she learned not everyone else may have thought they were equitable for one another and this forced her to have to choose between what everyone else wanted or what she wanted. “‘But, Janie, Tea Cake, whilst he ain’t no jail-bird, he ain’t got uh dime tuh cry. Ain’t you skeered he’s jes after yo’ money—him bein’ younger than you,’” (112). Even Janie’s best friend, the one speaking, Pheoby questions Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake. Just as the situation with leaving Killicks, Janie had to grow as a person and decide whether to do what she wanted or what others wanted for her. Janie also learned sometimes you have to do the wrong thing for the right reason. “The pistol and the rifle rang out almost together. The pistol just enough after the rifle to seem its echo,” (184). This is when Janie and Tea Cake shot at one another. Tea Cake shot aiming to kill Janie due to being ill and not thinking straight and Janie shot with intentions of killing Tea Cake because she feared for her life and so Tea Cake would no longer have to suffer from his illness, which was Rabies. Janie loved Tea Cake but learned that even though she loved him she had to think of what was best for him when it came to the least amount

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, emotions such as love and hatred are showcased through the multiple marriages of Janie Crawford and her three husbands, impacting her life with bitterness, torture and ultimately peace due to Janie’s naive ideals of lust and desire. Nanny arranges Janie’s marriage to Logan Killicks, a responsible and financially stable man, after she catches Janie kissing the handsome Johnny Taylor. Although Nanny’s intentions are for the well-being of her only granddaughter, Janie finds herself losing interest in Killicks as the marriage turns bitter. Expecting love to save her lifeless marriage with Killicks is a false ideal leading Janie to leave the relationship and fall into the arms of Jody Starks. As jealousy captures the suave and idyllic Starks, he turns into a demanding monster, dictating the miniscule movements of Janie, torturing her mind and soul. Although Janie’s innocent desire for passion revives during her marriage with Tea Cake, several misunderstandings lead to a devastating end but eventually brings peace to her heart. Hoping her granddaughter will find happiness, Nanny arranges the marriage of Janie to Logan Killicks, a respected and monetarily secure man. After a year, Janie realizes her marriage to Killicks is a loveless union causing bitter disputes.

The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston is about Janie Crawford and her quest for self-independence and real love. She finds herself in three marriages, one she escapes from, and the other two end tragically. And throughout her journey, she learns a lot about love, and herself. Janie’s three marriages were all different, each one brought her in for a different reason, and each one had something different to teach her, she was forced into marrying Logan Killicks and hated it. So, she left him for Joe Starks who promised to treat her the way a lady should be treated, but he also made her the way he thought a lady should be. After Joe died she found Tea Cake, a romantic man who loved Janie the way she was, and worked hard