Tea Cake's Jealousy In Their Eyes Were Watching God

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

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

Thereafter, she meets and falls in love with Tea Cake. He is significantly younger than her; however, he is the first man to listen to her and treat her as an equal. For example, the day she met Tea Cake, he shocked her when he taught her to play checkers. The fact that someone thought it was natural for her to play pleased Janie. They both enjoyed caring for and helping each other feel relaxed and satisfied. Therefore, Janie, once again, leaves to start a new life despite warning from her friend, Phoebe, and the risk that Tea Cake could be using her for her money. Happily, she adjusts to a new life working alongside Tea Cake in the Everglades. Later, a hurricane tears through the Everglades, forcing them to leave. While they flee, Tea Cake rescues Janie from a wild dog and is only a scratch is left on his cheek. Until he becomes horribly ill, they think nothing of it. The doctor tells Janie she can’t sleep with him and she must stay away when he has ‘fits’. Due to this, Tea Cake believes she has grown tired of caring for him. The disease affects his behavior and in his crazed state he points a gun at Janie. He forces her to shoot him. While she weeps, Janie holds his head and thanks him for the opportunity to love him. Later that day, she is tried for his murder and acquitted. Afterwards, she cannot bear to live in the Everglades without Tea Cake; so, she moves back to

Janie’s second marriage left her widowed, but a couple months after Joe Starks death Janie found her next husband. His name was Vergible Woods, but he was also known as Tea Cake. Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage was everything that she ever wanted for marriage to ever be. It is crazy how everything she wanted comes after she had been through two marriages. If Nanny Crawford were to be the judge of Tea Cake, he would be everything that she wanted Janie to stay away from. He was a young 28 year old marrying Janie at 40, he did not have much money or a big, nice place to stay, and he was a gambler with the

Unlike the other men that Janie has been with, Tea Cake allows her to make her own decision, including joining in on social events and working alongside the men in the bean fields. Janie last the longest with Tea Cake without having any unresolved issues woven into their special bond with each other. The most devastating event in their relationship is when Tea Cake develops rabies from saving Janie from the mad dog. As “this mysterious sickness” (204) takes over Tea Cake’s passionate personality, Janie does not leave Tea Cake, as the doctor suggested, but showed her loving dedication to Tea Cake by staying with him. At the climax of Tea Cake’s illness, Janie shoots Tea Cake to put him out of suffering and to save herself from his uncontrollable actions.

Throughout parts of the novel, Teacake emotionally and physically beats Janie down to reassure himself and to ensure ownership over her. For example, “Before the week was over he had whipped Janie…Being able to whip her reassured him in possession...He just slapped her around to show he was boss” (Hurston 147). In order to cover his own insecurities, Teacake manifests his worries into physically aggression. He is overcome with jealousy, and treats Janie as his individual property in order to keep her around. However, Teacake loves Janie and only scourges her since he is solely afraid of losing the woman he loves most. In fact, he pampers and commiserates with her much after the incident to express his condolences. Regardless, Janie is completely understanding of Teacake’s hostility and feels not one ounce of anger since she loves every aspect of him. Ultimately, the two contain such strong and deep affections for one another that they are willing to overcome any difficulties and inspire each other to be the best version of

(E) Janie had finally found and experienced true love with Tea Cake. During a moment of panic Janie had shot and killed Tea Cake. Unlike when her other husbands died Janie felt

Tea Cake’s actions in the story strongly indicate that he complicated Janie’s life. For instance, Tea Cake’s jealousy was demonstrated when Mrs. Turner was fascinated by Janie’s Caucasian features

Janie learns this lesson when she is with Teacake and his “gun” came up unsteadily but quickly and leveled at Janie’s breast. She noted that even in his delirium, he took good aim. Maybe he would point to scare her, that was all. The pistol snapped once”(Hurston 174). Janie’s relationship with Tea Cake had been abusive from the start, but the love she felt from Tea Cake masked her from noticing the negative ways she had been treated.

Tea Cake has saved Janie’s life but not his. The bite from the dog gave Tea Cake rabies. Tea Cake later dies and Janie has now reached rock bottom again and cannot pick herself up anymore. Nature has once proved how it feeded Janie with her ambitions of love but crushed her dreams and ended her adventure in the most catastrophic way

Tea Cake encourages Janie to pursue her passions and desires, allowing her the freedom to explore her identity without fear of judgment or societal expectations. Through her relationship with Tea Cake, Janie learns to prioritize her own happiness and fulfillment over outward conformity, ultimately embracing her true self. The tension between outward conformity and inward questioning is further exemplified in Janie's interactions with the residents of

Tea Cake was Janie's third husband.  He was a simple person who returned kindness for kindness.  He saw women as equal human beings and told them that.  He was very passive in thought, but smart in his own ways.  His desire in life was to love and be loved.

Some can seem good, but actually be very horrible people and some can seem bad, but actually just have a few flaws in their lives. Tea Cake falls under the latter. When Tea Cake was bitten by the rabid dog, he starts to become very ill. He starts going crazy and Janie begins to get scared of him. One night, Tea Cake awakes and threatens Janie with a pistol. Janie had kept a shotgun loaded just in case. Tea Cake starts to shoot, but Janie has turned the revolver to the blank shots. Janie tries to talk him down, but she has to defend herself and shoot Tea Cake. She is charged with murder, and then later proved innocent. Overall, Tea Cake is the best man for Janie because he was a selfless person with her, he loves her with all his heart, and he works hard to provide for her. He treats her the best a man could and also provides an amazing life for her. Tea Cake is just an ordinary man that tries his best to be the best man, and overall, the best husband in the

When the novel reaches its climax with the death of Tea Cake, Janie transforms into a fulfilled character who begins to live a life of acceptance. The death of Tea Cake closes the door on Janie’s third marriage, however, that marriage taught Janie more about herself than any other caregiver. As Tea Cake and Janie begin to spend more time with one and other, the townspeople of Eatonville grow anxious. During her marriage with Joe, Janie is subjugated to severe classism which separates her from the townsfolk. When Janie begins to act like a regular woman and not a noble, the town is surprised, as Pheoby mentions “Janie, everybody’s talkin’ ‘bout how dat Tea Cake is draggin’ you round tuh places you ain’t used tuh” (Hurston 112). With Tea Cake, Janie experiences more adventure and more life than with anyone else. Every day brings a new adventure for their relationship, for example:

Tea Cake returns home after Janie has a panic attack regarding the two hundred dollars she thought he stole. She assumed he had run off, but he returned with it. This sets up trust between the two parties. Additionally, there is understanding between the two of them, as Tea Cake accepts that she wishes to accompany him to future events. This also sets them up to spend time with each other instead of Janie being isolated like she was with Jody.