Their Eyes Were Watching God Summary

He thought the only thing she could do was work at home. Tea Cake has a very different idea about women. He thinks that Janie can do anything she wants to do, that she is just as smart as a man and has the capacity to learn and do many more things than what Joe would allow her to do. Throughout their marriage, Janie seems to have taken Joe’s ideas to heart and believes them herself. Tea Cake rejects these ideas and helps Janie begin to feel confident in herself and forget what Joe made her

Tea Cake performs the old courtship rituals, indulges in shooting and razor fighting, and plays the dozens and the blues. Compared with Killicks and Starks, former husbands of Janie, Tea Cake prefers interaction and people to ‘things’: “So us goin’ off somewhere and start all in Tea Cake’s way. Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game” (134). In this pastoral setting, Janie regains her voice to tell narratives. Janie feels free to join the notorious ‘lying’ and tale-telling sessions whenever she wants to: “She got so, she could tell big stories herself from listening to the rest” (158). Yet, even with Tea Cake, she has to face intermittent crises and physical aggression. S. Jay Walker has

They moved together to the Muck in the Florida Everglades and lived in Tea Cake's Shanty after the death of Joe. Tea Cake and Janie spent all the time they had together. They remained in constant tune with the nature and even went fishing together. This was the type of lifestyle Janie envisioned all her life. All of Janie’s previous relationships was based off of the spouse. Janie was never allowed to be herself and live the life she wanted. Tea Cake let her be herself. He loved her as she was and accepted all she dreamed of. He encouraged her to be what she wanted to be, to follow her goals, her dreams, and her aspirations. Janie had finally found her the man she had always been looking for. She loved him with everything she had. Janie would do anything for Tea Cake. They had the kind of everlasting love that she had hoped for all her life. Thing were going well for the new couple until a bad storm hit and Tea Cake gets bit by a dog trying to save Janie. Tea Cake ultimately get rabies and begins to act so distraught that Janie is forced to kill him. She killed Tea Cake in loving manner and could not bear watch him suffer

She departs in secret from Logan and marries a newfound companion named Jody Starks, who she initially believes is a companion better suited to help her celebrate her individual identity. Yet, as their marriage progresses, and Jody becomes mayor in the town they relocate to, Jody begins to exercise his newly acquired power on her and against her wishes, and she becomes a mere fixture to Jody and his aspirations of power and influence. Again, this commanding influence from outside culture hampers her attempts at finding her identity, and again she becomes unhappy, and after finally voicing her displeasure at Jody, he even exerts physical force on her and assaults her. After their marriage ends, and Jody perishes shortly thereafter, she begins to date a young man whom she meets named Tea Cake, and finds a strong attraction for him, and marries him. Here is the ultimate culmination of her search for her own identity – not only does she go against common cultural precedent by marrying a man twelve years younger than her, but by doing so, she finds a companion not strong enough to exert overbearing power on her, and Tea Cake allows her to celebrate her independence with him. Though their marriage does end, it comes about by Tea Cake tragically perishing, not by a decision by Janie to leave her mate as in the previous cases. Yet, even though Tea Cake is gone, she still feels free, and is able to celebrate her

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.

Educator and literary critic, Keiko Dilbeck claims in her article ‘Symbolic Representation of Identity in Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God’ (2015), that Zora Neale Hurston used objects and characters as symbols for identity and qualities of good relationships. She does this first by, citing the example of the Pear Tree symbolizing youth, then by listing Janie’s three husbands and the qualities the represent, then by discussing the all important symbol of the hair. Dilbeck’s purpose in writing this article was to discuss the many symbols in the text in order to enhance reader’s understanding of the novel's themes and symbols. The author creates a reflective tone by discussing the novel's purpose and it’s relationship to Black Woman during

He wins her heart with his energy, and willingness to make Janie his equal. Tea Cake is the only husband that actually takes a genuine interest in Janie. He takes her hunting, fishing, and plays checkers with her. She especially enjoys playing chess, the fact that he considers her intelligent enough to learn such a game shows that he thinks more of Janie than Logan or Joe ever did. The town disapproves of Janie and Tea Cake because he is poor and younger than her. They have the impression that he is just after her money. Janie and Tea Cake leave the town of Eatonville and travel to a town called Jacksonville where Tea Cake has work. The sense of gender equality is very important to Janie in a relationship. Tea Cake asks Janie to work alongside him in the Everglades fields. Logan and Joe both wanted her to work, but she resented it. The difference is that Logan wanted Janie to do hard labor because he thought of her as an object like a workhorse. Joe wanted Janie to work in the store, which she also disliked because Joe just wanted to publicly display her as his trophy wife. Tea Cake’s attitude about Janie working is completely different. He gives her the choice of working and doesn’t command her. Janie goes to work the next day, “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. She was already getting to be a special case on the muck. It was generally assumed that she thought herself too good to work like the rest of the women and that Tea Cake "pomped her up tuh dat." But all day long the romping and playing they carried on behind the boss’s back made her popular right away.”(133) This is the first relationship that Janie doesn’t care to work. She actually likes working alongside Tea Cake. As time passes the town gets word of a hurricane coming. All the people start fleeing to different places, but the boss

The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God follows the life of a beautiful female named Janie Crawford. Throughout the story, Janie demonstrates the struggle to escape being shaped into becoming a submissive woman. She encounters three men who each attempt to make her a submissive wife. In each of her relationships with these men, she is either obliged or pressured to follow their orders. Although Janie struggles to hold on to her independence, she manages to persevere every time. Janie is a strong independent woman who does not allow herself to be suppressed.

After gradually increasing their time spent together and the strength of their relationship together, they move together to the muck. Living there, Janie sees an improvement in her life compared to being tied down in the store by Jodie, but still, problems arise. One weekend, without apparent reason, Tea cake had whipped Janie. It wasn't done because “her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside of him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession”(147). Similar to her experiences of being beaten by Jodie, Janie simply keeps quiet and raises no noise about it. She continues to love Tea Cake, without any hostility towards him. At some point in her life, Janie must stand up for herself, and not just continue herself to become victimized by men who clearly are misusing her. Even when Tea Cake had his “affair” with Nunkie the Chunkie, and Janie was outspokenly upset, she refused to truly confront the problem. She screams at Tea Cake, “You done hurt mah heart, now you come wid uh lie tuh bruise mah ears!”(137). This seemed like the first instance where Janie finally became more than just self aware. Unfortunately, after saying this, she succumbs to Tea Cake once again, and releases her disapprobation for what Tea Cake had

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 Crawford is surrounded by outward influences that contradict her independence and personal development. These outward influences from society, her grandma, and even significant others contribute to her curiosity. Tension builds between outward conformity and inward questioning, allowing Zora Neal Hurston to illustrate the challenge of choice and accountability that Janie faces throughout the novel.

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).

Over the years they fall out of love and Janie begins to despise Joe for humiliating and degrading her. After Joe dies because of a sick liver Janie doesn’t remarry, till she meets Tea Cake. Tea Cake is a couple years younger than her, which is why she questions his motives at first. They end up marrying and moving to the Everglades where they both take the job as agricultural workers. During a hurricane Tea Cake gets bitten by a mad dog, yet doesn’t go see a doctor after the hurricane. After the rabies spread throughout his body Tea Cake tries shooting Janie which is why she shoots him to defend herself. She is acquitted by the court for killing Tea Cake and returns to Eatonville where she tells her friend Pheoby her life story. The main character, Janie, in Their Eyes Were Watching God serves as an effective looking glass through which the reader experiences the lives of both the average and remarkable black woman, the role of men in their achievements, and their effects on society during the early

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.

     As two different people, Janie and Tea Cake are allowed to live their lives as equals. When living with Joe, Janie is never allowed to do things such as speaking her mind, playing games, or doing anything which is not completely ladylike. Tea Cake encourages her to do things which were previously not open to her, such as playing chess, speaking openly about her feelings, and hunting. He teaches Janie to shoot and hunt wild game.