“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board,” (Page 1) starts Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, a story about a young girl’s experiences as she tries to find love. The novel begins by distinguishing the dreams of men and women. The dreams of men either come along naturally, or “sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time.” (Page 1) Women, on the other hand, remember only what they want to remember. For them, “The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” (Page 1)
Janie is a young girl raised by her “old-fashioned” grandmother who has a fixed outlook on marriage. Her grandmother believes marriage
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She is not forced or rushed into marriage. In contrast, people around her try to stop her from marrying him because they think he is after her money. But Janie knows Tea Cake represents her fulfillment to reach her horizon. Tea Cake was the type of man she wanted to be with. She discovered many things about herself and her interests when she was with him that she never knew while with Logan and Jody. Janie and Tea Cake move away to Jacksonville to get married. One day, Tea Cake goes off with Janie’s money without telling her, worrying Janie. When he returns, he apologizes to her and says he only took the money to experience being a rich man. He does not lose any of her money. Although insulted, Janie forgives him, displaying the trust and forgiveness found in their relationship. As he returns her money, Tea Cake says, “ From now on, you gointuh eat whutever mah money can buy yuh and wear de same. When Ah ain’t got nothin’ you don’t git nothin.” (Page 128) Janie agrees, representing the equality of their relationship. A few weeks into their marriage Tea Cake says they are going to the Everglades to work on the muck. While on the muck, he teaches Janie how to shoot a gun. Again, he shows Janie what it is like to do things for fun. Eventually Tea Cake tells Janie, “Ah gits lonesome out dere all day ‘thout yuh. After dis, you betta come git uh job uh work out dere lak de rest uh de women.” (Page …show more content…
The destructiveness of the hurricane contrasts the peaceful idea of the horizon. The hurricane is also what brings Tea Cake and Janie closer and displays how affectionate they both are. While trying to swim through the heavy waters, Tea Cake gets bitten by a dog as he saves Janie from slipping. He gets hurt in order to save her because he cares for Janie’s life more than his own life. Jody only cared for Janie to boost his reputation as he respected his status more than Janie’s feelings. In consequence to saving Janie, days after the hurricane, Tea Cake becomes very weak and sick. They eventually find out that the dog poisoned Tea Cake. His condition is hardest on Janie, who wishes she had just died. She thinks, “But to kill her through Tea Cake was too much to bear. Tea Cake, the son of Evening Sun, had to die for loving her.” (Page 178) Unluckily, the venom inside Tea Cake causes him to go mad and the only way to get rid of the dog inside him was to die. In order to prevent his madness from attacking her, Janie is forced to shoot him. For Janie, “ It was the meanest moment of eternity.” (Page 184) Their love was eternal and his death was the worst moment of their everlasting
Perceptions of Marriage in Their Eyes Were Watching God & nbsp; For generations marriage has been accepted as a bond between two people. However, the ideals involved in marriage differ by the individuals. involved. The book, Their Eyes Were Watching God, by Zora Neale Hurston. clearly demonstrates these differences. In the book a girl by the name Janie was raised by her grandmother and then married to her grandmother. Originally all Janie knew of marriage and love was her grandmother. tells her. As Janie moves on in her life and re-marries, she finds that everybody has their own idea about the role of their spouses in marriage.
They flirt often and Tea Cake doesn’t try to stop it. Janie goes looking for them one day because they are “missing”, but Tea Cake denies that he did anything with her. They fought for a long time, but the fight eventually turns into makeup sex. They aggression they felt was changed into a desire for one another. Tea Cake continued to refuse Janie’s accusations.
" (Ch.18). Tea Cake wants Janie to know that he is nothing like her other husbands, but is perfect for her. Tea Cake is essentially perfect for Janie because he helped her accomplish her her ultimate dream of love. Janie and Tea Cake’s marriage is the key to a good marriage because they treat each other with equality and
In the beginning years of Janie’s life, there were two people who she is dependent on. Her grandmother is Nanny, and her first husband is named Logan Killicks. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, “Janie, an attractive woman with long hair, born without benefit of clergy, is her heroine” (Forrest). Janie’s grandmother felt that Janie needs someone to depend on before she dies and Janie could no longer depend on her. In the beginning, Janie is very against the marriage. Nanny replied with, “’Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, its protection. ...He done spared me...a few days longer till Ah see you safe in life” (Hurston 18). Nanny is sure to remind Janie that she needs a man in her life for safety, thus making Janie go through life with that thought process.
In conclusion, Janie is an outgoing and caring person who wants to meet and have fun with other people. Most of the people in her life made her avoid being able to fit in with the crowd. Janie could not overcome the control others had over her. People always continued the gossip throughout the community because she was different. After Janie met Tea Cake, she was determined to do as she wanted without anyone’s say so. Janie will always be known as the
To begin with, a husband needs to be honest with his wife. Out of all of Janie’s husbands Tea Cake is the least honest one, but one of the times he does lie to her, but he makes it better. Tea Cake is going everyday and working then spending some nights till late with his friends. Janie wakes up one day finding out that her
I believe Janie depended on her past husbands for financial security, and protection from the outside world that she could not make a mends with. Janie's dependence on Tea Cake was a dependence on love, Tea Cake treats her the way she has always wanted to be treated, like the blossom to the bee. When Joe died, he left Janie with money and the store, but she had no one to love nor anyone to keep her company. She needed Tea Cake to fill this void in her life, I believe Janie realizes this when she says, "Tea Cake ain't no Jody Starks...but de minute Ah marries `im gointuh be makin' comparison. Dis ain't no business proposition...
“Tea Cake: What’cha doin’ Janie? Janie: Ah’m watchin’ God” (Their). Not taken into account by the movie, the other characters become unimportant to the plot as Janie watches God. Important characters such as Tea Cake and Joe Starks transform into minor characters. Even the residents of Eatonville and the muck have a forgotten hope for safety and a future, for they become cast aside.
When thinking about the novels that are read in high school, To Kill A Mockingbird and The Great Gatsby come to mind for most people. The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston usually is not thought of. Throughout the years, critics believed Hurston’s novel to be just fiction and that it pose no meaning. In spite of the novel not having much politics, it does contain many social issues from the past that are still somewhat relevant today. Above all, Their Eyes Were Watching God deals with the way people are unequally treated in society based on their gender, race, or anything that makes them diverse from others. It is probable that Hurston brings up the controversial issues of her time era in the hope to cause a transformation in the world.
...women he has seen walk seven full miles. But at the same time he still wants to feel like the man. In chapter 13, nstead of hitting her to show that, he just wants to be able to support his wife. "Put dat two hundred back wid de rest, Janie. Mah dice. Ah no need no assistance tuh help me feed mah woman. From now on, you gointuh eat whutever mah money can buy uh and wear de same. When Ah ain’t got nothin’ you don’t git nothin’." Tea Cake demonstrates his strong sense of masculinity by making "his woman," Janie, financially dependent on him. He takes pride in being able to provide for a woman who has lived such a privileged life. Although Janie never seems conflicted about living a poor life with Tea Cake, she kind of has to agree to live by what he provides or severely damage his pride. Also Janie likes that feeling of finally having someone who wants to support her.
Earlier Tea Cake had gotten jealous of Ms. Turner’s son, and has slapped Janie just to relieve his fear inside him that he had. Also to show Janie, Ms. Turner and her son who is boss. Tea Cake begins to the men, “Ah, didn’t wants whup her last night, but ol’ Mis’ Turner done sent for her brother tuh come tuh bait Janie in and take her way from me. Ah didn’t whup Janie ‘cause she done nothin’. Ah beat her tuh how dem Turners who is boss” (TEWWG.17.148). Tea Cake wanted to prove a point to all the men in the town that he can control what 's his.Then suddenly the next day the storm had came over the Everglades and had flooded the whole town. Janie and Tea Cake had to leave their home because they would have drowned if they stayed. On their way to a safe location, Tea Cake had gotten bit by a furious dog which was intended to bit Janie but didn’t because he jumped in front of it. When the storm was over they went back to the Everglades and Tea Cake had rabies. The doctor had ordered that they don’t sleep in the same bed but Tea Cake feels abandoned. Tea says, ““How come you ruther sleep on uh pallet than tuh sleep in de bed wid me?” Janie saw then that he had the gun in his hand that was hanging to his side.” (TEWWG.19.183). The rabies had gotten to him and was making him go crazy. Janie was scared and didn’t know what to do about the sickness of Tea Cake. He got worse and worse that has changed himself of being into someone that’s not him. The gun that Tea Cake had pointed towards Janie,“The pistol snapped once….and shoved in the shell as the second click told her that Tea Cake’s suffering brain was urging him on to kill....The pistol and the rifle rang out almost together” (TEWWG.19.183-184. He tried to kill Janie so she used a rifle to protect herself and shot Tea Cake. Also he shot back but missed. Tea Cake dies and Janie goes back the her old
Though Janie had three marriages in total, each one drew her in for a different reason. She was married off to Logan Killicks by her Grandmother who wanted her to have protection and security. “Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have baby, its protection.” (Hurston 15) says Janie’s grandmother when Janie said she did not want to marry Logan. Though Janie did not agree with her grandmother, she knew that she just wanted what’s best for her. Next, she married Joe Starks, Janie was unsatisfied with her marriage to Logan so Joe came in and swept her off her feet. Janie did not like the fact that Logan was trying to make her work, so Joe’s proposition, “You ain’t never knowed what it was to be treated like a lady and ah want to be de one tuh show yuh.” (Hurston 29) was too good to pass up, so she left Logan and married Joe. Janie’s last marriage was to Tea Cake. Fed up after having been treated poorly by Joe, Janie finally found someone who liked her for who she was. “Naw, ...
When Tea Cake enters Janie's life, Janie really starts to come out of her shell. She lets down her hair that was kept up the entire time with Starks. This symbolizes Janie letting all her inhibitions out. In finding Tea Cake, Janie has "completed her voyage" of self-discovery. Tea Cake allows her to feel exhilarated and young again. She makes more friends and becomes more social. During this time in her life Janie is an excellent role model for other black women. She does not give a second look at what other people think about her, which is very admirable. This is shown when Hezekiah Potts tells Janie that Tea Cake is too low of a man for Janie yet, she stills persists on seeing him. Many people also think that Tea Cake is courting Janie for her money only. Janie pays no regard to these onlookers though.
Janie’s first attempt at love does not turn out quite like she hopes. Her grandmother forces her into marrying Logan Killicks. As the year passes, Janie grows unhappy and miserable. By pure fate, Janie meets Joe Starks and immediately lusts after him. With the knowledge of being wrong and expecting to be ridiculed, she leaves Logan and runs off with Joe to start a new marriage. This is the first time that Janie does what she wants in her search of happiness: “Even if Joe was not waiting for her, the change was bound to do her good…From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything” (32). Janie’s new outlook on life, although somewhat shadowed by blind love, will keep her satisfied momentarily, but soon she will return to the loneliness she is running from.
...at she had to be strong and much more than a house-wife. Moving on with her life, in the next marriage with Joe she was constantly belittled, but she stayed by his side even after the abuse. Janie had develop faithfulness in this relationship, but still she had not found true love. In addition, Joe had left her with a huge sum of money and the store leaving her more stable and independent. From Janie last relationship with Tea Cake she had developed her own identity. Leading Janie to true happiness and love. Through Janie’s long journey she was able to find out who she was and she finally found her true love.