Janie
in Their Eyes Were Watching God meets many suitors, but her two later partners,
Jody, and Teacake have some parallels that may indicate that Janie is at risk
of being disappointed again.
Both
Jody and Teacake stroll into her life from out of town and immediately start
talking about taking her out. Jody literally walks up to her all the way from
Georgia. Both men sweep her off her feet for one reason or another. Jody
seduces her with an easygoing, wealthy lifestyle that Logan had been keeping
from her, and Teacake offers her the freedom she’s been missing for 20 years.
By
offering her something she’s craving, the men have an advantage. She’s given
the opportunity to have a better life, but at any moment, they could turn it
around on her. We see this with Jody. Although he fulfills his promise to keep
her from doing hard labor, he very quickly goes back on his statement that “A
pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan
yo-self…” He confines her the the inside of the store to listen to all of the
fun outside. She becomes incredibly lonely, and her marriage begins to fail
because of the restrictions placed on Janie.
(A
quick digression here, but in class we talked about Janie’s alignment with
nature, and her desire for freedom etc. Jody is actively preventing her from
even being outside to breathe the fresh & natural air. Without what she
instinctively desires, her marriage was destined to fail. We could also say
that Jody has a secular alignment, by spending his time working on the town,
something that is not natural.)
Teacake,
like a second, more refined (?) Jody, walks into her husband’s store as opposed
to her husband’s potato patch. I say more refined because AS FAR AS WE CAN
TELL, he’s living up to what he’s saying. He sells her almost the same story as
Jody, however now appeals to her new desires. Teacake is a charm to read and is
a little ball of fun, but I’m worried for Janie. If Teacake is similar to Jody,
will he start to try to control Janie too? Both husbands so far have tried to
restrict Janie in some way. Will Teacake do the same someday? Will Teacake be
the one to put her in the dirty overalls?
I’m
curious to see… I wonder what you guys think of this. Tell me if you have any
other comparisons between the two!
