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!
So far it seems that Tea Cake is a good guy. He was a little creepy at first, waiting for her, etc, but he seems to see her as her equal. He invites her to play checkers with him. He not only "lets" her out on the porch, he invites her and she has a good time. He includes her and sees her as an equal. He's a little sketchy though because he's living paycheck to paycheck, so he may be after her money.
ReplyDeleteI'm honestly quite wary of Teacake, just because of the first chapter. From the way that the townspeople described him leaving her for someone younger and taking her money, it certainly leaves me as a reader with a preconception as to who he is and where their relationship will go. However, ignoring that, I think that Teacake seems pretty genuine with the way that he treats Janie, so I guess we'll just have to see!
ReplyDeleteThe fact that the townspeople wonder where Teacake is at the very beginning of the story and the fact that she has to return alone and in dirty overalls makes me feel like we are about to witness this pattern again, but who knows.
ReplyDeleteI think one thing that sort of makes me feel different about Teacake is the way that him and Janie act with each other. They are always happy and laughing, which we never really saw with Jody. But then again, this doesn't mean that there isn't something wrong with Teacake. I hope everything works out with him.
ReplyDeleteIt does seem like Janie meeting Tea Cake is a lot like when she met Jody, but at the same time Tea Cake seems a lot different as well. It seems like he respects her more and isn't as concerned with his public image as Jody was. It seemed like Janie's problems with Jody were because he wouldn't let her live her own life because he was too concerned with his image, and Tea Cake so far doesn't seem like that at all.
ReplyDeleteI feel like this blooming relationship with Tea Cake might turn out differently than Janie's past relationships, because she now has power and independence (she runs the store by herself) as well as the respect of the town people. She doesn't need a man and she won't let a man tell her what to do, which was what caused her previous relationships to be miserable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I'm definitely wary of Tea Cake. I feel like he has some ulterior motive to be courting Janie, but we haven't quite figured out what it is yet. You make some great connections between Tea Cake and Joe, and while I see how she could be going down the same path, I really hope as a reader that she doesn't.
ReplyDeleteJust as an alter perspective, Tea cake could be a total sweetheart and his fast decision to court her, instead of another woman who had less material wealth, was just a coincidence. I think they have a really genuine relationship but their differences/sort of inequalities in social position are too obvious for them to ignore so if hey hadn't embraced and looked past that I don't think it would have worked.
ReplyDeleteThough I agree that it makes sense to be wary of Tea Cake, especially knowing what happened in the beginning of the book when Janie came back alone, it is still hard because he is so charming. It will be interesting to see if he keeps this personality as the book goes on, or if it was just a short-time thing like with Joe Starks.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you start to compare Janie's two suitors, and I would even like to have a comparison with those two and Logan. The reason I think the third comparison would be great is because of your comment " Teacake, like a second, more refined Jody". I completely agree with that statement, and the story seems to follow an upward path of progress. Janie seem's to be meeting better and better men in her life, and hopefully with Teacake, he will live up to his promise.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I agree that because of her previous marriages, Tea Cake does seem like a shady character as well, but at the same time he is so charming and the author made me really root for him and Janie to live happily every after. Also, I find Tea Cake a bit different than Logan and Joe because of the fact that she isn't forced into the marriage and doesn't choose it as an escape route (since she is thriving being single). But you brought up some good points especially the foreshadowing of her in dirty overalls and Janie's desire for a natural love.
ReplyDeleteNice post! I agree that because of her previous marriages, Tea Cake does seem like a shady character as well, but at the same time he is so charming and the author made me really root for him and Janie to live happily every after. Also, I find Tea Cake a bit different than Logan and Joe because of the fact that she isn't forced into the marriage and doesn't choose it as an escape route (since she is thriving being single). But you brought up some good points especially the foreshadowing of her in dirty overalls and Janie's desire for a natural love.
ReplyDeleteI really like the way that your voice comes across in this blog post. It was interesting to read and the questions at the end are good things for me to keep in mind for the rest of the novel. I also agree with your points of comparison of Teacake and Jody. I think if you could find even more parallels, especially specific things that they say, that could really strengthen your argument. Overall, really good post!
ReplyDeleteI really like the way that your voice comes across in this blog post. It was interesting to read and the questions at the end are good things for me to keep in mind for the rest of the novel. I also agree with your points of comparison of Teacake and Jody. I think if you could find even more parallels, especially specific things that they say, that could really strengthen your argument. Overall, really good post!
ReplyDeleteLol I was very cautious about Tea Cake when we first met him given the terrible track record Janie's had so far with marriages; from those two flop marriaged I expected Their Eyes Were Watching God to generally have a kind of cynicism about romance, and for every relationship Janie got herself in to inevitably burn out. (Interestingly, though, that seems at odds with the very wholesome and energetic image we get of the bee and pear; if those adjectives are correct for that scene.)
ReplyDeleteAlthough I haven't read past chapter eighteen just yet, I do think it's remarkable how for these two or so years we've seen Tea Cake and Janie together, they do seem to live harmoniously and happy together. But maybe two years or so is not long enough to see if this marriage will last, or if their marriage will survive the aftermath of these hurricanes?
Your question of whether Tea Cake is the one to put Janie in those dirty overalls is one I hadn't really thought about before, although I definitely don't think so, given how things have turned out. I see it more likely Janie "loses" Tea Cake somehow and is forced to toughen up and fend for herself after, given the tough, hardworking (?) image we see in the beginning of the novel.