"Ah'll be gone."

Janie never really had an issue with being committed. The issue was who she was committed to. Joe for example wasn't someone she felt a strong connection with so her entire marriage was like her being locked up in a cage trying to scream and no one could hear her cries. Her marriage was like a flightless bird trying to fly. It was draining and nothing good really came out of it. Yes she had the clothes and the house but what about feelings. Joe thought she was just some Barbie housewife that would wait on him. 

     Tea Cake showed her a whole new world, a fantastic point of view. No one to tell them no, or where to go. Or say they were only dreaming. Tea Cake was was her way out. When talking to Pheoby she told her "some of dese mornin's and it won't be long, you gointuh wake up callin' me and Ah'll be gone"(pg115). Janie had her mind made up that Tea Cake was the one for her. But she still had her doubts. When she went to meet him she kept extra money that "[she] never told him about"(pg 117). This shows that Janie still can't fully trust Tea Cake. She wants to but she just doesn't want to end up like Annie Tyler. She wants Tea Cake to work. She wants them to work. Tea Cake brought out a side of Janie that was beginning to form cob webs. Tea Cake rescued the old Janie. 

A Bittersweet End

Listen To Your Heart

A major reoccurring motif in this novel is the community’s opinion surrounding Janie. From Nanny to the men sitting on the porch everybody has an opinion on Janie's life. She even makes it a point when she states that “she felt like slapping some of them for sitting around grinning at her like a pack of chessy cats” (Hurston 90). Janie has experienced many trials and tribulations and she is constantly in the mouth of these people from the Everglades to Eatonville. Janie continues to follow her heart however never succumbing to the gossip of the people. This odd unity strengthens Janies character while enhancing the ongoing theme of independence versus dependence. Janie is never alone yet never connected to another person. When she is with Tea Cake she is head over heels for him yet has her own money and will power to continue on without him. 

Janies situation reminds me of the song “Listen To Your Heart” by Roxette. This song talks about following your heart regardless of any opinions whether they are your own or of others. Roxette states in her song “and there are voices that want to be heard” but to just continue on the route of your happiness regardless (Roxette 25-26). Throughout this novel the publics opinion may have been right and listening to them might have made Janie’s life a little easier but it wouldn’t have fit the story. Janie is a strong independent women who continues to persevere through every hardship thrown at her. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCC_b5WHLX0

COLOURism

Self-hatred directed towards oneself, and one’s kind, is the ultimate offense! To despise those most similar to you is to despise yourself as well!

Mrs. Turner was a woman who believed in exclusivity. Physically, she was unique in her appearance and she used it to support her overbearing confidence as “even her buttocks in bas relief were a source of pride” (Hurston 140). She believed that her difference in physique is what separated her from the rest of her fellow black people and often times, she demonstrated this in the most condescending of ways. Sadly enough, Mrs. Turner was a victim of Colourism.

Misinterpreting her black skin as a drastic flaw, Mrs. Turner was wrong in her contorted views towards herself and others that shared the same complexion. She manifested the notion that whites kept themselves at a distance from black people because they believed that they were superior solely in their appearance. “T’ain’t de poorness, it’s de color and de features.” (Hurston 141) Mrs. Turner was simply a victim, defeated in the battle against the white man and his anti-semitic teachings; a symbol of inferiority and a pawn in the white man’s game.

http://www.africanamericanimages.com/aai/willie%20lynch.htm

According to the Willie Lynch theory (see link above), one of the methods used for controlling slaves - and black people in general- is to establish a divide amongst the race based upon skin complexion. The “Lightskin vs. Darkskin” debate has plagued the black community for as long as they’ve been in America. The implementation of inferiority has evinced itself through the thoughts and beliefs of Mrs. Turner as she tends to disassociate herself with black people in general. Ultimately, she has been conditioned to love the skin of her oppressor, thus perpetuating the ongoing oppression of a black people.

The Everglades

The Everglades was a “big and new” (128) piece of undeveloped land. This place embodied everything that Eatonsville lacked; which attracted people with a different mindset. “There was wild cane… hiding the rest of the world. People were wild too” (129). This new land isn’t stuck in the old ways; everything here is new and refreshing.

The Everglades represents the youth and the change on the horizon. Although Janie wants to be treated as an equal, when the time came, she didn’t stand up for herself. Janie is an older woman stuck in the old way. When Mrs. Turner’s brother came, Tea Cake got very jealous and whipped Janie. In a conversation with other men, they said “Lawd! Ah love tuh whip uh tender women lak Janie! Ah bet she don’t even holler” (147). The other women in town are all younger and no longer allowed their husbands to beat them; they began to fight back with “ninety- nine rows uh jaw teeth” (148). Eatonsville represented a haven for blacks while Everglades represents a haven for women.

Historically speaking, the Women’s Right Movement came to a halt during the Civil War. When Janie was still in Eatonsville, no women dared to fight back when their husband beat them, however in the Everglades, one man said “mah woman spread her lungs all over Palm Beach, let alone knock out mah teeth” (148). The “oppressors” (the husbands) realized the momentum of women’s right and stop beating their wives, “Dat’s de reason Ah done quit beatin’ mah woman” (147). The movement regained attention Post Civil War, and women became more bold with their actions.

Public Opinion

Since the start of the novel, public opinion has been a major issue for Janie. After Janie returns home, the porch-sitters polluted the air with their judgmental comments. As we flashback to before her home-coming, the opinions of others remains an ongoing problem. While Jody was still alive, the majority of their marriage was based on his control. He was deeply affected by public opinion and demanded his wife look and act a certain way. Months after Jody’s death, Janie faced the public’s opinions once again. Her new relationship with a younger man, Tea Cake, wasn’t “ideal” for the community. When waiting around for Tea Cake to return to her shop, she was “afraid” (100) to ask Hezekiah about him because “he might misunderstand her and think she was interested” (100). Even though her feelings for him are clear, she feels she must suppress them to keep the town satisfied. She also feels hesitant to be with him due to their age difference. She tells Tea Cake the years “makes uh whole heap uh difference wid most folks,” (105) implying she is concerned with what others might think of them if they were together.

Although Janie deals with the public’s opinions and views her entire life, Tea Cake begins to eliminate her fears. He tells her she should satisfy herself before anyone else, which she has never done. Tea Cake is successful in getting Janie to reveal her true self to the world.  She tells her friend Pheoby, “Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (114).

Janie's True Love

What is it that Janie desires in a man? Tea Cake is the only man that Janie truly loves, but why? Jody had wealth, status, and class, so why didn’t Janie have a genuine love for him like she has for tea cake? Janie has been in three marriages, her first was arranged to Logan was too forced; she never had feelings for him. Her second marriage to Jody felt more like a prison cell than a marriage. Jody used Janie more as a display doll than a wife. But the third was the charm; Tea Cake is the one she loves.

                So what is it that Janie desires in a man? She desires a relationship, to be treated as a human, not a possession. She desired someone to make “a lot of laughter out of nothing” (p. 102) with and to just be her best friend. He attracted her from the moment she met him when he asked her to play checkers “somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice” (p. 96). The fact that Tea Cake went out on adventures with her and that he is so spontaneous made her fall in love with him. Jody and Logan both were willing to treat her well, but not enough to the extent of getting cut to bring home money “cut me twice in de back”(p. 127)

             Status and wealth doesn’t impress Janie, that’s exactly what her Nanny and Jody wanted for her. Her Nanny wanted Janie to “git up on uh high chair and sit dere” (p.114) but Janie desired love so she “done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine” (p.114)