Liberation

(Post was accidentally posted late)

Jody's death evokes an overall liberation for Janie: a freedom from male-supremacy and a freedom of speech. Though Janie mourns, she begins to speak more freely and frequently. "'Tain't dat Ah worries over Joe's death Pheoby. Ah jus' loves dis freedom," (Hurtson 93), she confesses. In Eatonville, she must play the role of a grieving widow in order to conform to tradition, but discreetly finds happiness in her loss.
 Although Tea Cake is another man interested in her, he possesses qualities not yet displayed by her past lovers, and is a breath of fresh air for Janie. Her past is consumed by materialistic demands and social status between Nanny’s idea of an arranged marriage and Jody’s aspirations as the mayor. Yet, Tea Cake looks past the tangible wealth and values creativity and leisurely activity. He explains how he’ll get home: “Wait round heah fuh a car. If none don’t come, Ah got good shoe leather,” (Hurtson 97). He truly enjoys life without being equipped with the latest luxuries. Janie shares the same quality and is impressed by his remark. When Tea Cake asks her, “How about playin’ you some checkers? You looks hard tuh beat,” (Hurtson 95) he views Janie as his equal.

The stark difference is apparent in every part of her past. While Jody would force Janie to remain silent, Tea Cake initiates her in conversation. Jody doesn’t let Janie use her emotions while Tea Cake jokes around to get her to chuckle. Jody is demanding on Janie’s duties as his wife, while Tea Cake willingly helps her close up shop.

Janie’s new beginning will establish a refreshing theme of equality and love based on mutual respect.

Stereotypes

In our 21st century world shifted towards unity between the several races & ethnicities, social statuses, and cultural backgrounds of the world, the use of stereotypes to assert dominance is slowly dwindling. Throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston makes use of such differences to further develop the novel’s plot as well as some core differences that caused Janie’s several encounters with love itself to falter. In the earlier parts of the novel, Janie’s return to town (donning an outfit declared much-under-par by the women of the town, whom quickly become disgusted with other aspects of Janie’s outward expression) is chastised by woman as she exclaims, “What she doin coming back here in dem overalls?” (Hurston 2).

The use of stereotypical paradigms as incorporated in Jody’s opinion of the men outside the shop essentially enforces the character (not simply the division of social classes!) of Jody as well as the men of Eatonville. Jody justifies his opinion with an excuse ever-so-fitting of someone of his archetype, stating, “You’se Mrs. Mayor Starks, Janie. I god, Ah can’t see what uh woman uh yo’ stability would want tuh be treasurin’ all dat gum-grease from folks dat don’t even own de house dey sleep in. ’Tain’t no earthly use. They’s jus’ some puny humans playin’ round de toes uh Time.“ It becomes evident throughout Janie’s marriage to Jody that he is a man of dominance, and especially expresses this through his treatment towards those not equal to his own social status.

Pictured below is a “modern” twist on such stereotypes depicted throughout Their Eyes Were Watching God.

Joe Starks - Righteous King OR Shady Tyrant?

It is becoming clear by this point in the novel that Janie’s new husband – Joe Starks, is a gifted black man. Joe consistently proves as the stranger who traveled into Eatonville to the natives that he has the formal education and learning to back up ambitious planning and entrepreneurial skills. Thusly, they name him “de Mayor uh Maitland” (Hurston 36) because he’s the only one who has the common sense, vision and wherewithal to actually make Eatonville a better place. He was the envy of every man in town, especially because the jewel of their eyes – Janie, was his wife. They wished they could be and act like “rich men” (Hurston 51) like him. Indeed, Joe Starks was the man to be in the small town of Eatonville, and to his adoring people, initially was the fair and just ruler of the town.

Pictured here is serial pimp/part-time comedian Katt Williams who talks alot about dumb people

However, both the reader and townspeople quickly learn of Joe’s sneaky deceit and true intentions. Joe is often found to be greedy, manipulative and controlling. This is especially true in the case of Janie, who originally was his dream woman before the couple had left for the town, but now had turned into nothing more than his “woman” whose place was in “de home.” (Hurston 43). Starks is often jealous of the men who look at and lust over his wife. Therefore, he vowed that her hair was “NOT going to show in the store” (Hurston 55) just because of his petty insecurities. Joe relishes in his complete control over everyone in the town because no one had the “temerity to challenge him” (Hurston 50), and they all “bowed down to him” (p. 50). He shows the extent of his wicked character when he taunts Matt Bonner for his mule, and refers to the townspeople as “puny”.

If you look closely, you can see Katt Williams now dismissing a woman in his job as a pimp

Women's Oppression

In our society, women have always been oppressed in some way. Females have never truly had equality in our world, no matter the time period. Males have always been considered the dominant gender and have basically ran the world, while women watched from the sidelines, having no say at all. They have always had command over women’s roles in society and even had control over their bodies. Janie has experienced the oppression of females multiple times throughout the novel and it is symbolic of society’s confining standards for women. Janie’s husbands Logan Killicks and Joe Starks have both showed the dominant sides of their characters. For instance, Joe Starks ordered Janie to have her hair tied up while she was working in the store, because of his jealousy and worry of other men gawking at her. “This business of the head-rag irked her endlessly. But Jody was set on it.” (Hurston, 55).  He also had told her not to make conversation with the other men in the town. Joe Stark’s rules for Janie are prime examples of the strict expectations of women in society during the late 1800s/ early 1900s. Women wouldn’t dare to stray from these expectations during that time period. In today’s society, women often challenge these expectations and roles. For instance, some women nowadays refuse to be confined to dressing in a conservative manner, in an attempt to express their opinion that they should not have to “cover up” their bodies and that they should be able to dress however they please. This shows that women in today’s world are more willing and able to express their opinions on women’s oppression, whereas in the time period Janie was living in, women could not express these opinions and had to do as told/expected. The quote below shows that women have always suffered from inequality and likely always will, unless something is done to stop it. Gender inequality has always been an issue in history and it is a major issue that continues to bring conflicts in our society. 

Communication

Once again Hurston uses language and communication to reinforce a deeper meaning to Janie’s journey. As I have stated in an earlier post Hurston uses two intertwining voices to add depth to the story at hand. Now, Hurston uses Janie and Jody’s relationship to show the importance of communication. Janie was forced to live in a world of silence during her marriage to Jody. Every bit of anger, tension, and sadness was kept inside eating away at her sanity. She wanted to scream yet “no matter what Jody did she said nothing” (Hurston 76). The lack of communication in this relationship ultimately led to its demise. 

In the same sense the lack of communication can be positive. By Jody shutting Janie out she was able to discover herself. She knew what to say and when to say it. When Jody was on his deathbed although he avoided her, she went in and told him everything she thought. He was weakened even more by this and eventually passes away. She was finally able to release her hair while at the same time releasing the tension and sadness ultimately setting her free. Janie’s character is now stronger than ever after gaining this new sense of herself and the power behind her words. 

Gambling

Gambling is an addiction that has plagued man since the dawn of time. It’s dangerous and can sometimes have life-threatening effects.

“Tea Cake’s letter had said Jacksonville” (Hurston 116) and the couple began settling into their room. The following morning, “Tea Cake got up earlier than Janie did” (Hurston 117) and she thought nothing at first. The clock then struck midnight and Janie went all day without her Tea Cake. Once daylight began to evince itself beyond the horizon, Tea Cake stumbled into the door, bleeding.

Janie has grown to accept Tea Cake’s gambling. “It was part of him, so it was all right” (Hurtson 125) However, Janie’s willing acceptance of Tea Cake’s gambling is what caused the grief to follow. Instead of warning her significant other of the potential dangers of this addiction, Janie’s approval perpetuated Tea Cake’s problem. Gambling is an addiction, and when a bad habit goes uncontrolled, severe consequences evince themselves.

“Dey cut me, dat’s all.” (Hurtson 126) Tea Cake stumbled in the door with a minor stab wound after gambling with some thugs. After winning his money fair and square, Tea Cake found himself in deep trouble as the thugs wanted a chance to win their money back. Tea Cake was accused of sabotaging the game by switching the dice and one of the thugs cut him in the back with a switchblade.

However, is it possible that Tea Cake’s near death experience is what solidified the new couple’s love? While Janie was tending to Tea Cake’s wound, she found herself crying hysterically and as he drifted off to sleep, Janie was overwhelmed with a “self-crushing love” (Hurston 128). It is said that traumatic events strengthen the ties within relationships. Perhaps Tea Cake’s stabbing was, ironically, a good thing for the couple’s relationship, a true blessing in disguise.

The following images depicts a common symbol associated with gambling. Rolling dice is among the most popular of gambling activities and is also the very thing that resulted in Tea Cake’s stabbing. After being accused of switching the dice, Tea Cake was stabbed in the back (literally) by his gambling partner.

Dice

Foreshadowing

"Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they 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" (Hurston 1). Hurston uses foreshadowing to display how the story will unfold.  The first few sentences are the best example of how Hurston displays this literary technique.  The beginning of the novel speaks of ships at a distance and their unknown cargo. By the end of the novel, Hurston talks about the full fishing nets of Janie’s spirit. This example of foreshadowing serves as a precedent of Janie’s character.

Foreshadowing continues throughout the story to be a major element in Their Eyes Were Watching God. In the novel, death is a character.  In chapter 8 “Janie began to think of Death. Death, that strange being with huge square toes who lived way in the West.  The great one who lived in the straight house like a platform without sides to it, and without a roof” (Hurston 84).  This description of Death foreshadows Joe Starks’ death.

Further along in the novel, when Janie and Tea Cake are in the Everglades, Janie sees the Indians and animals heading east to escape. She asks one what they are running from in which the Indian responds: “Going to high ground. Saw-grass bloom. Hurricane coming” (Hurston 154). The people of the land are used to hurricane warnings so they thought little of it. A few days passed and as Janie watched the sky she knew there was a storm coming.  Sure enough, a massive hurricane comes and results in mass destruction. Foreshadowing is one of the main literary techniques used in Hurston’s construction of Their Eyes Were Watching God.”

Male Domination

As we know, Jody was often very controlling over Janie. He shows his colors when he says "‘mah wife don't know nothin' ‘bout no speech-makin'. Ah never married her for nothin' lak dat. She's uh woman and her place is in de home.' (Hurston 43). He often degraded Janie but at the same time put her on a pedestal as his wife. Jody also says, "Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows. I god, they sho don't think none theirselves'"(71). Later on in the story we discover that Tea Cake is also very domineering over Janie. He would often leave her and manipulate her, just like when he stole her money and was gone all day spending it. He says he will get her money back but again is M.I.A. He ends up getting the money and gaining back Janie's trust, all while gaining more opportunity for manipulation. Janie ends up falling deep in love with Tea Cake, which often leads to vulnerability. Tea Cake represents another example of male dominance in Janie's life.
Nunkie represents how men often lie and manipulate women, Tea Cake was fooling around with her but it could be more than that. Janie is so fond of him that she would always believe him. Many men cheat on their wives and their wives have no idea because they are manipulated so much. Janie seems to be attracted to the more controlling men.
The color purple is a perfect example of male dominance; it is about a young African American girl who is forced to live with a man who was called Mister, and was abused all her life and told what to do all the time. This is an excerpt about some characters in the novel:"Sofia, who is Harpo’s wife, is a strong headed and short tempered woman, and for this time period that wasn’t the expected behavior of women. Women were supposed to follow everything that their husbands said and this shows how the genders roles and switched in parts of this novel."
“All your children so clean, she say, would you like to work for me, be my maid?
Sofia say, I say, Hell no.
She say, What you say?
Sofia say, Hell no.
Mayor look at Sofia, push his wife out the way. Stick out his chest. Girl, what you say to Miss Millie?
Sofia say, I say, Hell no.
He slap her.
I stop telling it right there.
Squeak on the edge of her seat. She wait. Look down my throat some more.
No need to say no more, Mr._____ say. You know what happen is somebody slap Sofia.
Squeak go white as a sheet. Naw, she say.
Naw nothing, I say. Sofia knock the man down.
The polices come, start slinging the children off the mayor, bang they heads together. Sofia really start to fight. They drag her to the ground.” (Walker 90-91)

New Kid

Janie has been dealing with a lot in the recent death of her husband Joe. Despite not truly loving him at the end of the day that was her spouse. However, she grieves and eventually learns how to live with it. Janie was set on not finding anybody but one person in the matter of one day ruined her whole master plan. 

   They introduced themselves to one another, talked some, laughed some and it "seemed as if she had known him all her life"(99). In the following weeks Janie was happier than she had ever been in years. It all happened in a matter of days. Tea Cake was young and almost nothing like Joe. He took her on dates and told her how much he really cares for her and just made things fun like she was a teenager again. Despite how good it seemed like things were going she didn't really want the town to know yet. She wasn't prepared for all the judgements of Joe's loyal band of followers. Tea Cake appreciated Janie. He told her she was beautiful and loved her hair. Tea Cake was her rainbow after the storm. Going through everything she went to and then being able to deal with her loss and give part of her to another man is something she never imagined. She was beginning to live her life for her. Not for her Nanny or the towns people but for Janie. Janie is stronger than how she may appear. Maybe Tea Cake was the break she needed... Just maybe. 

Just something Tea Cake has to understand. 

Mid-life Crisis

 

“She didn’t read books so she didn’t know that she was the world” (76). Janie is at a point in her life where she has reached a plateau, reflecting on her marriage, the years spent with Jody has taken “all the fight out of Janie’s face.” (76). Somewhere along the way her life became mundane; “Ah ain’t got nothin’ tuh live for but uh store and uh house” (76). Running off with Jody was supposed to be a blessing not a curse. Instead of taking steps towards the life she’s wanted, Janie has been taking steps backward.

Jody had gotten what he’s wanted: an obedient trophy wife, but in the process Janie had lost her purpose and voice. For instance, “Janie loved the conversations [on the porch] and sometime thought up good stories… but Joe had forbidden her to indulge.” (53). Also she no longer spoke up, “gradually, she pressed her teeth together and learned to hush” because it is easier to let Jody win (71). “He wanted her submission and he’d keep on fighting until he felt he had it.” (71). Jody always had to be in control. For that reason he’d lost his wife, “the spirit of the marriage left the bedroom…” (71).

Much like the mule, Janie has a routine. Wake, work, sleep. There is no fulfillment in her life. This was her mid-life crisis. This image shows that Janie finally acknowledges that she needs to take matters into her own hands. On page 75, “Janie did what she has never done before, that is, thrust herself into the conversation.” The first step is acknowledging that there is a problem. Hopefully now she will try to recreate herself and won’t let a man try to control her.