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How do Janie’s husbands contribute to her quest for self? 

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How do Janie’s husbands contribute to her quest for self? 

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Throughout the novel, Janie is looking for someone who makes her blossom and grow. At first, she Yields to her Nanny’s wishes and marries Logan solely to placate her. In chapter 3, Janie realizes she can never love Logan: “Some folks never was meant to be loved and he’s one of em” (24) With her first marriage, “She knew now that marriage did not make love. Janie’s first dream was dead, so she became a woman” (25) Although her first marriage ultimately fails, it is a constructive lesson that helps her develop.

When Janie marries Jodie, her dream of finding a growing love is even further deferred; Jody completely stunts her growth. If Janie were a flower, Jody would be stealing her water and sunlight. He wishes to keep her as nothing more than a trophy,requires her to hide her hair, and insists she speak as little as possible. In this marriage, Janie learns loyalty and patience. Although she knows she does not love Jody, she honors her vows and stays with him till death parts them. During their marriage, Janie “had told her girl self to wait for her in the looking glass” (87). After Jody’s death, she finds her “old” self in her reflection, let’s down her hair, and moves forward.

In Tea Cake, Janie finally finds the season that allows her to bloom. She ignores what others think (that he is too young or that he’s using her) and takes a chance in marrying him. She learns to love someone for who they truly are and in return, she gets the love she was waiting for since she was a little girl. Through each husband, we see Janie’s development into a resilient and loving woman.

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The seeds could represent, of course, rebirth and growing things, but also, something that needs to be cared for, but at the same time, rise up and meet the sun on its own terms. Janie also wants to plant them because of memories. "Now that she was home, she meant to plant them for remembrance."

The imagery used at both the beginning and the end has the characters engaging in gossip, there are mentions of water, and of memory and dreams. "Dreams mocked to death by Time," and "the kiss of his memory..." Whereas in the beginning, it talks of men always chasing their dreams, even if it brings them to ruin, women accept what life gives them, and if all she has is memories, she will "pull in her horizon like a great fish-net.... and drape it over her shoulder. So much life in the meshes!"
She will accept what life has given her, and keep going, her memories beside her to lend their strength.

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A whole chapter was devoted to Janie’s jealousy to take away the focus of black culture and to simply show that Janie felt jealousy for Tea Cake, a typical for feeling for a woman of any race to have. It emphasized her as a person, rather than for her race.

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In Chapter 18, Tea Cake and Janie are trying to make their way through and survive the hurricane. Throughout their time in the storm, Tea Cake asks Janie if she regrets being with him. “Ahh reckon you wish now you had of stayed in yo’ big house ‘way from such as dis, don’t yuh?” (159), “Well, reckon you never ‘spected tuh come tuh dis when you took up wid me, didja?” (167)

In both instances Janie shuts him down without hesitating, insisting that they were brought together by God and that she would rather die with him than be anywhere else. “Once upon uh time, Ah never ‘spected nothin’, Tea Cake, but bein’ dead from the standin’ still and tryin’ tuh laugh. But you come ‘long and made somethin’ outa me. So Ah’m thankful fuh anything we come through together.” (167)

To me, the point of the hurricane in the novel is to metaphorically broadcast how Janie’s love for Tea Cake is almost unbreakable and can survive anything. She trusts him with her life, and he reciprocates his love for her when she is almost attacked by the dog in the storm and intervenes before the dog takes her under water.

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Nunkie represents the fear that Janie has of losing true love now that she believes that she has finally found it. Janie also never truly knew what it felt like to be jealous since other women typically envied her. The chapter even begins with “Janie learned what it felt like to be jealous”. I found the fact that Tea Cake entertained Nunkie interesting and wondered if he really loved Janie as much as she loved him.

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Chapter 17: In this chapter Tea Cake hits Janie. What purpose does this serve in the novel. 

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Chapter 17: In this chapter Tea Cake hits Janie. What purpose does this serve in the novel. 

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On page 147 of the text, the following quote displays the reason behind why Tea Cake felt the need to hit Janine, "Before the week was over he had whipped Janie. Not because her behavior justified his jealousy, but it relieved that awful fear inside him. Being able to whip her reassured him in possession. Not brutal beating at all." (Hurston) The purpose of that the beating shows within this novel is Tea Cake's constant need to be in control and have possession over Janie, like Janie is an object and not a human being with feelings and emotions. This seems to be a constant within the novel. Human life viewed as a possession instead of something that should be loved and cherished.

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watching Janie's reactions to Tea Cake and Nunkie you see evidence that she really loves him. unlike other husbands before him, she is jealous of attention he pays to other women. She's not crazy, Nunkie is getting nuts with her flirting and I would also lose it on her. However it's a device Hurston is using to let us know how much this relationship means to both Janie and Tea Cake, as they fight for their love until it manifests between them. We also get to see Janie as a real woman with thoughts and feelings that she's finally allowed to express. It's an example of her humanity and growth

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Chapter 20: seeds and planting are common archetypal symbols. What do they represent in this case? 

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Chapter 20: seeds and planting are common archetypal symbols. What do they represent in this case? 

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Janie gives away everything she owns except for a package of garden seeds, which is a reminder for Tea Cake and his love for planting things. Janie plans to plant the seeds as a symbol for the life and love that they shared together which is what she has looked for her entire life. In chapter 20 the text states, “The seeds reminded Janie of Tea cake more than anything else because he was always planting things. She had noticed them on the kitchen shelf when she came home from the funeral and had put them in her breast pocket. Now that she was home, she meant to plant them for rememberance” (Hurston 191). These seeds meant a lot to Janie and since Tea cake had not got around to planting them she would do it for him in his honor.

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Ch 19- Circumstances of Tea Cake’s death

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Ch 19- Circumstances of Tea Cake’s death

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The circumstances of Tea Cake’s death are very telling of Janie’s character. Tea Cake fulfilled everything Janie could have wished for in all of her horizons; finally she found someone who she loved as “ a bee to a blossom- a pear tree blossom in the spring” (106). The uncertainty of their deaths in the storm told a heart wrenching story of two lovers trying to protect one another and survive. I predicted that Tea Cake would not make it through the storm, which turned out to be half true. Tea Cake’s death was due to complications from the storm- a fatal dog bite. Janie worried sick over Tea Cake’s condition, pleading with the doctor: “Anything it cost, doctah, Ah don’t keer, but please, doctah” (177). It seemed at this point that Janie was desperate to keep Tea Cake alive and that she would stop at nothing to keep him by her side. This is why I found it so shocking when Janie ended up shooting Tea Cake in self defense. I thought that because of her desperation to be with Tea Cake for an eternity she would rather die than be without him. On page 188, the narrator indicates that the sun has set, signifying a change to come. The story flashes forward to Janie sharing her story with her friend Pheoby. Janie tells Phoebe that there are two things that everyone has to do: “They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves” (192). With the introduction of Tea Cake’s character, Janie finally learns how to live for herself. With her former husband Joe, Janie thought that her life would be free and her own, but she was wrong. It wasn’t until she married Tea Cake that she became liberated from the rules and gender norms of society. Janie became a person instead of just a wife. With the circumstances of Tea Cake’s death, Janie would continue to live for herself- overalls on and hair down. -Nina