An example of the discrimination he faces is when the white doctor almost gives up on him. He says, “He’s liable to suffer something awful before.” The doctor does not put much thought into this, and it's sort of clear. He orders some pills and is on his way. They can't get help from anyone, no matter how friendly the doctor is supposed to be. They don't have access to proper health care, and that shows an imbalance. A once vibrant Tea Cake is now dying in bed, and he can't get betting because of the discrimination he’s facing. I think Hurston is trying to show the impact that racism has on every single person in this book. The book also discusses class a lot, something that, at this point in age, is associated with color. Janie’s reaction to Tea Cake’s illness shows their resilience and genuine care for each other regardless of the racism they face. Aside from them, there is a general sense of racism by all; aside from the few colorists, the majority of the white people think less of the colored. When the awful hurricane hit, those of caucasian complexion were put in coffins where, as colored folk were simply buried with no thought to honor them like they did the white people with coffins. There is a clear separation of class and hierarchy in the world. We also see this in the passage we previously read about the storm. There is a separation between the two, and the whites are usually the ones who benefit from the said divide.

• Tea cake forced to bury bodies

• White doctor willing to help

• For much of life he has not experienced racism

• Thinks his money will prevent him from being treated poorly 

• White people on Janies side

• Black people Tea Cakes friends on his side. 

Tea Cake's experiences with white people in his life led him to believe that his money would prevent him from being racially discriminated against. At the beginning of Chapter 19, Tea Cake experiences racism from two white men who force him to take part in burying the dead bodies. Tea Cake believes that if  “they saw he had money they would realize he was not a tramp.” (169) This quote shows Tea Cake's lack of interaction with white people, and how he has not really experienced racism throughout his life. The Red Cross officers did not care about Tea Cake's money, and threatened to use their guns on Tea Cake if he did not do as they say. Tea Cake had never experienced racism like what the officers did to him, which is why it caught him so off guard. Normally, his money would be enough for him to be treated with respect. For example, the white doctor “had been around so long that he was a part of the muck.” (175) Although the doctor was white, he still helped the black people, because they were paying him. The doctor needed Tea Cake’s money in order to continue living, thus altering how a different white person would treat Tea Cake. Tea Cake's perspective on how he would be treated by other white people outside of the muck did not represent reality, due to him being treated with respect for most of his life. 

This relates to Janie’s trial of Tea Cake's death, when the court room was full of white and black people.

Towards the end of chapter 20, Janie’s inner monologue states, “He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking.” (193) This quote shows that Janie knows that closure will come eventually, but the love she had for Tea Cake will likely never subside. She knows that Tea Cake will never be fully dead, because she will always have him in the back of her mind. Janie is talking to Pheoby, who mentions the optimistic side of dea th. “They got tuh go tuh God, and they got tuh find out about livin’ fuh theyselves.” (192) This helps Janie realize that dying creates new opportunities for both the living and the dead to explore life on their own. She knows that Tea Cake was not himself when she killed him, and is able to experience a whole new life with God. Janie now has complete freedom, and gets to live her life individually. Janie says to Pheoby, “Dis house ain’t so absent of things lak it used to be befo’ Tea Cake come along.” (191) Janie expresses how much Tea Cake changed her, and the house she once viewed as bare, she now viewed in a new light. It turned into something “full uh thoughts.’”(191) 

The illnesses of Tea Cake and Joe suggest that Janie really loved Tea Cake and did not love Joe. Upon Joe’s death, Janie, “...starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see, and opened up the window and cried, “Come heah people! Jody is dead. Mah husband is gone from me” (87). Janie was not grieving and had to alter her appearance so that the community in Eatonville believed she was. On the other hand, when Tea Cake died, the moment is described as follows: “It was the meanest moment of eternity. A minute before she was just a scared human being fighting for its life. Now she was sacrificing herself with Tea Cake’s head in her lap. No hour is ever eternity, but it has its right to weep” (184). This description of Janie’s emotions shows the reader that she truly mourned Tea Cake, proving the discrepancy between her relationship with Joe and her relationship with Tea Cake. The difference between the illnesses of Joe and Tea Cake are that Joe died of kidney failure while Tea Cake died of rabies. Joe had a strong dominance over Janie throughout their relationship, but as he got sick, Joe became powerless and could not physically restrict Janie from speaking her truth. On the other hand, Tea Cake’s illness, rabies, gave him an irrational and crazy personality towards Janie which is completely opposite from how he usually acts towards Janie. Both Joe’s death and Tea Cake’s death were essential to Janie finding her identity. Joe’s death freed Janie from having to be silent and helped her see what type of a husband she wanted. Tea Cake’s death allowed Janie to reflect on her different relationships and realize all of the good things in her relationship with Tea Cake that she did not have with her other husbands.

On the other hand, Tea Cake and Janie's relationship represents the “true love” Janie always aspired to have. Tea Cake's death represents Janie being able to act for herself and keep herself safe. In the scene where Tea Cake is shooting at Janie, and before Janie shoots Tea Cake, it states, “ No knowledge of fear nor rifles nor anything else was there.” This quote shows that Janie had developed the confidence to act for herself by shooting Tea Cake. Lastly, in both of Joe and Tea Cake's death Janie sympathized and felt remorse for both of them.