Character Analysis: Their Eyes Were Watching God

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Marissa Pier 2nd hour The Portrayal of Men In the novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, the author, Zora Neale Hurston, writes about a woman named Janie who has marriages with three different men throughout her life. Each man controls Janie in his own way. The first, Logan, was an arranged marriage. He was controlling and only saw Janie as free labor. The second, Joe, came around and swept Janie off of her feet. However, the sweet talk didn’t last forever. Joe started to emotionally and physically abuse Janie. He was all about himself and only saw Janie as a trophy wife. The last of the three was Tea Cake. He was the best of her previous husbands because he treated her as an equal and spent time with her. Even though…show more content…
Janie is not very sad at all and only mourns a short time because is expected by the people of Eatonville. Janie falls in love with Tea Cake and runs off with him. She doesn’t care that society doesn’t approve. He makes her happy by playing checkers with her and taking her fishing and teaching her to shoot. Tea Cake was much better than both Joe and Logan. Tea Cake treats Janie as an equal, which is all she had ever wanted. Not long went by before Janie runs off and married Tea Cake. Even though he is the best of the three, he still has his faults. She pinned two hundred dollars to the inside of her shirt and he took it to throw a party. She was upset and he won it back gambling. “Put dat two hundred back wid de rest, Janie. Mah dice. Ah no need no assistance tuh help me feed mah woman. From now on, you goin tuh eat whutever mah money can buy yuh and wear de same. When Ah ain’t got nuthin, you don’t git nothin.” (Pg. 128) Some may think this is controlling. It isn’t because his heart is in the right place. He wanted to be able to support the woman he loves. It also shows he didn’t marry her for the money she did have. Another way Tea Cake may seem controlling is when he asked Janie to work with him in the field after they move to the Everglades. “After dis, you betta come git a job uh work out dere lak de rest uh de women so Ah won’t be losin’ time comin’ home.” (Pg. 133) Some may say this is a controlling thing for Tea Cake and may relate it to her last two husbands making her work. However, Janie is happy to because she loves him. He also asks her if she’s mad for him asking her to work and she is not. This shows that Tea Cake cared about what she wanted and he’s not just telling her what to do. The most important thing is he truly cared for Janie. Even though he had some faults like taking her money to throw a party, all men have faults. All men have controlling habits but when two people are in love, they can overcome small
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