Their Eyes Were Watching God : Tea Cake Character Analysis

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Intuitions Throughout Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie is striving to fulfill her immense aspirations. A new ideal of life is brought to her through the introduction of Tea Cake. Tea Cakes’ vivacious personality allows for Janie to reach deep inside herself, letting her inner glow reveal itself to the world. This in itself proves that Tea Cake is the catalyst that drives Janie to reach for her horizon. Throughout the novel, the tree is a recurring motif. Logan Killicks is the first man that Janie is married to. The words log and kill are buried within Logan’s name. Proving he is not the one of the “people” Janie is in search of. The Log represents that he is not even that of a full tree, which Janie is searching for, the kill hidden in his last names shows that he is a killer of her aspirations. Logan does not respect Janie as his wife seeing her beneath him, nor is he interested in her dreams or goals. When Joe Starks is introduced into the novel he is presented as that of a prince charming. He offers Janie a better life “offering to make a wife out of her”. (29) This quotation proposes that he wants to shape her into his own image, of how a woman is supposed to be. Jody is painted as a man who is very full of himself, believing that he is above everyone else. A prime example is when he uses the phrase “I god”, using this to exert his power mentally over whoever he is having a conversation or an argument with. Hurston uses this as another recurring motif, man’s need and propensity to dominate. Jody sees Janie not as a person but as a possession, something that is beneficial to his ultimate goal. Once Janie is aware of this, she finds her “inaudible audible” voice and expresses how she feels towards Jody. By demolishing his sense of authority, she took his will to live right along with it. He has made it to his horizon, never seeking to

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