Janie And Her Newfound Love Tea Cake example essay topic

The novel Their Eyes Were Watching God written by Zora Neale Hurston deals with a character named Janie and how she goes through life trying to find true love. In Hurston's story Janie has returned to the town which she, and her second husband helpedestablishd. One evening when Janie came home, her friend Pheoby begins to talk to her about how the ladies gossip about her. Janie soon begins a discussion about her life story with Pheoby. Janie goes on to describe her childhood and how she was forced to love at a young age. Janie realizes she was not happy with her first husband and leaves him for another man.

Joe Starks had lured Janie to believe she would live happily ever after with him, but Janie in time felt trapped within her marriage. Joe had died and Janie was confronted with numerous amounts of men telling her they would treat her like a princess, but Janie wasn t so vulnerable anymore. Then one day she meets a man named Tea Cake, he would be the one to fulfill the emptiness she has lived with her whole life. Within Their Eyes Were Watching God, Janie a middle aged woman is enticed to believe throughout her life that true love is the only path to absolute happiness.

Janie married at an early age of seventeen because her grandmother was afraid thats he wouldn t have a descent man to love, and care for her. In the novel while Janie is telling her story, she realizes something about her childhood: She thought awhile and decided that her conscious life had commenced at Nanny's gate, (Hurston 10). Janie's first kiss was at her grandmother's gate, and when Nanny caught her kissing the boy she realized Janie wasn t a little girl anymore. Nanny instinctively decided it was time for Janie to get married, even though Janie disagreed. Janie soon took on the fact she was going to be married to Logan Killick's, who her grandmother told her she would marry. Janie was trying to prove to herself that she would love Logan after they wer married, but she couldn t see any way for it to come about.

Nanny had told Janie something, giving her hope that she could love Logan: Husband and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant, (20). That had given Janie hope to love Logan, sos he was satisfied. After their marriage Janie had tried to love Logan but couldn t, she tried to explain the situation to Nanny: Ah wants things sweet wid mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree and think, (23). Janie doesn t want a marriage in which she can t love her husband, but Nanny doesn t realize it even though Janie says it right tower face. Janie's marriage with Logan was never really excepted into her heart, it was forced upon her by her grandmother. Janie's marriage with Logan seemed flawless, Logan was always doing the majority of the work around their house.

Then one day Logan had started asking Janie to help out more around their house. Logan had specifically asked her to help plow the fields, and without Janie ever agreeing he went into town for a few days to buy her a mule. While Logan was gone a new man had entered Janie's life, a man named Joe Starks. Joe was trying to take Janie away from Logan every chance he had, and was doing a good job at it: You ain t never know ed what it was to be treated like lady and Ah wants to be de one tuh show yuh, (28). Janie was being seduced by Joe into believing she would live a happy life with him, if she would leave Logan. Eventually Janie realized she would be happier with Joe, so when Janie got the chance she left Logan and got married to Joe: From now on until death she was going to have flower dust and springtime sprinkled over everything, (31).

This passage illustrates the point that Janie feels exuberant about her new found love. After twenty years of a marriage that was supposed to be wonderful Janie has lived just the opposite. Janie was to believe that marriage between two people was supposed to be unconditional love, and Janie did not feel that way: Tuh think Ah been wid Jody twenty yeahs and Ah just now got tuh beard e name uh poison in him, (78). Janie can no longer stand being married with Joe, butt soon would not matter because Joe would die later on. In Janie's discussion with her friend Pheoby she was bringing to the fact that Joe had not brought her true happiness within thier marriage. After Joe's death and nine months later Janie finds a new love, but the difference this time is that she finally finds her true love.

Pheoby is worried about Janie and her newfound love Tea Cake, so she tries to talk to Janie. Janie realizes Pheoby's concern but then tries to explain her feelings: Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma's way, now Ah means tuh live mine, (108). Janie was saying that she went and married a man that had the money to take care of her, but when she got there she felt trapped. So now she wants to live her way, which is to marry someone she can truly love no matter what materials he has or doesn t have. Janie and Tea cake were finally married, but one day Tea Cake disappeared and Janie had no clue were he was and started praying: Maybe Ah m is uh fool, Lawd, lak dey say, but Lawd, Ah been so lonesome, and Ah been waitin, Jesus.

Ah done waited uh long time, (115). Janie realizes that she has finally found throne man that has truly made her happy, but is worried he left her. Eventually he comes back the next day and they live happily on, until one day. During their run from the hurricane Tea Cake was bit by a rabid dog, and Tea Cake was now turning rabid himself. One night Tea Cake started going crazy and started to shoot at Janie, and so she in self-defense shot him, and he died on her lap: Janie held his head tightly to her breast and wept and thanked him wordlessly for giving her the chance for loving service, (175).

Janie had loved Tea Cake like no other man she had been with, and he truly made her happy. Janie then finished her life story and told Pheoby that it was all right to tell the gossiping lady's all about it. Janie had her own comment about the lady's, knowing they would question her love towards her husbands: Dey goin tuh make migration cause mah love didn t work lak they love, if dey ever had any, (182). Janie finally reached true happiness though her love with Tea Cake, and now she wanted everyone to know she was once truly happy. In Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston portrays Janie as a woman who was lured to believe pure happiness came from true love. In the beginning Janie's grandmother wanted her to love for security, but that didn t cut it for Janie.

Then when she met Joe Starks she thought she would live the high life as well as being happy, but that didn t work either. Joe seemed to portray Janie as just a mayor's wife, and an employee at the town store. Then Janie met Tea Cake. Tea Cake didn t live the high life but he treated her right, and that's why Janie loved him so much. Constantly throughout their marriage and before they were always indicating that they loved each other so much, and they couldn tbe happier with anyone else. Janie had been with other men in hope to reach her supreme happiness, but none compared with Tea Cake who gave her his unconditional love till the day he died..