Can I just say WOW!?! I cannot believe that Janie shot and killed Tea Cake. I found that some of the same situations that Janie was faced with in her marriage to Jody she was faced with again in her marriage to Tea Cake. They were both mean at the end of their marriages, they both passed away, and they both went to sleep in different bedrooms.
I think that the separate bedrooms is of great symbolism. In both marriages it represented an end. Jody moved out of the bedroom as soon as Janie stood up for herself,and commented on his manhood. On page 183 the dialogue between Janie an Tea Cake represents that the marriage is soon going to end. When Tea Cake states "Janie, how come you can't sleep in de same bed wid me no mo? How come you ruther sleep on uh pallet than tuh sleep in de bed wid me? This passage shows the misunderstanding and lack of communication that the two characters show. Even though Tea Cake was sick and delusional, the communication was not there. He even accused her of cheating on him. His personality does a 180 and still Janie does not communicate with him.
When Janie shoots her beloved Tea Cake, it shows the strength that she now has. In the beginning of the novel, she was under the rule of the men. Now she was in charge. I was reminded of the book Old Yeller. The young boy loves his dog so much, but he has the ability and strength to shoot and kill him. I saw this strength in Janie. Her ability to defend herself by killing her husband is remarkable, however, I'm not sure what Huston's point of this was.
I was happy with the way this novel ended. I liked the fact that Janie got off on killing her husband. She really truly loved him. She buried him with respect. I also liked the full circle ending in which Hurston referenced in the begging of the book and the overalls. At first it was hard to understand where she was going with that. Hurston left me fulfilled unlike any author that we have read prior to this point. The main character found love, and isn't that what we are all looking for regardless to race?
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7 comments:
I have no clue what the symbolism to shooting her husband was either. If anything I would have to agree with the first idea you have about it being a representation of the empowerment of the main character. It shows a sense of stregth and a release from the confines of oppression.
Your right, there are a lot of parallels between the end of Janie’s marriage to Jody and the circumstances under which Tea Cake dies. However, I think Janie is able to find peace with her self, and the way her life turned out, because she did love Tea Cake right down to the end. In fact, I feel like she shot him not only to protect herself but to end his suffering.
This is a very interesting point that you make about the way that both Joe and Tea Cake ended their time in the novel. I didn't notice that Janie was not sleeping in the same room as both of her husbands when the two of them died. There definitely were some parallels between each of these situations in the novel. I wonder if Hurston created these situations on purpose or if it was a strange coincidence.
I was schocked too. I think she finally found herself. I too saw the many parallels between Jody and Tea Cake. They both slept in different beds but the difference was Janie loved Tea Cake in the end.
I couldn't believe that either! It was interesting to see how similar the end of both of those marriages were (even though Tea Cake was nothing like Jody throughout the novel)
I agree that the separate bedrooms were great symbolism for the "end". Both deaths were accompanied by the separate bedrooms and lack of communication.
I agree that when Janie shot Tea Cake it shows the strength that she has now as opposed to the strength she did not have in the beginning. It was really interesting to see how she grew throughout the novel.
I couldn't believe she actually shot and killed him. I agree with you though on how it shows her strength she found within. The seperate bedrooms I believe signify the end of the relationship especially since there was no communication.
I too was shocked that Janie shot and killed Tea Cake, but she really didn't have any choice. The connections you've made about Tea Cake and Jody are very interesting. I hadn't thought about that, but you make the connection very clear. I also didn't think of the separate bedrooms as representing the end, but again you've made a good point and I agree with you.
I also really enjoyed this novel and was happy that Janie got away free, she only killed Tea Cake out of protection and she loves him very much and shows it. I guess for her third time is a charm. I still think its a book that needs to be read completely before you can decide what your thoughts on it are.
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