She wished she had slipped off that cow-tail and drowned then and there and been done. But to kill her through Tea Cake was too much to bear. Tea Cake, the son of Evening Sun, had to die for loving her.
Janie wished that she died so she wouldn’t have to shoot Tea Cake, she knew he loved her and she didn’t want him to die like that.
“Po’ me, he’d tore me tuh pieces, if it wuzn’t fuh you, honey.”
Janie is feeling grateful that she has Tea Cake and told him that he saved her from the dog.
Being able to whip her reassured him in possession.
Tea Cake hit Janie because he wanted to prove to Mrs. Turner that he is in control over her and has more power even though he is darker skinned.
Janie’s coffee-and-cream complexion and her luxurious hair made Mrs. Turner forgive her for wearing overalls like the other women who worked in the fields. She didn’t forgive her for marrying a man as dark as Tea Cake, but she felt that she could remedy that.
Mrs. Turner liked Janie because she had lighter skin, which made her overlook everything “bad” about her. She didn’t like Tea Cake because he was darker skinned so she wanted to make Janie get with her brother instead.
They fought on. “You done hurt mah heart, now you come wid uh lie tuh bruise mah ears! Turn go mah hands!” Janie seethed. But Tea Cake never let go. They wrestled on until they were doped with their own fumes and emanations;
Their fighting stopped because Tea Cake truly was being honest with Janie and he wanted to show her how much he loves her and she was okay with it.
Sometimes Janie would think of the old days in the big white house and the store and laugh to herself. What if Eatonville could see her now in her blue denim overalls and heavy shoes?
Janie is thinking about when they lived in Eatonville and how much better the community is in the Everglades because they don’t judge her for things, like what she’s wearing.
She was broken and her pride was gone, so she told those who asked what had happened. Who Flung had taken her to a shabby room in a shabby house in a shabby street and promised to marry her next day. They stayed in the room two whole days then she woke up to find Who Flung and her money gone.
Janie is comparing herself to Mrs. Tyler and thinks that the same thing is going to happen to her with Tea Cake because he took her money, but not actually for that reason.
“You better sense her intuh things then ’cause Tea Cake can’t do nothin’ but help her spend whut she got. Ah reckon dat’s whut he’s after. Throwin’ away whut Joe Starks worked hard tuh git tuhgether.”
Pheoby’s husband thinks that Tea Cake just wants Janie for her money and he wants her to warn Janie about it.
Joe’s funeral was the finest thing Orange County had ever seen with Negro eyes.
Joe had a really extravagant funeral because he was so rich, the whole town had never seen anything like that because there was nobody there like him before that.
“Just a matter of time,” the doctor told her. “When a man’s kidneys stop working altogether, there is no way for him to live. He needed medical attention two years ago. Too late now.”
The doctors finally tell Janie what is wrong with Joe and that he has been ill for too long that there isn’t anything that they can do to save him.
“Well, is he—he—is he got uh wife or something lak dat? Not dat it’s any uh mah business.” She held her breath for the answer.
Janie was hoping to find out that Tea Cake was single, but didn’t want to make it obvious that she was interested in him.
He set it up and began to show her and she found herself glowing inside
Janie has never felt like this before with her previous husbands, it was her first time actually feeling like somebody actually was interested in her.
Janie had robbed him of his illusion of irresistible maleness
Janie finally started standing up for herself and became more powerful compared to how she was before. She started to make Joe feel bad about himself.
“You gettin’ too moufy, Janie,” Starks told her
Janie starts to feel like she can’t tell Joe anything after he yells at her and slaps her. She starts to become quiet and less like herself because of him.
“Thank yuh fuh yo’ compliments, but mah wife don’t know nothin’ ’bout no speech-makin’. Ah never married her for nothin’ lak dat. She’s uh woman and her place is in de home.”
Joe doesn’t let Janie give a speech because he thinks she won’t know how to since she’s a woman. Janie felt very controlled by Joe and went home feeling offended.
“Mah name is Janie Mae Killicks since Ah got married. Useter be name Janie Mae Crawford. Mah husband is gone tuh buy a mule fuh me tuh plow. He left me cuttin’ up seed p’taters.”
Janie tells Joe that her husband left her all alone to cut up potatoes, which shows how she feels towards her husband.
Nanny wants Janie to marry Logan Kilicks so that she stays protected and doesn’t end up like her and her mother, but Janie didn’t think she could connect with Logan.
Tain’t Logan Killicks Ah wants you to have, baby, it’s protection
Nanny wants Janie to marry Logan Kilicks so that she stays protected and doesn’t end up like her and her mother, but Janie didn’t think she could connect with Logan.