Their Eyes Were Watching God: Week 3
Post your second response by Tuesday, February 20. Throughout the week, engage in discussion by replying to a combination of six posts and replies.
The Road: Week 3
Post your second response by Tuesday, February 20. Throughout the week, engage in discussion by replying to a combination of six posts and replies.
Throughout chapters 15-17 we see the strong love Tea Cake and Janie have for each other. They come across many obstacles, such as jealousy. The women who worked in the fields with Tea Cake, Mrs. Turner’s Brother, and other men and women of the town. In these chapters, they truly defined their love towards each other. In chapter 18, they come across Indian’s who warn them of a Hurricane coming among them soon. Tea Cake choose to ignore the warnings. Tea Cake and Janie along with other town folks decided to stay, little did they know what was soon to occur. As soon as the storm began Tea Cake and Janie were sheltered in their home, until their house went pitch black. “They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching god”(160). I interpret this quote as them awaiting their fate, they were uncertain if that were the last moment they would be alive. Tea Cake saw the terrible conditions of the Hurricane and decided to evacuate himself, Janie, and Motor Boat. They along with other town folk walked fighting the strong waves. Many people could not withhold the tough currents. They finally came across shelter where they rested, until the lake caught up to them. After excavating through the waters, Tea Cake decided to rest on the side of the road. When suddenly Janie saw a tar-paper to cover Tea Cake with (showing her massive concern for her husband). As she reached for the tar-paper, the wind lifted both of them lashing Janie into the water. She soon woke Tea Cake up with her desperate calls for him. This was when they encountered a vicious rabid dog. Personally, I saw this rabid dog as death itself. Death was presented throughout the inconvenient hurricane. “Corpses were not just found in the wrecked houses. They were under houses, tangled in shrubbery, floating in water, hanging in trees, drifting under wreckage”(170). Tea Cake himself soon became ill from the dog’s rabies. They became aware of his illness when it was too late for a cure, Tea Cake was destined to die. Janie viewed Tea Cake’s terminal condition as her own death. “Well she thought, that big old dawg with the hatred in his eyes had killed her after all” (178). Without Tea Cake she felt as if she herself were to die. It was one night when Janie fixed Tea Cae into bed, that she discovered his pistol under his pillow. That same night, after Tea Cake had continuous attacks, Janie saw a change in Tea Cake. “Tea Cake was gone. Something else was looking out of his face”(181). He was out of control, he was no longer thinking rationally. He falsely accused Janie of no longer loving him, which made him angry. He raised his pistol at her, luckily Janie had a rifle which she had to shoot. As he fell onto her he closed his teeth in the flesh of her forearm. Janie would be alone once again.
ReplyDeleteThe story itself is unraveled with so much conflict, emotion, and passion. In my own personal experience, I could relate to the pain that Janie had endured. She had been mistreated by the men she had pictured spending her life. She was also very young when she tried to go out in the world on her own. Janie like any other girl had envisioned her ideal man; her own Prince Charming. But when you're young and in love, you've become blind. Do you think despite all the trials and tribulations Janie has endured with the former lovers in her life, has made her wiser?
DeleteI really enjoyed all of the quotes you used, each of them were very powerful and invoked tons of emotion. Janie having to shoot Tea Cakes was one of the most moving parts of the book, I couldn't believe that Janie had to kill the one man that she really loved.
DeleteBecause of the fact that she went through so much with the previous men that have treated her bad in her life, i truly feel like that has been a great factor on how she has grown as a person and has helped her become wiser. I also agree, it had me a little bit shocked that she finally found her true love who she had been searching for all her life and she had to kill him. It seemed as if nothing went right for her.
DeleteIn chapters 15-17, we see Janie’s and Tea Cake’s love for each other grow very strongly. Though we also see their love get tested by jealousy. A women named Nunkie flirts with Tea Cakes in the fields. Eventually progressing into some light physical contact between Tea Cakes and her. This leads to conflict between Janie and Tea Cakes which leads to a passionate night for them. This specific occasion shows how much Janie needs Tea Cake and her need for monogamy. Staying after the season, Tea Cake and Janie met another character who has a large impact on them, Mrs. Turner. A woman who is black but worships whiteness. She puts pressure on Janie to leave Tea Cake and marry her light-skinned brother. This incident specifically targets race. It directly displays racism that can be found in just one race, lighter-skinned looking down upon those with darker skin. In chapter 8, we see another conflict rise, one caused by nature. Janie comes across Native Americans who warn her of a hurricane coming. While others in the town choose to flee, Janie and Tea Cake choose to stay. We can just how strong their bond is, while the storm brews they have to fight through multiple different hardships, such as fighting dog and just trying to keep themselves safe. Their strong love allows for them to do this and fight through all the hardships they face. After the hurricane, Tea Cake is forced to help bury the bodies who did not make it through the storm and rebuild the dike. One day he returns from work very ill. While fighting the dog during the storm, Tea Cake got bitten and a doctor believes that he contracted rabies from the dog. Janie decides to hide this information from Tea Cake, sneaking off to get medicine from the doctor. This drives Tea Cake crazy, assuming that she is sneaking off to see Mrs. Turner’s brother. Eventually this causes Tea Cake to confront Janie with a gun, causing a face-off between the two. It ultimately causing Janie to get a rifle and shooting him after he shot at her, this leads to Tea Cake’s death. The moment of Tea Cake’s death, though horrible for Janie to endure, reflects how much she has grown as a person and how secure she has become.
ReplyDeleteI can agree that Janie discovered how far she has grown as a person, and that it definitely made her secure of herself. Tea Cake was a very important person in Janie's life, which made it harder for her. All her life Janie was subdued and controlled by men, I personally believe that this final scene broke her free. She did not allow herself to be controlled or killed by Tea Cake. Janie finally had the courage to fight a man, and she won. After reading the book, what do you believe the main idea was?
DeleteI think it mainly about Janie's journey to find an fulfilling love and that she was not going to settle for anything less.
DeleteI agree, this book was about Janie's life and what she went through, but because towards the beginning of the book and our previous conversations, do you believe this books main idea also includes race, age, and gender as an important factor?
DeleteThis was an incredibly heart wrenching story of a woman with such charismatic attributes and profound beauty that she was forced to witness her true love's death. After all the trials and tribulations she had faced alone, she was ripped away from her only happiness. We see some sort of closure for Janie in the end but nonetheless, Janie endured what most could not have lived to go through. I applaud her bravery. Though Janie isn't perfect like the rest of us, she managed to keep going despite the trauma, death, hurt, and heart break. She grew stronger as a person. And she became wiser as a woman.
DeleteWe learn so much about Janie and what she went through, she is so tough and I wish I had courage like she did. Love is hard to understand and this story shows what it makes women go through. She went through everything alone and you have to have a heart of steel for that, she kept going through everything she went through and I admire that. I agree with Kaelonni that, even though she wasn't perfect, she is grew into a strong, very wise woman. I believe that the whole story was based around the race, age and gender. If Janie hadn't of been a young, colored woman than the story wouldn't show the true struggles back then. We saw how hard it was to live when she was younger, getting bullied and not having a steady place to live all because of her race and then when she's older she is treated less because she is a woman, having to clean and stay home even if that's not what she wanted.
DeleteChapters 15-20 were quite interesting in “Their eyes were watching god”. We all knew Janie would fall quickly for Tea Cake because of her previous experiences with her past marriages. But the way she talking about him was different then the rest, just simply the way she described him, he seemed like the best. Their honeymoon stage didn’t seem to end, until Mrs.Turner came along. All she seemed to cause was problems, that is why i didn’t really like her. Although she was mixed like Janie she was way different, she felt higher up then everyone else and this is why I liked Janie because although she was half white she didn’t feel that way. Towards the beginning of chapter 18, was when the whole hurricane situation happened, on page 159 Tea cake says to Janie “In a little wind-lull, Tea Cake touched Janie and said, “Ah reckon you wish now you had of stayed in yo’ big house ‘way from such as dis, don’t yuh?”, when he said this, I thought maybe Janie was going to say she did wish she would have stayed living in her big house as a wealthy widow. But this is when I realized she truly, did love Tea cake. During the storm, Janie and Tea cake managed to fight together, Tea cake eventually gets bit by a dog with rabies which then caused him to go crazy. Jealousy got to him making him accuse Janie of cheating with Mrs.Turner's brother. He went out of his mind and pointed a gun to her, but luckily Janie was able to grab a rifle and shoot him. Towards the end of the story, Janie returns to the same town she was before and that is how she ended up a lonely widow again. Out of the three husbands she ended up having, Tea cake was the only one she has really strong feelings for and actually made her happy. However, things never really seemed to turn right for Janie, they always went into the opposite direction. Some may say Janie was just a very indecisive women because she always ended up switching on what she wanted, she always started with her husbands in the honeymoon stage until she eventually got tired of it and found someone else. But although I agree she was like this, Janie also had a big heart and throughout her life she just let every man control her, from the day her grandma died. Until the end of the book, she stood up to Tea cake or else he could have killed her, and maybe now finally she can live as an independent women without having to depend on any man.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Janie, though having to endure what she did, was able to find a sort of closure and peace within herself. She witnessed the death of someone who held such a special place in her heart. This deep underlying pain she now has to live with, she still managed to conquer with each day. Even though she must step through life on her own now, I feel she is capable, with or without a man by her side.
DeleteSeeing what Janie had gone through her whole life with finding love and even just taking care of herself I agree that we finally do see her find her peace. The story starts off with showing her peace and that was very good structure because it then back tracts and shows us how she got there and why she is the way she is in the beginning, so independent and not explaining herself to anyone. I think all along Janie could've been without a man, her grandma was the one that wanted her to go out and get married which she did but she got hurt many, many times in the process. But without the hurt and hard times she went through she wouldn't be as strong as she is today.
DeleteIn chapters 15-17, Janie’s and Tea Cake’s love for each other has grown immensely. The chemistry between the two has blossomed into the makings of fairy tales. But not only have we seen their love grow, but we also see their love get tested by jealousy. Janie begins to grow jealous of Nunkie, a chunky girl who flirts with Tea Cake in the fields. As the season goes on, Nunkie grows bolder and bolder and is always falling over Tea Cake and playfully touching him. One day, Janie gets distracted and then finds that Nunkie and Tea Cake have disappeared. Their friend Sop-de-Bottom tells Janie that Nunkie and Tea Cake are over in a patch of cane. Janie rushes over and finds them play-wrestling on the ground. Tea Cake explains that Nunkie stole his work tickets and coquettishly made him tussle for them. Nunkie flees, and when the couple returns home, Janie tries to beat Tea Cake. But he holds her off, and her wild anger transforms into wild passion. In bed the next morning, they both joke about what a foolish girl Nunkie is. However, this specific occasion shows how much Janie needs Tea Cake and her need for monogamy. Staying after the season, Tea Cake and Janie met another character who has a portrayed a large impact on them, Mrs. Turner. Although she is black, Mrs. Turner, a funny-looking, conceited woman, talks all the time about the evils of black people. She loves whiteness and argues that black people are lazy and foolish and that they should try to “lighten up de race.” She dislikes the dark-skinned Tea Cake and wants Janie to marry her light-skinned brother. This incident specifically targets race. It directly portrays racism that can be found not in all races but within just one race. Example being lighter-skinned looking down upon those with darker skin. In chapter 8, we see another conflict rise. However this being the cause of Mother Nature. One day, Janie sees several groups of Native Americans departing the Everglades for Palm Beach. She asks them why they are leaving and they respond that a hurricane is coming. While everyone in two flees, Janie and Tea Cake choose to stay. We can just how strong their bond is, while the storm brews they have to fight through multiple different hardships, such as fighting dog which ended up biting Tea Cake. But this would be another tribulation against them as their strong love aided in enduring these trials they have faced. After the hurricane, Tea Cake is forced to help bury the bodies and rebuild the dike. One day he returns from work very ill. While fighting the dog during the storm, doctor examined Tea Cake and believes he contracted rabies from the dog. Upon the revelation of this information, Janie hides this from Tea Cake. Instead she goes sneaking off to get medicine from the doctor. Ridden with the disease, Tea Cake becomes insane and assumed that Janie was sneaking off to see Mrs.Turner’s brother. Eventually this causes Tea Cake to confront Janie with a gun, causing a heartbreaking face-off between the two. It ultimately causing Janie to get a rifle and shooting him, her one true lover. Twas this was after he shot at her, this leads to Tea Cake’s untimely death. The moment of Tea Cake’s death, though horrible for Janie to endure, reflects how much she has grown and how much stronger she has become as a woman.
ReplyDeleteIn the last chapters we see how much Tea Cakes and Janie truly love each other. They make many sacrifices for each other and risk their lives for each other. In the first chapter Janie learn what it feels like to be jealous. While working in the field a girl took to picking a play out of Tea Cakes. These events showed how much they truly loved each other and how they wanted to be together. When Mrs. Turner tries to get Janie to meet her brother Tea Cake gets upset. Later on Janie tells him that she would never want to leave him. “Shucks! If dat’s her notation she’s barkin’ up the wrong tree. Mah hands is full already” (143). In chapter 18 they are told there is a hurricane coming but Tea Cakes decides to ignore the warnings. Eventually the storm gets so bad they decide to get out of the glades and go towards Palm Beach. “Three inches more and the water would be in the house. Already in some. He decided to find a car to take them out of the ‘Glades before worse things happened. He turned back to tell Janie about it so she could be ready to go” (160). As they leave they have to walk because the cars were gone. As they are walking we start to see that Tea Cakes really loves Janie and she loves him. They go through a lot of danger trying to leave but Tea cakes keeps Janie as safe as he can. Once they stop Janie finds a piece of roofing to cover them but the wind blows it away with her holding on. During this she shows that she really cares for him and that she wants them to be safe. She lands in the water and cannot swim back. While helping her get out of the water he is bitten by a dog. When they first mentioned the dog sitting on the shore I knew that something was going to happen to one of them with the dog. Later on Tea Cakes helps with burying the dead bodies. “Tea Cakes found that he was part of a small army that had been pressed into service to clear the wreckage in public spaces and bury the dead. Bodies had to be searched out, carried to the certain gathering place and buried” (170). In this part of the book you can really tell this took place during a time of segregation. When burying the bodies they are told not to put the white people straight in the ground that they had to be placed in coffins that were coming. The colored were all just buried because they told them that they did not have enough wood. “Got orders from headquarters. They makin’ coffins fuh all the white folks. ‘Taint nothin’ but cheap pine, but dat’s better’n nothin’. Don’t dump no white folks in the hole jus’ so”(171). Soon after they get back to there house in the ‘Glades Tea Cakes becomes very ill. They have a doctor come and he tells them it is from the dog biting him and it is too late. After she realizes that Tea Cakes is going to die she feels like she is too because she is losing him. One night he comes out with a pistol in his hands. Janie tells him to go back to bed and he gets upset. In the end she shoots him because he was going to shoot her. It goes to trial but she is set free and goes back to her old town.
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