Summary and Analysis Chapter 11
Summary
When Tea Cake visits, he is always welcome. He helps Janie in the store by frying fish, making corn bread, and entertaining customers by playing the guitar. One evening while Janie is relaxing, he begins combing her hair. He urges her to look at herself in the mirror, where she will see a reflection of a very attractive woman.
The two avoid one another at first. Janie is unsure that she can trust him, and Tea Cake is afraid that he will lose her. After a serious discussion about the age difference between them, he leaves, and Janie spends the next day thinking about him and trying to get him out of her mind. She finally accepts his intentions, and their relationship is consummated. Tea Cake then disappears for four days, and this causes Janie great anguish. When he returns, Tea Cake informs Janie that he has been working to make enough money to take her to the Sunday School picnic. Janie is concerned that Tea Cake is only inviting her to be polite. Tea Cake assures Janie that she is the only one for him.
Analysis
As a result of her two unhappy marriages, Janie is reluctant to build a relationship with Tea Cake, especially since Janie is considerably older than Tea Cake. However, Tea Cake encourages Janie to enjoy life and realize her beauty. Again, Hurston uses the images of bees, blossoms, and trees. This time, however, Tea Cake serves as the basis for the comparison. Janie reveals that "he could be a bee to a blossom — a pear tree blossom in the spring." Neither Logan nor Joe was compared using the metaphor. For the first time in the novel, Janie has found the love she has craved since she was a teenager.
Unlike both her previous husbands, Tea Cake does not judge Janie. The porch sitters, Logan, and Joe have judged Janie on her beauty, her work ethic, and her pursuit for her own identity. Tea Cake loves Janie unconditionally. He tells Janie that "nobody else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby." With Tea Cake, Janie can finally be herself.
One of Janie's most striking attributes is her long braids of hair. Joe exerted his power and control over Janie by demanding that she hide her braids under a head rag. Since Janie's braids served as a symbol of her beauty, Joe wanted her to conceal them so that other men might be discouraged from soliciting her. The image of Tea Cake combing Janie's hair serves to represent Janie's new found independence from Joe. Finally, she is free of Joe's control, which stifled her individuality and her beauty.
Glossary
You got me in de go long opening for a proposal of marriage. Janie has captivated Tea Cake, and he will "go long" through life with her.
run our conversation from grassroots to pine trees We've gone as far as we can go with this conversation — from minor matters to larger issues. Hurston has used other expressions like this to indicate limits and extremes in conversations.
De big Sunday School picnic The Sunday School picnic that took place on a spring or summer day was often the biggest social event in a small community like Eatonville.
FAQs
Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is, at its heart, a story that validates the potency of love. The narrative follows the protagonist, Janie, on her search for an ideal love—which becomes a simultaneous search for herself.
What is the literal meaning of Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Andrew Ruble Fate and self-determination are important themes within the story. " Their eyes were watching God" is another way of saying, "They were watching closely in order to predict fate", or. "Their eyes were watching nature unfold."
Is Their Eyes Were Watching God hard to read? ›
The main thing I found difficult about the book was that much of Janie's story is rendered in vernacular. This does give it a fantastic sense of authenticity but, initially, I found it difficult to get to grips with and found myself having to re-read sentences to ensure I understood what was being said.
What is Zora Neale Hurston trying to say in Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Zora Neale Hurston
Set in the rural South, the novel vividly captures the cultural and social context of the time, including issues of race, gender, and class. Janie's story is a powerful exploration of identity, resilience, and the quest for autonomy in a society marked by racial and gendered oppression.
What is the moral lesson of Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
What lesson does Janie learn in Their Eyes Were Watching God? Janie learns that she has a voice and her dreams and desires are just as valid as those of the men around her. She learns that she can be happy with a partner or by herself.
What did Janie sacrifice? ›
Nanny caused Janie to sacrifice the love she dreamed of. In her youth she had a great dream of a pear tree during which she came to realize what love was.
Why is Their Eyes Were Watching God so popular? ›
Published in 1937, Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God is regarded as a groundbreaking piece of literature for its exploration of the self through the eyes of Janie Crawford, a romantic, resilient Black woman navigating three marriages in the early 20th century.
Why did people criticize Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Richard Wright, often considered Hurston's chief literary rival, wrongheadedly criticized her novel for not explicitly addressing the “race problem,” and for allegedly choosing sensuality over social commentary.
What does Janie's hair symbolize? ›
Hair. Janie's hair is a symbol of her power and unconventional identity; it represents her strength and individuality in three ways. First, it represents her independence and defiance of petty community standards.
What is controversial about Their Eyes Were Watching God? ›
Add to that a story dealing with rape, inter-racial relationships, murder (even if it was in self-defense), and forced marriage it illustrates how it would be considered controversial from the start, but these subjects are just as emotionally charged in modern times: in 1997, a parent complained of language and sexual ...
Their Eyes Were Watching God meets the standard for Range of Reading and Level of Text Complexity for grades 11-12.
What is the point of view Their Eyes Are Watching God? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God is told from the perspective of an omniscient third-person narrator, meaning the narrator has access to the inner lives of each character. Unlike Janie and the other characters, the narrator does not speak in the informal Southern dialect.
Why were their eyes watching God banned? ›
Their Eyes Were Watching God
The story is set in early 20th Century Florida, and it follows the story of Janie Mae Crawford, who is described as an independent Black woman. In 1997, the text was banned after a parent of a Virginia high school student complained about its obscenity and sexual content.
What was one reason that Their Eyes Were Watching God was considered controversial _____? ›
One reason that "Their Eyes Were Watching God" by Zora Neale Hurston was considered controversial was because it portrayed black people's lives in a way that was not consistent with the mainstream view of black people's experiences at the time.In the early 20th century, white people's perceptions of black people's ...
Why does Tea Cake beat Janie? ›
Tea Cake begins to identify Janie as his possession. Because he feels threatened after Janie meets Mrs. Turner's brother, he strikes his wife to reassure himself that Janie belongs to him and no one else.
