Friday, March 22, 2013

Their Eyes Were Watching God (6-11)


Wow. Joe became incredibly controlling and degrading towards Janie. He was so obsessed with power that he became jealous of Janie’s every action. Page 67 made me sad. Her whole life Janie has this ideal image of a loving husband and a good life. However, after Joe hit her, she finally realizes that she cannot be “petal-open” with him anymore.  Joe officially no longer fulfilled her expectations of what love is supposed to be like. However, I was so happy when Janie finally put Joe in his place. Good for her! By doing so in front of so many other people, Joe felt robbed of his “irresistible maleness” and prestige. It’s interesting how Joe makes it seem like Janie is completely powerless but her words have such an effect on him.
            I really like Tea Cake. One cannot blame Janie for being skeptical of his intentions considering her past relationship. Because of Joe, she has an obscured impression of men. However, in contrast to Joe, Tea Cake is actually encouraging, loving, and respectful towards Janie.  This is demonstrated, for example, by his faith in her ability to learn checkers.  He doesn’t doubt her ability to participate in everyday tasks. Instead, he encourages her. Tea Cake also doesn’t seem to care about the material aspects of life or his poor status.  This is very much Janie’s attitude towards life, too, as she does not merely seek stability and material wealth.
Because Janie is held in high regard being the mayor’s wife, I am sure that other people will look down on their relationship. Society tells them they should not be together because of their differing status and age.
However, this is most definetely the epitome of a good love story.

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