TEWWG Dialectical Journals #31-40

DJ-31

Yuh can’t beat uh woman. Dey jes won’t stand fuh it. – Tea Cake PG 96

From the beginning Tea Cake is glaringly different than Jody. Where Tea Cake asks and respects women, Jody didn’t. Janie finds companionship in Tea Cake by being in his company and just having fun. Jody made Janie his trophy, not his companion. After being abused by Jody, this must come as a refreshing change to her life.

DJ-32

You’se got de world in uh jug and make out you don’t know it – Tea Cake PG 104

Everything in this book has to do with potential. There was potential in the first boring marriage to live an average but comfortable life. She rejected it. The was a chance at greatness through marriage to Jody, it didn’t satisfy her. Janie has the potential to be happy, she just doesn’t recognize it, Tea Cake does. Her beauty, wit, and charm all make her attractive to other characters once she is given a chance to shine.

DJ-33

…youngness don’t satisfy me lak yo’ presence do…Things lak dat got uh whole lot tuh do wid convenience, but it ain’t got nothin’ to do wid love. – Tea Cake PG 105

Convenience is what Nanny wanted for Janie, convenience is proper in society because it mean stability. Janie has been there and done it twice over. With Tea Cake, her normal shell is broken. She was crammed into a perfect Ms. Mayor Wife position and not allowed to do anything for her desires. Tea Cake is the bee to her tree, he allows her to blossom into confidence.

DJ-34

Somebody done tole ‘em what to set down for. – Janie PG 112

Janie speaks of the educated women as being told things to consider as they sit patiently. For herself, Janie has nothing to consider because she has done nothing by her account. She was educated, but her interests were outside the schoolroom by the trees and nature. To sit in a room just thinking not doing goes against her grain. Especially as a represented by nature. Nature is always moving and shifting, for good or bad. It also doesn’t take advice from others, Janie dislikes that others told the woman what to think about.

DJ-35

Git up on uh high chair and sit dere…So Ah got up on de high stool lak she tole me, but Pheoby, Ah done nearly languished tuh heath up dere. – Janie PG 114

Victory was in Janie’s possession. However, when she got it, she realized it wasn’t as great as made out to be. Nanny wanted Janie to have a ‘grand’ life as a perfectly kept wife. Janie wasn’t sure what she wanted but she followed her grandmother’s wishes. Sitting up in the spotlight wasn’t as pleasant because there was no one to share it with and no place to take it. Thrones and castles aren’t meant to move or change much, but Janie as a human is.

DJ-36

…he talked and acted out the story. – Narrator PG 122

This is what Tea Cake is all about. He is enthusiastic, charming, and has a huge joie-de-vivre.  Janie has been lacking this in her life due to unsuitable matches and circumstances. TC is an embodiment of freedom, including its risks and rewards. He enjoys a life in the fast lane, with gambling and odd jobs always looking for something new. However, he knows the uncertainty of his next job as well. This bit of wildness attracts Janie as it is in huge contrast to everything she has ever known and parallel to her own inner desires.

DJ-37

Tea Cake: So you aims tuh partake wid everything, hunh

Janie: Yeah.       -PG 124

With these two lines, they become partners. Partners are equal, but can preform different duties within the relationship. Although Janie still is the classical stay-at-home wife, she gets a say in where they go and what they do. TC encourages this, the opposite of Janie’s other husbands opinions on women speaking.

They are partners now.

DJ-38

You done married one uh de best gamblers God ever made. – Tea Cake PG 125

Despite his many good characteristics, TC does have bad qualities. Gambling, a dangerous and often risky business, is one of his favorite pastimes and moneymakers. This past time helps develop TC as a character because it gives him diversity and the black-and-white present in every person.

DJ-39

From now on, you gointuh eat whatever mah money can buy yuh and wear de same. When Ah ain’t got nothin’ you don’t git nothin’. – Tea Cake PG 128

Although TC means this in a good and honest way, only wanting to provide for Janie and make her happy, the quotes also has a dark side. TC is going to be the provider and Janie will have to abide by him financially in order for him to be happy. She couldn’t get a job she likes or do work she believes in valuable. Overall though, this snippet shows TC’s devotion to Janie and the relationship, not to her money or other assets.

DJ-40

…the way Janie caught on… She got to be a better shot than Tea Cake. – Narrator PG 131

This page of the story is a part of Janie’s blossoming. She becomes an accurate shooter and can outshoot even her husband. This not only shows her physical ability and capability, but is very symbolic. Guns are valuable killing weapons, for food or defense, they can be used many things. That Janie is in control of such a powerful tool expresses her growth in power and self-actualization.