Journal 9

The last two chapters of Their Eyes Were Watching God helps develop the theme that all good things come with a price.
When Tea Cake saves Janie from the mad dog, he gets bit in the process. Later, it gets infected, he becomes delirious and tries to kill her, and she has to shoot him. Janie was spared from the mad dog, but by saving her, Tea Cake unknowingly sacrificed himself.
The love Tea Cake had for Janie was also something that had a price to it. He loved her too much and couldn't bear to lose her. When he became infected he got it in his head that she didn't want him because he was too weak. He figured if she couldn't be loyal to him, she couldn't be loyal to anyone, and tried to kill her. In a way, Tea Cake's love for Janie was his undoing.

Plot Diagram:
A guy named Fred moves to a new town because he is a suspect for a crime. He meets a girl named Megan, who he falls in love with. She supposedly loves him, but she is actually an undercover cop trying to get evidence to put him in jail. After a few months, Megan has enough evidnce to put him behind bars and arrests him. He is sentenced to life in prison for his crime. The idea that she fell in love with him was too good to be true.

Journal 8

In Chapter 18, Hurston uses the setting to show that hardships help unify people. Before the hurricane Tea Cake and Janie had doubts about each other. When the hurricane came Janie said she didn't care if she died, as long as she was with him, and Tea Cake thought she didn't really love him. The hurricane made Janie realize how important Tea Cake was to her, because she almost lost him. Not only do hardships help unify friends, they also help make new ones. "Common danger made common friends. Nothing sought a conquest over the other"(Hurston 164). The hurricane made everyone try to work together to survive. People who would normally hate each other would get over petty disagreements, which would help make them friends.

Journal 7

When Janie meets Tea Cake, she decided to run off with him. By choosing to run off with Tea Cake she has to leave behind everyone she knows and start a new life. She decides to leave because she has nothing to live for. She just runs the shop, which reminds her of how bad Joe was. Tea Cake would get her away from all of the bad memories. Janie running away shows that she cares more about love and feeling than material possessions and wealth.

Pastiche: "Janie, Ah knows Tea Cake isn't uh looney, but he aint go no money either. You sho marryin' him is yo best choice?"

"I don' know, Pheoby. I likes him, but maybe you'se right. I should know better than tu go off with a strange man. I should just quit while Ah'm ahead."

"Ah'm glad you could see it ah way. Now you go tell dat man to leave befo' he causes anymo' trouble."

That night Janie kept on thinking about Tea Cake. Was he who he said he was? Would he steal my money first chance he got? What if he was telling the truth? What if he really does love me? Tea Cake haunted her all until the blazing face of the sun peeked over the horizon.

Tea Cake showed up on her porch early as usual. "You ready to go fishin'? Ah got de worms." His smile started to fade when he saw the hardness of her face."What's wrong? Yuh don't likes fishin' no mo'?"

"It's not that, it's just...I don't want tuh see you no mo'."

Tea Cake started laughing, but then realized she wasn't joking."But why? We was doin' so well."

"Ah know, but I can't take dat risk. I can make it here fine by mahself. Jus' git on outta here." She turned away and slammed the door on him without a second look.

After that Tea Cake tried to get her to change her mind, but after a few days of futile knocking and hollering at her house, he gave up and left her there. Left her to live out the rest of her life in fear. Doubt started to burrow into her body, and got deeper and deeper as time went on. She was always alone, always doubting, always questioning. She started to lose faith in herself, in everyone, in her dreams.She didn't know what was right and what was wrong. Her doubt made her very secluded. It trapped her in the town of Eatonville. She only talked to the people she knew. Everyone else was a potential risk. Joe had taught her that.The only thing she trusted was her money. It was always there, it never changed. It was dependable. Not like that Tea Cake. Janie hadn't seen Tea Cake ever since he left. She was always wondering if leaving him was the right choice. She may never know.

Journal 6

Janie and Tea Cake had been doing almost everything together, and people were getting worried about her. "Tea Cake and Janie gone hunting. Tea Cake and Janie gone fishing. Tea Cake and Janie gone to Orlando to the movies. Tea Cake and Janie gone to a dance"(110). Hurston uses repetition to emphasize the time Janie spends with Tea Cake. Most of the characters in the book are stunned and a little annoyed by how much time Janie and Tea Cake spend together. By listing almost everything they do together, Hurston tried to give the reader the same feeling as the characters in the book.

Janie tries to tell herself Tea Cake is no good, but finds it hard to do. "He was a glance from God"(106). Hurston uses a metaphor to emphasize the quality of Tea Cake. The metaphor suggests he is a once in a lifetime sort of person who should not be overlooked. It was as if God had sent him. Tea Cake is rich in love, but poor in material posessions, just like religious people who give up everything they have to serve God. Tea Cake is also the exact opposite of Joe Starks, which is probably another quality that attracts Janie.

Pheoby is skeptical about Janie's marriage plan with Tea Cake, but Janie tries to reassure her."Ah'm older than Tea Cake, yes. But he done showed me where it's de thought dat makes de difference in ages"(115). Hurston uses this passage to help foil Tea Cake and Joe Starks. Joe obsessed over age, proper etiquette, and material posessions, while Tea Cake goes outside the box and has no money. Tea Cake spends everything he has on Janie to try to win her heart, while Joe bought her things long enough so she couldn't say he didn't do anything for her. Tea Cake also has more faith in women than Joe did. Joe didn't let her do anything, while Tea Cake is taking her out hunting. Joe and Tea Cake are almost the exact opposite.

Motif: "He could be a bee to a blossom-a pear tree blossom in the spring"(106).

Conflict:All next day in the house and store she thought resisting thoughts about Tea Cake. She even ridiculed him in her mind and was a little ashamed of the association. But every hour or two the battle had to be fought all over again"(106).

Journal 5

"After that night Jody moved his things and slept in a room downstairs. He didn't really hate Janie, but he wanted her to think so. He had crawled off to lick his wounds. They didn't talk too much around the store either. Anybody that didn't know would have thought that things had blown over, it looked so quiet and peaceful around. But the stillness was the sleep of swords"(81).

Hurston uses syntax and word choice to make this passage seem very black and white. There are no fluffy words to help sugar coat the meanings. Joe and Janie do not really talk anymore, and Hurston emphasized the simplicity of the fact by using very simple words and many very matter-of-fact statements in a row.

The tone of the passage seems very ominous. Hurston describes the scene as quiet and peaceful, but suggests that the silence was foreshadowing that something bad was going to happen.

Hurston also uses consonance in the sentence "But the stillness was the sleep of swords"(81), to emphasize a feeling of foreboding. Repetition of the "s" sound adds a feeling of suspense to the sentence, which adds depth to the passage.

Journal 4

Then George started wondering about jealousy. Jealousy, the slimy creatures which take the form of whatever we desire that live in the depths of the earth. The sneaky ones who resides in a house of dreams without a path to it, and without a door. Why should jealousy have a path if they knows the way to everyone? They sit under all of us in the house that all desire. Sit poised and ready, waiting for a spark to go off between beings, where they then breed. Been waiting there since the beginning of time and beyond. He was likely to see one of their green scales around very soon. He felt worried too. Poor Gary! He aint got to deal with it by himself. He went to his door to ask to help, but Gary declined. He didn't know what he wuz talkin' bout. Just 'cause his neighbor got a promotion doesn't mean he wanted one! He'd be all right when the boss gave him his. He wasn't jealous in the least. That's what he told himself. But Jacob said the boss was laying him off next week, so he knew. But if he hadn't told him, the next week would tell the truth. All Gary's co-workers, even those in the marketing department, were giving him funny looks as they passed him in the maze of cubicles, shaking their heads. Everyone was waiting for the moment that the boss would pass the judgement they had heard. Everyone but Gary. Suspense, the unopened door, was in front of the town.

Journal 3

Personification: " So she went on thinking back to her young years and explaining them to her friend in soft, easy phrases while all around the house, the night time put on flesh and blackness"(10).

Parallel Structure:"Dis love! Dat's just whut't got us uh pullin' and uh haulin' and sweatin' and doin' from can't see in de mornin' till can't see at night"(23).

Imagery:"The sun from ambush was threatening the world with red daggers, but the shadows were gray and solid-looking around the barn"(31).

Nanny had just caught a boy kissing Janie, and was trying to scold her for it."Nanny's head and face looked like the standing roots of some old tree that had been torn away by storm"(12). This passage uses a simile to help characterize Nanny. The author compares Nanny to an old tree because they both have a sense of strength about them, but the strength cannot be used. The passage makes Nanny seem strong, but her strength is wasted on Janie, who ignores all Nanny's advice.

Nanny is telling Janie how much she tries to keep her safe and how she won't be with her forever. "Every tear you drop squeezes a cup uh blood outa mah heart"(15). Hurston uses a hyberbole to emphasize Nanny's love for Janie. By exaggerating Nanny's desire to make Janie safe and happy, it shows just how much time and effort she put into making things work for Janie. The passage also hints that because Nanny's daughter did not turn out the way she wanted, she would work even harder for a second chance.

Journal 2

Oh, Lawd, hear us now, an' deliva' us from de white folk! We knows we kin do anythin' with Yuh on aw side! We knows we look diff'ent den dose whites, an' we talk diffen' den dose whites, bu' Yuh kin see pas' that! Yuh knows we feel like dem! Yuh knows we think like dem! Yuh knows we has chillun like dem! So we needs mo' den we got! We gotta rise up an' deman' mo' respect! We gotta deman' mo' lan'. We gotta deman' mo' rights! When we do dis, den we'll be on aw way tuh equality!

Journal 1

I perceive Janie as a woman who doesn't care what other people think about her. She is full of self confidence, and will do what she thinks is right. She seems a bit too overconfident though, and she doesn't seem to think that she could hurt someone's feelings. She does have a good friendship with Pheoby, but she still tells her whatever is on her mind. Janie's also very demanding. She tells people to get her things if she wants them in a pretty blunt way. When Phoeby came over Janie straight out asked when Pheoby was going to give her the food she had. She can seem pretty rude but she has good intentions.

The narrator seems to be a person who picks their words with care. He/she must be patient and calm. The narrator also seems to know everything about all the characters.