“‘’Cause Tea Cake ain’t no Jody Starks, and if he tried tuh be, it would be uh complete flommuck. But de minute Ah marries ‘im everybody is gointuh be makin’ comparisons. So us is goin’ off somewhere and start all over in Tea Cake’s way. Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is uh love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine.’” (114)
When the quotation takes place Janie is talking to Pheoby about her and Tea Cake. Pheoby is telling Janie how the town is judging her and Pheoby is also expressing her concerns about the situation to Janie. In this quotation and the whole conversation, Pheoby is revealed as Janie’s confidant. Hurston makes Pheoby the confidant because it allows the reader to learn some of Janie’s thoughts and feelings about not only Tea Cake, but her grandmother as well. If Janie had not had a confidant, the reader might never have known these essential details. Knowing Janie’s thoughts that are expressed in this conversation between her and Janie changes the reader’s opinion about Tea Cake and Janie. I believe that because the reader now knows Janie’s feelings about the situation, they connect on a deeper level with Janie. I also think that this conversation reveals how Janie’s character is evolving and how she is becoming a stronger woman.
“So he didn’t come that night and she laid in bed and pretended to think scornfully of him. ‘Bet he’s hangin’ round some jook or ‘nother. Glad Ah treated him cold. Whut do Ah want wid some trashy nigger out de streets? Bet he’s livin’ wid some woman or ‘nother and takin’ me for uh fool. Glad Ah caught mahself in time.’ She tried to console herself that way.” (106)
Tea Cake hadn’t come by Janie’s house that night so she wants to be mad at him. She tries to make herself mad at him by talking poorly out loud about him. In this passage, Hurston uses the technique of an apostrophe. Janie is talking to nothing in particular. By saying what she does, we learn about Janie’s thoughts and feelings. It causes the reader to get a look inside of Janie’s mind and it makes the reader sympathize with her because we want to see her happy.
“Another thing, Joe Starks hadn’t been dead but nine months and here she goes sashaying off to a picnic in pink linen. Done quit attending church, like she used to. Gone off to Sanford in a car with Tea Cake and her all dressed in blue! It was a shame. Done took to high heel slippers and a ten dollar hat! Looking like some young girl, always in blue because Tea Cake told her to wear it. Poor Joe Starks. Bet he turns over in his grave every day. 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 the dance. Tea Cake making flower beds in Janie’s yard and seeding the garden for her. Chopping down that tree she never did like by the dining room window. All those signs of possession.” (110)
This passage comes at the beginning of Chapter 12. After the passage, there is dialogue from the townspeople talking about Janie in a judging way and then comes Janie’s conversation with Pheoby. In this passage Hurston uses short sentences and tone. The tone that is created is a judging tone. Hurston uses tone to make the judgment of Janie stand out. The short sentences make it feel as if each sentence is a thought from a person in the town. It seems as if the thoughts go back and forth. This creates the feeling that everyone in the town is judging Janie, adding to the tone.
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