In
Chapter 15, Janie begins to become jealous of a “little chunky girl,” named
Nunkie. Nunkie repeatedly attempts to flirt with Tea Cake. However, Janie and
the towns people begin to notice it. One time, Tea Cake and Nunkie go missing
simultaneously and Janie finds them “struggling” in the sugar cane field. Janie
chases after Nunkie, but she later gives in. Later that day, Janie hits Tea
Cake and they both get into a fight. Their clothes gets torn away and the heat
of the argument turns into passionate love. Janie later asks if Tea Cake loved
Nunkie and he denies it. He reassures her that she is something much better.
She is, “something tuh make uh man forgit tuh git old and forgit tuh die.”
Sweet, isn’t it?
In the first sentence of the chapter, “Janie learned
what it felt like to be jealous.” What does this tell us about her character?
Is this the first time? Does this make her more like her other lovers?
On page 137, Janie goes after Tea Cake and Nunkie by
“acting on feelings.” Does this change you perspective of Janie? Do you think
she is beginning to become stronger and more expressive? Is she acting more
like a man of the time period?
Although
Tea Cake states that Janie is, “something tuh make uh man forgit tuh git old and forgit
tuh die.” Do
you believe she thinks the same for Tea Cake? Why, or why not?
The quote, "Janie learned what it felt like to be jealous," tells us that Janie is possessive about people she cares about. This is the first time we see Janie jealous over another girl flirting with her husband. When she was married to Jody, I assume a lot of women approached him because he has such a high rank and status within the town. Nonetheless, Janie never mentioned anything about her feeling jealous. However, when Nunkie flirts with Tea Cake, Janie gets jealous. This shows that she really CARES about Tea Cake and wants to "own him," instead of anyone else doing so. In a way, I think this could make her like Jody. Jody made Janie tie her hair up in the shop because he noticed other men looking at her and he wanted to be the only who could look at Janie with her hair down.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Janie's jealousy really changes my perspective on Janie. Janie has always been a strong woman and in the end, does what she wants. Janie "acting on feelings" is only natural since she genuinely like Tea Cake. I think the fact that she feels comfortable around Tea Cake (in comparison to when she was with Logan or Jody), it makes her feel more comfortable to express what she thinks. In a way, though,she is acting like a man of the time period because of her ability to want to control someone and saying what's on her mind. Normally, black women during that time period did not have the power or ability to act freely, whereas Janie does.
I think Janie indeed thinks Tea Cake is "something tuh make uh [woman] forgit tuh git old and forgit tuh die." Especially considering the fact that Tea Cake is younger than Janie, and is more playful than her previous husbands, it makes her feel young. Tea Cake is the first one Janie feels comfortable joking around with, so it can help her "forgit tuh git old and forgit tuh die."