Chapter 16

This chapter was entirely about race and how it affected people’s perspectives about the people around them. When Janie and Mrs. Turner talk about race, we can clearly see how Mrs. Turner is biased towards white people and scorns black people. She claims that she hates black people because they are poor and they don’t attempt to change their lowly status. She also mentions that white and mixed race folk, like Janie, have beautiful hair and skin.

In this book, race is not just the grouping of people with similar physical characteristics; race is portrayed as the most defining characteristic that these people have. It rules their life, either becoming a stigma or a blessing. To people like Mrs. Turner, blackness is a stigma; it is something to be frowned upon. Blackness ruined your chances at becoming someone with huge amounts of power. This was the mentality of many people, black and white, during this time period. This is because people believed that blacks couldn’t accomplish as much as whites because they were dumber, because their color somehow displayed their work ethic and IQs. There were also people who believed in the beauty and power of whiteness. Being white “made” people beautiful, desirable, and powerful. It “made” them wealthier and more prosperous, which is why Mrs. Turner believed that worshipping them would bring her closer to the whiteness she desired.


“To like an individual because he's black is just as insulting as to dislike him because he isn't white.” -E. E. Cummings

Change this quote to better suit the Mrs. Turner’s view of whites/ the mixed race/ blacks. Also, what does E.E. Cummings mean when he uses the word “insulting?”  Do you agree with this quote? Why or why not?

Chapter 12

Since Jody's death, Janie is much more free than she has been in a long time. Her relationship with Tea Cake in this chapter highlights this. They go fishing and play games together, Tea Cake teaches Janie how to drive, and they have a lot more equality in their relationship than Janie has had in any of her previous ones.

However, there are still some restrictions forced upon Janie, including those of the townspeople and their view on how society should be. They disapprove of Janie and Tea Cake's relationship because of their age difference, because Tea Cake is from out of town, because Tea Cake is poor and Janie is relatively well-off, because they think she ought to still be mourning Jody, and because some of the men are jealous of Tea Cake, having wanted to court Janie themselves. In addition, twice it is mentioned that Janie is wearing blue because Tea Cake loves how she looks in it, showing that his opinion of her has a huge influence on her behavior and she is seeking his approval. Between the limitations of society and Janie's own desire to be reassured of her self-worth by Tea Cake, is Janie really as free as she first appears to be?

Chapter 16

In this chapter, Janie meets Mrs. Turner, a strange-looking woman of mixed heritage who associates herself primarily with her white half and despises black people. Mrs. Turner is extremely racist; she sees white people as gods and black people as worshippers. She "worships" Janie  because Janie has more white features than she does. She thinks of "whiteness" as a sort of salvation that she can achieve by worshiping people with white features.

"White people create the dominant images of the world, and don’t quite see that they thus construct the world in their image."

Richard Dyer

       Do you agree with this quote? Why or why not? Do you think this leads to Mrs. Turner’s worship of and desire to be like a white woman? Also how does this white image lead to “all other believers [building] an altar to the unattainable”? Who else in the book does this?

Chapter 14

Chapter 14
In this chapter we see that someone (Tea Cake) finally is able to make Janie want to work on her own accord. Is it possible that Tea Cake uses his charisma in order to manipulate Janie? Or is he just very persuasive? Please use textual evidence if you can in your response.

Chapter 11

In Chapter 11, Zora Neale Hurston uses very little direct characterization to tell readers the way that Janie feels about Tea Cake. However, a parallel is created between her past lovers, Logan and Jody, and Tea Cake. These parallels exist in imagery, actions, and words to emphasize a shift in the way Janie feels, reacts, or interprets the situation. Parallels illuminate certain characteristics of Tea Cake, and readers identify traits in Tea Cake that the other two men failed to possess. Tea Cake becomes Janie’s paradigm of marriage and love. The things we learn about Tea Cake end up not only teaching us about him, but parts of Janie’s personality become illuminated as well. For the first time, we get to see Janie’s true character shine through as she begins to live her life in the way that she wants rather than in the way society had insisted that she live in the past.

How do you think people find out who they are? How do you know who you are as a person and what is important to you? Is finding who you are by looking for yourself in other people and in the world around you an effective form of discovery or do you need to decide who you are without the influence of the world? Do you think that the time period plays any role in Janie's discovery of herself? 

Ch. 13

Do you think it was acceptable for Tea Cake to take Janie's money and throw a party without telling her? Does the fact that he returned it make it acceptable or should he have never taken it without asking in the first place? In your opinion, is Tea Cake still a good fit as a husband for Janie after these actions two weeks into their money?

SELF DISCOVERY

Chapter 12

Janie's journey to happiness has been Janie's main life goal throughout the whole book. In order for Janie to be happy, she needs to truly accept herself and her life. Janie's self-discovery is a very important theme in Chapter 11. The different way of life Janie gets to experience with the help of Tea Cake helps Janie tremendously with accomplishing this theme. Tea Cake is a very important factor in her self discovery. Janie says on page 115, "He [Tea Cake] done taught me de maiden language all over". What does she mean by this and how was Tea Cake able to help Janie so much in such a short period of time, when Jody and Logan really did not help her at all? How did this new "language" Janie says Tea Cake taught her, help in the maturation of her thoughts? Explain two examples of some of Janie's views on life changing after meeting Tea Cake. (HINT-one is her thoughts about her grandmother's intentions for forcing her to marry Logan).