Janie’s Responses to Getting Beat
In Their Eyes Were Watching God, both Jody and Tea Cake beat Janie. However, Janie reacts in very different ways to the two men--she’s heavily affected when Jody beats her, but seems to just brush it off when Tea Cake does it. I think this contrast can be connected to her personal development and empowerment throughout the book.
Before Jody beats Janie, and even more so after, Janie is submissive to Jody and she has no power in their marriage. Her life revolves around satisfying Jody’s wishes, and she seems to have accepted it. After Jody beats her, Janie stays with him because she feels that she doesn’t have a choice. Jody’s total control over her has left her powerless, and she doesn’t yet have the strength to do anything about his abuse.
In contrast, Janie’s reaction to Tea Cake beating her could show that she has become much more powerful. I think the fact that it doesn’t have the same destructive psychological effects on her indicates that she has become stronger mentally--she brushes it off because she’s strong enough to withstand it. I think that, unlike her attitude while she was with Jody, she could have left him if she wanted to. Since her marriage with Jody, she has developed enough strength to have that choice, and I think the fact that she decides that she’s strong enough to withstand Tea Cake’s abuse for the sake of their love is indicative of her empowerment.
But, this shouldn't be viewed as some sort of happy moment in this story. Choosing to dismiss their husband’s domestic violence is not a good way for women to be empowered, and I don’t think Janie should’ve stayed with Tea Cake after he beat her. Although it was a more acceptable behavior at the time, what Tea Cake did is nonetheless inexcusable and shouldn’t be overlooked. I’m sort of interpreting it as Janie becoming powerful enough to handle getting beat, but I also think it’s very possible that her mental state after Tea Cake beats her is no better than how it was with Jody--Tea Cake’s abuse might’ve affected her more than it seemed to. Whichever way you choose to interpret it, I don’t think there’s a happy outcome of this aspect of the story.
I think this is an interesting interpretation of Janie's response to being beat. I agree with your point about Janie likely feeling as though she could leave Tea Cake if she wanted, in contrast to feeling as though she couldn't leave Jody, because I do think that Janie has more power in her relationship with Tea Cake. However, while reading this part in the novel I thought that what keeps her with him and stops her from responding his abuse is her completely unconditional love for him (another key difference between Janie's relationship with Jody and her relationship with Tea Cake), and probably desensitization to abuse, not mental strength or self-empowerment. And I think it is entirely possible that Tea Cake's beating affected Janie more than she let on.
ReplyDeleteI think it's incredibly notable that after Janie is beat by Tea Cake, the reader gets absolutely no response from Janie herself, instead just hearing what all of their neighbors think (and their grossly positive opinions on it). I wonder if Janie felt like she should follow along with him beating her as if it were her own choice because she had asked before to "partake with everything". Perhaps she thought that to fully understand the joys of the world with Tea Cake guiding her she was required to suffer from him as well. Still quite a gross thought overall. I really wonder why this moment was brushed over so much, maybe it really was just very normalized in the society?
ReplyDeleteGreat way to explain the nuance of the two unfortunate situations -- I do agree that the situation with Tea Cake could be a fleeting glimpse at a harsh and steely kind of empowerment on Janie's part. I do wish we could have gotten a more detailed look at Janie's feelings and reactions like we did when something "fell off the shelf inside her" (after Jody beat her).
ReplyDeleteOn your points about "she could have left him if she wanted to" - I think this is really highlighted with the ending of Janie and Tea Cake's relationship, namely when Janie shoots and kills Tea Cake in defense of herself. She's perfectly able to stand alone and live without Tea Cake, and is able to make the very final decision to do so when it comes down to it, instead of deciding to say, die with Tea Cake, something that I feel like is very romanticized in love stories - the idea of dying for/with your lover. But Janie is able and strong enough as her own individual person to decide to keep on living for herself, not for Tea Cake and their relationship. I think if Tea Cake ever did something that Janie truly considered unforgivable, or if he started treating her like Jody had treated her, she would have left him. But like you said, that doesn't mean their relationship was necessarily a healthy one in today's standards, and the beating is inexcusable through our eyes, although I do think it was pretty much the norm and considered perfectly fine during the time period. I also think if Janie really had an issue with it, Hurston wouldn't have shied away from directly writing about that from her perspective, but like other comments say, it is still weird that we never see Janie's direct thoughts on the matter.
ReplyDeleteI think your point on how she becomes strong enough to withstand his abuse is really interesting. I think her feelings about Teacake were very complicated because she truly enjoyed her time with him (when he was happy), and she didn't really seem to enjoy her time with Joe. It seems like she felt like the pros outweighed the cons. While I disagree, I understand her feelings because abuse was so normalized.
ReplyDeleteI love how you bring up Janie's personal change rather than just the changes in her relationship. What's interesting to me is that in neither case does she fight back. As you say "she brushes it off". However, it seems to be for different reasons. With Joe she's so beaten down that I feel like it's not worth it. With Tea Cake, it just seems like she loves him so much is doesn't matter. It's definitely interesting to contrast the two instances.
ReplyDeleteHi Ian, it was interesting to read your interpretation of these scenes in the novel. In regards to Janie becoming more powerful in her relationship with Tea Cake, I think that while from an outward perspective she is able to withstand more, mentally, she has become much more weak than she has been before, like you stated in your blog. Janie's relationship with Tea Cake is the pinnacle of an abusive relationship. In relation to your statement that Janie "could have left him if she wanted to" encapsulates the outward perspective into an abusive relationship. We know that Janie is in financial state to leave Tea Cake if she so desires. As readers we are able to see that by the end of the novel, Janie harnesses both the physical and mental ability to leave Tea Cake, but it is only after she is pushed to an extreme end. I think that if Tea Cake had not been bitten by the dog, Janie would have not done anything to leave him and choose herself. Even in Tea Cake's death, she is choosing him.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting take on the matter. I originally thought that the way she responded to his abuse was because she was essentially blinded by her love, but this interpretation also makes a lot of sense. In fact, I think it could be both her being blinded by her love and being a stronger woman than before. The fact that it doesn't destroy her psychologically does in fact point to her being stronger, and like you said she seems to have the mental fortitude to leave him whenever. However, the fact that she silently takes this abuse and does not speak nor do anything about it does indicate her love overpowering her judgement. She actively chooses not to do anything about it. Whether this is a symbol of her strength or a symbol of her love is somewhat vague, but I am more inclined towards the idea that she did this out of love.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree that Janie's increased empowerment in her relationship with Teacake minimizes the impacts of Teacake beating her, but the nature of their relationship could also be attributed to this minimized impact. Janie and Teacake have a much more balanced relationship in terms of power, whereas Janie has no power in her relationship with Jody (as you point out), and she's financially dependent on him. Her increased mental strength in her relationship with Teacake can be attributed to the balance in her relationship with Teacake, and the difference in Jody's and Teacake's personal qualities and the strength of her love for each likely also play a part.
ReplyDeleteI can definitely see where you're coming from, on one hand Janie remaining with Tea Cake might represent her mental resolve strengthening, but on the other hand, it might represent her inability to face the reality that someone who she's truly fallen in love with, has betrayed her. Either way, as you mentioned, the ending to their story was pretty disappointing, and I, too, wish that Janie had left Tea Cake.
ReplyDeleteObviously I completely agree with you on the point of this section being not even the slightest bit "happy," despite the growth it may have shown in Janie's character. The whole section was odd and disconcerting, probably because of how kind and loving Tea Cake had acted prior. He had shown bits of insecurity earlier on, but his abuse still feels kind of out of left field to me, almost as odd as Janie's choice to stay with him, though maybe it is in part due to the time period.
ReplyDeleteI think the reason why Janie is able to easily recover from Tea Cake's abuse is because she has unfortunately become tolerant of it. I think that the mental damage and ideas that Jody and others have given her has weighed down on Janie a lot. In some areas, Janie has developed - she can easily leave Tea Cake and she has more resources than Tea Cake. Still, I don't think it's good for Janie to not address Tea Cake's abuse on any level.
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