It was a storm. A large storm. A hurricane. A storm, that all but the negligent fled from. This was a major turning point in Their Eyes Were Watching God. The name of the book was reveled here, as why it was named this way. As Janie and Tea Cake were sitting in their house, while the winds were wailing, the rain falling, "they seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God." (Hurston, 160)
At this point, when one reads the book, one may think that the flood, and hurricane was to be the most defining point and climax of the book. This is partly true in my view, in retrospect. The hurricane was the defining feature, which lead to the final shock, the death of Tea Cake. This hurricane, tested the love and caring Tea Cake had for Janie up to this point. Tea Cake should have realized the hurricane was going to be bad, for everyone, and everything was traveling inland more.
Though Tea Cake loved Janie very much, he could not see past his self satisfaction that he was stronger than the storm, to save his love from having to cross dangerous waters during the storm. I believe Tea Cake became too pompous of what he was capable of, and what the house could stand, and didn't think enough about the well being of Janie, in a sincere way, thinking past the adrenaline and "I can do anything" instincts. If Tea Cake had been a little more educated about the storm, he might have made the move to higher ground before it involved swimming.
No comments:
Post a Comment