Their Eyes Are Watching God DJ's 36-64

36.) Pg.142 “Booker T.? He wuz a great man, wusn’t he?”

To African Americans during this time Booker T. Washington was a great man, he helped them establish a life after slavery in a white society. Although it wasn’t as great as the life of a white person it was still something. But Ms. Turner desperately want’s to be white, she looks down on black people even though she is one herself. To white people in the South during the late 1800’s early 1900’s Booker T. was a nuesance, they were still not willing to accept the equality between a white man and a black man, just as Ms. Tuner isn’t. She thinks like any racist white person would just because her skin is a little lighter than the rest of the black people.

37.) Pg.143 “He was a vanishing-looking kind of man as If there used to be parts about him that stuck out individually but now he didn’t have a thing about him that wasn’t dwindled and blurred.”

Being married to an overbearing woman like Mrs. Turner has made Mr. Turner begin to lose his importance. She is “the head of the house” and he has lost his control over anything. And a man without control is a man without importance. The more power a man has the more power a man has to lose, for example Jody had more power than three men combined, so when he began to lose his power he began to lose his life. Power is what kept him alive. Mr. Turner probably wasn’t as controlling as Jody, so when he lost his power he began to dwindle more slowly, and rather than dying he just faded, and became unnoticeable.

38.) Pg.144 “therefore it was right that they should be cruel to her at times, just as she was cruel to those more negroid then herself in direct ratio to their negroness.”

Mrs. Turner accepted cruelty from lighter skinned people because she believed in the ranking system. The lighter you were, the more important you were. Which gave you the right to treat the darker skinned people like they were dirt. She considered herself white, and she only associated herself with lighter skinned people. White doctors, even Janie. She envied Janie for her lighter skin and her beauty, but she despises Tea Cake, because of his “negroness”. She see’s white people and the power they have and the respect they get and she craves that attention. She overlooks how cruel they can be and how bad they treat her, because she believes that they have the right to do it.

40.) Pg.145 “It was inevitable that she should accept any inconsistency and cruelty from her deity as all good worshipers do from theirs. All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason.”

Mrs. Turner worships the white person like any person worships god. She will do anything in order to earn their acceptance, even treat her own people like they are at the bottom of the food chain. She continues to give them what they want, but they continue to treat her with cruelty. If you give a person a reason to be more powerful they will begin to use it against you. What Mrs. Turner doesn’t realize is that she will never be accepted the way she wants to be because of her skin color. They will just see her as a pathetic “negro” and continue to use the attention she gives them against her. Not only is Mrs. Turner getting no respect from the white people, she is losing the respect of the black people. If she continues to follow the ranking system she will soon be alone, which ends fatally in such a cruel world.

41.) Pg.145 “Aw, don’t make god look so foolish – findin’ fault wid everything He made.” 

God created the man, but he didn’t create the black man only to work for the white man, and God did not create the ranking system, that was set in place to make the white man feel important, and to make more money. Tea Cake believes in god, and he believes in equality. The fact that Mrs. Turner looks down on him makes him very angry, because the black man was created by god just like the white man was, and she has no right to pass judgment, and cruelty to a person of equal life.

42.) Pg.147 “Being able to whip her reassured him in possession.”

Tea Cake had never been very violent with Janie; he always respected her, especially since she wasn’t a loud mouth woman who demanded things from him. They always had equal respect for each other and allowed each other to do what ever they please even if it wasn’t their place. Tea Cake constantly worried that Janie was going to start second guessing her decision to be with him, because he was so much younger, and she was a beautiful experienced woman. As soon as Mrs. Turner started bringing up her well off brother, Tea Cake started to get more worried that Janie would run off. And he hit her as a way to show that she was his, and he was the man of the house. He always treated her differently than most men treat their wives, he taught her to do things that only men were supposed to do, and didn’t care if she worked in the fields because all he wanted to do was be with her. The moment he started second guessing himself, and the role in their marriage is the moment he hit her, as a way to reestablish that role.

43.) Pg.148 “Lawd! Wouldn’t Ah love tuh whip uh tender woman lak Janie! Ah bet she don’t even holler. She jus’ cries, eh Tea Cake?”

The men believe that women shouldn’t have a say in anything, and they should never fight back. But for most of these men, their wives aren’t just going to let them slap them around, they are going to put up a fight. Janie has never been one to fight back with force, which is another reason why men are attracted to her. The fact that they would want to hit her because she is more quiet and gentle than their wives is terrible. Beating your wife during this time seems to be no big deal, they could do nothing, but if a man was angry he was going to take a swing at you, because you’re his wife and he can do with you what he pleases to. Tea Cake only hit her that one time, because he respected her, but hitting her for no reason was a sign of major disrespect, but that was his job as the man of the house.

44.) Pg.156 “If Ah never see you no mo’ on earth, Ah’ll meet you in Africa.”

Africa during the time of slavery was a black mans heaven. It was their home, a place where they weren’t forced to work and they were all treated equally. Even after slavery they were still treated like crap, and they were forced to find work and were killed, and beaten. Death was freedom, and freedom was their home, which was Africa. Men who were born into slavery still dreamed of going there because they knew that they would be accepted there.

45.) Pg.158 “It woke up old Okeechobee and the monster began to roll in his bed.”  

Okeechobee is the hurricane that has hit Florida, and it was an actual hurricane that happened during this time. The monster hasn’t hit with full force yet, it is still waking up and getting out of bed. But the weather is changing and the hurricane is beginning. As soon as the monster awakens there is nothing left to do to stop it, a force that large we’ll wipe out anything in its path.

46.) Pg.159 “The time was past for asking the white folks what to look for through that door. Six eyes were questioning God.”  

It was too late to try and escape from the storms strong grip, now they just had to do anything they could to avoid the worst of it. They all were hoping and praying that they would survive the storm and looking to for answers on how to do it. They were questioning why this was happening to them, after everything they have been through. There families were taken from their home, and brought to a new country only to be slaves and now they are forced to live in this new country and work and be treated like they are nothing. Why were they being punished so much just because they had dark skin? Their were no white men around them to tell them what to do during this storm, so all they could do was pray for their lives, and try and find a safe way out of the storm.

47.) Pg.159 “If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk.”  

Janie doesn’t resent Tea Cake for brining her to the storm country, there is nothing about their relationship that she regrets because she loves him. “God has opened the door” for her and if she dies, she will die happy because she saw the light at daybreak. She would rather die loving Tea Cake, then grow old without ever meeting him. She had finally gotten what she had always wanted and any problem, even a storm, couldn’t ruin that for her. She has now lived the life that she told her Granny that she wanted to live.

48.) Pg.160 “They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”  

Even though the lights were out and they couldn’t see, they were still looking to god for answers. They wanted a sign or a hint on what was to come for them. Each person sitting in the house were praying for answers on how to survive the storm, but God wasn’t giving them any answers. God created the Man, but it was up to them to decide their own fate.  It was no longer about the ranking system; the storm took out any man, white or black. It was every man for himself at this point, which became apparent to the six as their questions continued to be unanswered.

49.) Pg.161 “The monstropolous beast had left his bed. The two hundred miles an hour wind had loosened his chains.”  

The Storm was not at its peak. The beast was fully awake and it was coming full storm, strong winds, heavy rain, everything you can imagine was happening and it grabbed any man who was to weak to fight it. This quote personifies the how extensive the storm is, it turns the storm into a monster making its actions seem fatal to everything it touches.

50.) Pg.164 “Common danger made common friends.”  

Everyone, and everything at this point is fighting to survive the storm. Hungry animals are eating dead bodies of men who couldn’t survive. The danger that this storm is causing humans is a buffet for hungry animals, as terrible as they may sound. Now you must not only fear the storm, you must fear the fierce animals, and the anxious people who will do anything to survive. It doesn’t matter if you’re white, black, human, animal, if your weak then you will probably end up dead. But everyone is most likely going to end up homeless, moneyless, and their will no longer be a ranking system. The poverty will spread to every race and everyone will fight for money and shelter.

51.) Pg. 167 “Once upon a time, Ah never 'spected nothin’, Tea Cake, but bein’ dead from standin’ still and tryin’ tuh laugh. But you come ‘long and made somethin’ outa me.”

Despite recent events, Janie still doesn’t regret running off with Tea Cake because he brought her to life. Her marriage to Jody, living in that town, working at the store, weren’t things that made her happy. Her life was at a stand still there, she did the same thing everyday and she was controlled which was something that she really didn’t enjoy. Tea Cake gave her life, which was ironic cause at this moment with him she was so close to death, but it didn’t matter she would rather be there struggling with him then back at that big house alone, unhappy, not in love. Love is the only thing that Janie needs to survive, her love is a normal persons water, it feeds her and keeps her alive. Without it she lives in a life of nothingness. Tea Cake opened her up to love and now he is her everything, better die alongside him then without him.

52.) Pg.167 “ He aimed tuh kill me stone dead. Ah’m never to fuhgit dem eyes. He wuzn’t nothin’ all over but pure hate.”

The dog had a hate in his eyes that Tea Cake had never seen before. This was obviously not a pet dog, most likely wild and hadn’t gotten its shots yet. The dog wasn’t going to save anything but itself, and wild dog has absolutely not sympathy, its brain, which is telling it to evil things, controls it. Almost as If it has been taken over by a demon, that won’t stop until everything around it is dead. The eyes that Tea Cake saw were not the eyes of that dog, they were the eyes of the insanity that had taken over the dog.

53.) Pg.168 “And then again Him-with-the-square-toes had gone back to his house.”  

The storm has passed and death is no longer taking its huge toll. Death’s duties were over which means it could go back to its roofless house. Now all that was left was the cleanup, the storm wiped out several houses and people, and it was the job of those who survived, who were probably all completely exhausted, to pick up all the death around them. The worst part of getting visited by a monster is cleaning up the mess they have made after they are gone, picking up the bodies of your friends and family and having to find somewhere to live after all the houses have been destroyed.

55.) Pg.171 “Got orders from headquarters. They makin’ coffins fuh all de white folks. ‘Tain’t nothin’ but cheap pine, but dat’s better’n nothin’.”

The white people who were killed by the hurricane are put in coffins, but all the black people are just being thrown in a hole. They don’t get any proper burial because they are “Nothing” so they just get thrown away like trash. As the storm ends, you start to see more of the racism coming back into the story it is no longer every man for himself, the black people again start becoming second rate citizens and they are forced to throw their own into giant holes, and safely put the white people in coffins.

57.) Pg.173 “He bought another rifle and a pistol and he and Janie bucked each other as to who was the best with Janie ranking him always with the rifle. She could knock the head off of a chicken-hawk sitting up a pine tree.”

The description of Janie’s shooting skills is a foreshadow to what is to come in the book. He being better at shooting then Tea Cake we’ll prove why she survived and he was killed when both holding each other at gun point. Tea Cake taught Janie how to shoot so she could keep herself safe when he wasn’t around, but he probably wasn’t expecting to be the harmful thing attacking her that she would have to shoot. Her aim was impeccable even while frightened for her life aiming at her one true love.

58.) Pg.175 “But the demon was there before him, strangling, killing him quickly. It was great relief to expel the water from his mouth.”

The demon that was inside that evil dog had now moved on to Tea Cake, and it was starting to completely take over Tea Cakes brain. The demon rejected water, because water represents life. A demon represents death, and hell, any type of life is very threatening to a demon so they will do everything in their power to get rid of it. Tea Cake’s mind is gone; all that is left is his body, which is consumed by an evil presence passed on by the dog when Tea Cake was bitten in the face.

59.) Pg.178 “Well, she thought, that big old dawg with the hatred in his eyes had killed her after all. She wished she had slipped off that cow-tail and drowned then and there and been done.”

Seeing Tea Cake in this condition makes her wish that the dog would have just killed her, that way Tea Cake would not be insane and he could have lived out his life. This guilt is probably happening because Janie is much older than Tea Cake and she feels bad that she has liven most of her life and Tea Cake still has so much life to live but because he loves her so much and saved her life, he has to die. Tea Cake without a doubt would do anything for Janie and without knowing he killed himself trying to save the one he loves. And now Janie is suffering because it is her fault that he is going insane, rather than being grateful for him saving her life, she is completely filled with guilt because she feels likes in a way she killed him.

60.) Pg.178 “The sky stayed hard looking and quiet so she went inside the house. God would do less than He had in His heart.”

Once again Janie is looking to god for answers to help save Tea Cake, but there is nothing that god can do even if he wants to. Once a demon has consumed a mind, it won’t leave until that body is dead. It is up to Janie to find a solution to her problem, even if it means that Tea Cake, or her must die.

61.) Pg.178 “What was this thing that set his brains afire and grabbed at his throat with iron fingers?”

Tea Cake is being tortured by the thing that’s inside him. In some cases it is worth than death because he has no control over his own body. All this pain I being inflicted on him and there is nothing he can do about it. Especially since it is all in his head. As Janie tried to tell him when it first started happening, it is all a dream, but Tea Cake doesn’t believe that it is actually a dream. There is something that is tearing him apart inside, when really all that is happening is the man is going insane.

62.) Pg.180 “Ah jus’ know dat God snatched me out de fire through you. And Ah loves yuh and feel glad.”

Janie was slowly dying before she met Tea Cake. It’s like being burned to death, slow and painful, but Tea Cake showed up and grabbed her out of the fire and saved her life. She finally was able to live when she was with him; even if it wasn’t always easy it was way better than things used to be for her. She was no longer being controlled, and told what to do. Tea Cake loved her and he wanted to be with her at all times. Their love was like water, it put out any fire in their way until the fire got within the mind of one of them, that was one thing they couldn’t stop.

63.) Pg. 183 “Treat Tea Cake like he was some mad dog when nobody in the world had more kindness about them.”

It is terrible that this demon had to take over Tea Cake because he was the nicest most respectful man there was. The only reason why this happened was because he was trying to save Janie. Bad things happen to good people, Tea Cake was a man with not a lot of money who had his faults, but in no way did he deserve to be taken over like this. It shows that this is an evil society, and it takes out the good people because they seem powerless, and unimportant. Although Tea Cake was very brave, he sometimes made rash decisions that could get him in trouble, and even though Janie’s life was on the line, fighting a rabid dog was one of them.

64.) Pg.183 “the second click told her that Tea Cake’s suffering brain was urging him to kill.”

The man that Janie had fallen in love with was gone. All that was left was this demon and his intentions were to kill her. She had nothing left to but shoot, and luckily for her she had better aim then Tea Cake because her shot killed him and his shot missed. When Tea Cake lunged forward and bit Janie, it foreshadows that the demon might be leaving Tea Cakes body and moving to Janies.  After Janie shoots Tea Cake her mind is consumed with guilt, and heartbreak, she just took the life of the man she loved even though he wasn’t really there anymore.