Janie will regret this decision

At least their relationship is still equal. Jealousies on both sides.

Janie hated Nanny for turning the horizon into a noose around her neck, and she spent her whole life trying to reach it. Now she’s finally caught it.

Both the dog and Tea Cake had rabies when they attacked her, but Tea Cake saved Janie the first time. Now she has to be self-reliant, showing her independence

Rabies actually does make you both crazy and violent. It also does cause hydrophobia (why Tea Cake spit out the water) so victims are also at risk of dehydrating and dying. The irony is there was a cure at the time, and had Tea Cake gotten the shots right after being bitten, he could’ve been saved.

It’s ironic that Tea Cake empowering Janie by teaching her to shoot ended up being the cause of his death. Also interesting that Janie is often said to be the better shot, and she hits her mark while Tea Cake misses

The hurricane and lake destroying Tea Cake’s life with Janie is almost the opposite of the pear tree- both are images of nature, but with polar opposite meanings. Maybe it’s foreshadowing how the relationship will end?

english to dialect to show the heightened emotional state of Janie

way Janie heard it, is focused more on the wrongness and shame of what Annie did than what Annie sought. She is reduced, like many women, to other’s judgement of her. She has no voice, no way to speak for herself or what her life was missing. Janie fears being left, yes, but I think she also fears being silenced again for she has been silent for so long.

not intelligent, in fact quite the opposite. These characters are deeply complicated and Hurston still choosing to use eye dialect is, to be, a subversion of how people view those who speak in dialect (like our characters). Hurston is asserting that, despite our assumptions based on the dialect, these characters have rich inner lives. This is also asserted by the contrast between the narrator and the dialogue. Because of the more ‘formal’ English of the narrator, we understand the complexity of Janie’s inner world. To the world of story, however, Janie’s dialogue is informal and alone does not clue the reader into the intricacies of her mind. Hurston is reminding readers to check their biases i think :)

Is that actually how rabies make you act? I thought that you just got and infection and got really sick? I don’t know if Hurston is just exaggerating here or they didn’t know what the effects were back then but that’s a little crazy that you go insane and try to bite other people.

I feel like the pacing of this last section is all off. She’ll focus details on some things, but then just skip past others. If I was skimming this book or reading fast, I think that I would miss almost half of the plot. Like they ran away and ended back in the muck in one line?

Motor Boat understands me on a deep level. I have never felt so seen in my life.

It’s interesting to me because Janie’s entire character has been based around her being flighty. She ran from her first husband, and left town as soon as her second husband died. Now, she has finally found love with her third husband (even though it may be questionable), and her character changes from unsettled to one of unquestionable loyalty. She would rather face the storm in a small shack than be safe in a large house because she wants to be with her husband.

I always feel like Hurston’s language will go from dialogue and everyday life to very interesting and detailed imagery as shown here.

SO Tea Cake literally admits that it’s not her fault he got angry, but he just needed to beat me anyway. I’m appalled. This is atrocious. ugh

THIS IS MY THIRD TIME TYPING THIS. it won’t save but if there’s more than one not my fault. Anyway we already know that this relationship is going to end badly, because of the beginning. But is Tea Cake going ot cheat on Janie or are they just going to have a falling out.

at least Janie didn’t have to run away and Tea Cake Died.

I agree the author also uses the terms shanties to further the comparison to escaping a storm in a ship or something

It seems as if they are both questioning god and watching to see if he is going to do somethings