Their Eyes Were Watching God Janie's Oppression

In Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God, we hear a story of a beautiful woman, Janie. Janie, as a child, is introduced to an idea of love and ever since wishes for romance. As she grows older, Janie runs into difficulties due to her gender. She ends up marrying two men, Logan and Joe, who continues to control Janie. After meeting Tea Cake, on the other hand, Janie is able to reach freedom. Janie wanted to reach her love, the dream, the horizon. In the process, Janie experiences oppression from Logan and Jody. Through Tea Cake’s help, Janie is able to take full control over herself.
Throughout the entire novel, we see Janie’s oppression just for the exeption that she is a woman. In the beginning of the book, we witness Janie and
Tea Cake, respectfully, greets her by asking her to play checkers. Janie “found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Someone thought it was natural for her to play” (96). She was amazed of the fact that Tea Cake assumed she knew how to play, regardless of her gender. Every one of Tea Cake’s characteristic attracts Janie. He is an attractive man, romantic, and respectful. What brought Tea Cake apart from Logan and Joe was that Tea Cake did not force anything. When Janie worried whether or to marry Tea Cake or not, Tea Cakes says “Nobody else on earth kin hold uh candle tuh you, baby. You got de keys to de kingdom” (109). Tea Cake wants to inform Janie that she has full control over the relationship. Ultimately, Janie’s marriage with Tea Cake released Janie from her cage, and Janie breaks free from the
The essential reason why Janie is so thankful for Tea Cake is not his romance, but it is his respect. Tea Cake’s respect for Janie guides her out of oppression. Janie “pulled in her horizon like a great fish-net. Pulled it from around the waist of the world and draped it over her shoulder.” (193). As mentioned before, Janie’s journey of reaching the horizon is rather painful. Janie had to go through many obstacles in the process of achieving true love. Janie had to go through social oppression, like Logan threatening her, and Joe forcing her to keep her mouth shut. However, when Tea Cakes joins Janie, all of this oppression disappears. Janie “called in her soul to come and see” (193). She calls her lost, oppressed soul to come and watch for herself. This is the moment when Janie’s inner self intertwines with her outer identity. She tells herself that nothing in the world will take advantage of her anymore. This passage shows Janie rejecting the abusement she has gone through. All the abusement from Logan and Jody goes down the drain. Beforehand, Janie “had an inside and an outside” (72). Now, Tea cake helps merge Janie’s inside and her outside. He guides her to freedom. Fundamentally, Tea Cake comes into Janie’s damaged life and heals her wounds, and at the end, helps her regain her