Consider Janie's description on page 106 of Tea Cake as being a ""bee to a blossom - a pear tree blossom in spring."" How does this idea fit with Janie's dream at the beginning of the novel?

Question

Clayton Romero

English

15 September, 09:14

Consider Janie's description on page 106 of Tea Cake as being a ""bee to a blossom - a pear tree blossom in spring."" How does this idea fit with Janie's dream at the beginning of the novel?

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Mariam Navarro · Answer 1

Answer and Explanation:

This question is about Zora Neale Hurston's novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God". The main character is Janie, an African-American woman whose life has been defined by her race and gender.

When she was young, she had her first sexual insight while sitting under a pear tree. She watched as bees pollinated the tree's flowers, and felt like she understood love for the first time. Since then, Janie dreams of finding a man who will be to her what the bees are to the tree. She married twice in search for that love, only to be humiliated and abused by her husbands.

Tea Cake is Janie's third husband. When she compares him to a bee to a blossom, we can see he represents her notion of love. Tea Cake is the love she had been looking for, the one that would truly satisfy her and allow her to be the woman she really is. Their marriage ends in a fatal tragedy, but Janie still regards Tea Cake as the accomplishment of true love.