Janie’s Growth away from Jody and towards Tea Cake.
In the start of Chapter 8, Jody is dieing. Janie and him have been growing apart recently. Janie no longer thinks of Jody as the man she fell in love with. She sees him as a different man, as is aparent when she says that “Jody, no Joe, gave her a ferocious look” (Hurston 80). The name Jody represents the man that she fell in love with, a less formal man who let her use a nickname when refering to him. The name Joe represents what he becomes, a man who is jealous of his wifes youth and opresses her becuase of it. This change in Janie’s point of view about Jody also allows her to see more of his faults. He used to be faultless in her eyes, but now “she noticed how baggy Joe was getting” (Hurston 77). When Joe dies, Janie is less attached to him then she was when they first met. There was “weeping and wailing outside. Inside the expensive black folds were reserection and life” (Hurston 84). This shows that Janie uses the veil to represent a sadness that truely she doesn’t feel.
Janie, while she grows away from Joe, has to grow towards Tea Cake. While at their first meeting, there is already a connection between them that makes Janie feel that even though “she didn’t know her name, but he looked familiar” (Hurton 90). She feels fearful about commiting to him and tries to push him away, but the connection is irrisistable and she eventually agrees, by going to the picnic, to commit to him.
Dan Melly
