Selfish Desires In Their Eyes Were Watching God By Zora Neale Hurston

In life, some people are motivated by selfish feelings or desires but sometimes these selfish ambitions have a negative effect on other people as in Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston. In this novel, Janie is a character who is on a journey motivated by finding herself, however, the desires of others always seem get in the way. Nanny’s selfish ambitions are the first to affect Janie on her journey, soon followed by Joe Starks, Mrs. Turner, and even Tea Cake. Throughout this novel, the strive for money and power are recurring desires that inevitably result in unhappiness and pain for Janie. It all starts with Nanny, in this novel Janie’s grandmother only wants the best for Janie and she thinks her decisions are in Janie's best

The first instance where Tea Cake shows his desire is when he takes two hundred dollars from Jannie’s purse. One of the reasons he took the money is because “[h]e never had his hand on so much money before in his life, so he made up his mind to see how it felt to be a millionaire” (122). Tea Cake’s desire to feel wealthy hurts Janie emotionally when she finds out the money is missing. Janie thinks that Tea Cake has scammed her and Janie worries that she has been swindled like Mrs. Tyler had been. Even though Janie forgives Tea Cake, this is only the first time his greed gets in the way. The second instance desire causes harm 156 is when Tea Cake decides not to leave the Everglades his reason is that “de money’s too good on the muck” (156). Tea Cake’s reasoning is purely of greed because the money is too good. His decision to stay for the money causes both him and Janie harm. As a result of Tea Cake’s action, both him and Janie were inside of the hurricane when it hit and his decision eventually lead to him being bitten by a rabid dog. Tea Cake’s desire for money not only lead to his demise but also emotional suffering for Janie as