Their Eyes Were Watching God Greed Quotes

"People inspire you, or they drain you; pick them wisely" (Hans F. Hasen). These words are known by many but followed by few. Zora Neale Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, illustrates this with the primary character, Janie. She had three husbands: Joe Starks, Logan Killicks, and Tea Cake. Janie is held captive by these toxic relationships which are rife with greed, arrogance, and gaslighting. She endured a lot, and these romances that would inevitably break her didn't help her in the end.

Greed is the demise of our society, and Janie's relationships are no exception. Tea Cake, her third husband, is gone for a whole day and when he returns home to Janie; he says, "Don't need tuh ast me where Ah been all dis time, 'cause it's

Janie's relationships are dominated by three cocky and poisonous guys who are able to convince her that they are confident rather than domineering. In this novel, Tea Cake almost dies in a hurricane, then, out of a superiority complex, refuses to help others. Tea Cake responds to Janie's desire to help people by saying, "Dat’s whut we want yuh fuh—not doin’ nothin’. Come on less go bury some uh dese heah dead folks. Dey ain’t gittin’ buried fast enough." Tea Cake hung back defensively. "Whut Ah got tuh do wid dat? Ah’m uh workin’ man wid money in mah pocket. Jus’ got blowed outa de ’Glades by de storm." Tea Cake is only concerned with himself; he considers himself to be superior to everyone else and refuses to assist the sick and dying. Joe, another of her husbands, married Janie for show rather than for love. Another one of her husbands, Joe, did not marry Janie for love; he married her for show. power— control of people, position, property, and money. While convincing Janie to leave with him, he states, "Leave the s’posin’ and everything else to me. Ah’ll be down dis road uh little after sunup tomorrow mornin’ to wait for you. You come go wid me. Den all de rest of yo’ natural life you kin live lak you oughta." The first red flag here is him saying, "Leave the s’posin’ to me," because this shows that from the beginning he truly didn't care what she

Tea Cake is talking to Janie about her happiness, in which he states, "Well then, Janie, you meant whut you didn’t say, ’cause Ah never knowed you wuz so satisfied wid me lak dat." Tea Cake is gaslighting her to make her feel bad about his mistakes, and to make her like him more. By appearing as if he doesn't realize she loves him, he makes her feel as if she doesn't give him enough attention or recognition. Joe Starks takes a more straightforward approach when he states, "But Ah ain't goin' outa here and Ah ain't gointuh hush. Naw, you gointuh listen tuh me one time befo' you die. Have yo' way all yo' life, trample and mash down and then die ruther than tuh let yo'self heah 'bout it. Listen, Jody, you ain't de Jody ah run off down de road wid." Joe Starks claims that Janie has changed since the two of them ran away together. This is manipulating Janie into believing she is the one who has changed when, in reality, it is Joe Starks who has altered. Janie's partnerships are plagued with gaslighting and