Janie says to Joe right before he died, “Even now, you got to die with me being obedient, instead of just letting me love you.” and Joe responds back “I hope thunder and lightning kill you.”
Janie was pressured by everyone around to fit into their definition of a woman and what love is. From an outsider looking in, I would think Janie had everything your typical woman wanted: a very successful black husband with a lot of fame and money. However, Janie was not happy. She had a wonderful house to live in and everyone adored her, however Janie’s life was not her own; it was Joe’s life. Joe had this idea wife in his head of what Janie should be, but they did not have what they both wanted in each other’s mind. Joe wanted a domesticated wife while Janie wanted love and freedom and he didn’t give it to her. While Joe had his perception of his idea wife in his head, so did the people of the town. Many gossiped about her and did not let her live her life. They criticized her greatly after Joe died. They said she didn’t grief enough, but she felt free! Free from all of misery that Joe had caused her. Janie found that in Tea Cake. Tea Cake was everything she wanted. When Tea Cake when to gamble Janie’s money away, she implied the statement that “I don’t need anything as long as I have you”. Tea Cake gave her everything she every wanted just by being him; more importantly, I would argue that she had her own definition of how to leave, but Tea Cake taught her how to love. Janie had been married twice before she found her definition of LOVE. One thing I can say about Janie’s character is through all of Janie’s hardships, she did not fall into the cracks of other’s people perception of love and womanhood.
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