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Annotated Passage

Themes of Community in Chapter 12

"Their Eyes Were Watching God"



 
 
 


 
 
 

"'Cause Tea Cake ain't no Jody Starks, and if he tried tuh be, it would be uh complete flommuck But de minute Ah marries 'im everybody is
gointuh be makin' comparisons.  So us is goin' off somewhere and start all over in Tea Cake's way.  Dis ain't no business proposition, and no race after property and titles.  Dis is uh love game. "Ah done lived Grandmas's way, now Ah means tuh live mine."

"What do you mean by dat, Janie?"

"She was borned in slavery time when folks, dat is black folks, didn't sit down anytime day felt lak it. So sittin' on porches lak de white madam looked lak uh mighty fine thing tuh her. Dat's whut she wanted for  me-don't keer whut it cost.  Git up on uh high chair and sit dere.  She didn't
have time tuh think whut tuh do after you got up on de stool uh do nothin'.  De object wuz tuh git dere.  So  Ah got up on de highstool lak she told me, but Phoeby, Ah done nearly languished tuh death up dere.  Ah felt like de world wuz cryin' extry and Ah ain't read de commmon news yet."

"Maybe so, Janie.  Still and all Ah'd love tuh experience it for just one year.  It look lak heben tuh me from where Ah'm at."
 
 
 
 
 

"Cause Tea Cake. . ."
This statement shows Janie's perception of the differences between her previous husband and Tea Cake.   She is aware of how different the two men are and she is happy with that difference.

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"But de minute. . ."
Janie is aware that the community has been talking about her behind her back.  She also knows that the comparisons between Tea Cake and Jody aren't  favorable in their eyes, but Janie has already made up her mind about marrying him.  She is not concerned about the community's perceptions because she knows that she is making the right decision for herself.

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Ah done lived. . ."
This is where we discover that Janie has been living ler life according to the desires of others.

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"She was borned. . ."
Janie is talking about her grandmother, and why she thought Janie would want to have a life where she didn't have to do manual labor.

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"Dat's what she wanted. . ."
This sentence speaks volumes about the true cost of living life on someone  else's terms.

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"She didn't have time. . ."
Janie is talking about her boredom, unhappiness, and unfulfillment during her life with Jody.  Although she had material possesssions, she was missing out on true love.

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"So Ah got up. . ."
Here Janie is revealing her true feelings about her life.  The community thinks Janie has to be happy because of the position they have placed, her in, but in reality she is revealing that her life didn't have much meaning.

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"Ah felt like the world. . ."
This statement shows how detached Janie feels from the community.

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