Teacake
One of the most difficult questions to ask in the early chapters of Their Eyes Were Watching God has been whether to trust Teacake. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say my first instinct was to trust him. He was far nicer to Janie than either Joe Starks or Logan, letting Janie be herself and seemingly putting an emphasis on her happiness. However, he has a “slipperiness” about him that throws into question whether one should trust him. An even more important question than this one, however, is whether it matters if Teacake is trustworthy. In class we discussed a similar question when she left Logan for Joe Starks. Janie’s own sentiments, we decided, indicated that she would have left Logan regardless of the presence of Joe. A similar case, I believe, can be made for Teacake. Janie’s relationship with Teacake is an expression of her growing personal free...