The portion of the book that I found troubling was in chapter 19. After the storm and when Teacake got bitten by the dog, he seemed to get crazier and crazier. Jaine kept the information of the diagnosis of the rabies from Teacake and he only got worse.
Jaine did not feel safe around Teacake, which is ironic due to how much she loved him. The relationship that they shared was the best of her life. It seemed that throughout her journey throughout the book, she has become liberated. This incident with Teacake signifies the ending of her journey. The moment that she moves the chamber of the gun so that it has to shoot 3 times in order to fire at her shows intent. She knew that if he was going to fire at her, she was going to give herself a chance to fire back. She needed those bullets in the gun in order to prove before a jury that there was an actual threat.
She knew in her heart that in order to preserve this sense of independence and fufilment in her life, she would have to kill Teacake due to the rabies.
6 comments:
Interestingly, I do think that at the time Janie fired the gun she was doing it not just out of self defense, but an understanding that Tea Cake had gone to ‘mad’ and would never be the same again. Still I really do think right up to that point, even when she was turning the barrel, she believed that after three tries he would give up or maybe even fall down or go back to sleep before he got the inclination to shoot. Up until that point I think she really wants to hope that this is not the end of her relationship with Tea Cake, and that if she can only keep him safe until the medicine comes he will be alright.
I found it interesting too that she set up the pistol so that it would shoot blanks a couple of times before firing a bullet. This did set the stage that Janie was ready for self-preservation. It didn’t matter that Tea Cake ended up being her true love; regardless she had to protect herself. I found it interesting also that Tea Cake bit her in their struggle. I was thinking that he had become jealous and controlling over Janie and this was his last and final chance to control her and the course her life would take.
The ending to this novel was both ironic and unfortunate. Janie was faced with an incredibly difficult situation when she had to choose between her own safety and killing Tea Cake. I also saw the great irony in this novel. Janie searched her entire life to find a man that truly loved her and wanted the best for her. Janie found this in Tea Cake only to become the reason that Tea Cake dies. How unfortunate!
I really like your point in your last paragraph. I think Janie was defending herself by killing Tea Cake. I think she after her relatipnships she realized the woman that she was and the woman that she wanted to continue to be. I think she was preserving her independence by killing Tea Cake. Of course it was out of desperation, but he was becoming crazy and in order to protect herself she needed to do what was right to keep herself safe and happy at the same time!
Even though when Janie shot Tea Cake it was completely unexpected, I feel as though she had to do it for her own safety. I feel as though she did not tell Tea Cake how sick he was because in reality he probably would not have understood her since the rabies was already eating away at his brain. It is interesting that you believe Janie shot Tea Cake merely to keep her independence. However, even though it is a good interpretation I am not so sure that I agree with it. I truly belive that Janie loved Tea Cake and would have done anything for him- the chapter with the hurricane shows how much they care about each other. The fact that she shot him was simply for her own protection. If she did not shoot him, then she probably would have been shot and killed by him. I think that by Janie shooting Tea Cake it proves that if you truly love someone you will let them go.
I agree that Janie had no choice but to kill Tea Cake at the end of the novel. Was it sad? Yes. Was it necessary to show her true love and respect for him? Absolutely. Therefore, I think that Janie's decision was an act of love and thoughtfulness, not anything hurtful or harmful. Sadly, their marriage couldn't last, but the situation was out of her hands.
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