Chapters 19 & 20

1. Chapters 19 & 20 Rob Green Greg Welsh PrashanthMoku

2. Chapter 19 & 20 Summary • Janie and Tea Cake are now in Palm Beach, where the hurricane has destroyed the entire town. • A few white men force Tea Cake to bury all the dead corpses, as he was black. • White dead bodies got buried in coffins, while the black dead bodies were simply put in a ditch and buried. • Such work disgusts Tea Cake and so he and Janie leave Palm Beach. • Janie continues to insist that they need to go to a doctor to check Tea Cake’s dog bite. • They return to the Everglades, which is also destroyed. • Many have died, but Motorboat, surprisingly, has survived. • Everyone begins working on rebuilding their homes, but later on, Tea Cake returns home saying he feels sick. • He begins acting different, waking up at night and not eating. • Mr. Simmons, a white doctor, checks Tea Cake’s condition and informs Janie that Tea Cake will not get better, or be cured, as he was bit by an infectious dog– Tea Cake will die.

3. Tea Cake continues to act uncontrollable and out of anger; he constantly yells at Janie and thinks she is seeing Mrs. Turner’s brother, when she is actually talking to Mr. Simmons. • Janie discovers a loaded gun, and changes the bullets’ chambers in the pistol. • Tea Cake returns and, out of anger, shoots Janie, but it is empty for the first two shots. • Janie takes a gun and shoots Tea Cake, killing him. • Janie is put on trial, where everyone from the town hates her, but after hearing her side of the story, everyone, including the all-white jury decide that she is innocent. • Janie explains to Pheoby that she has lived her life, and learned from all the events. • She says that the people in Eatonville do not know about love, and that she does not care about their gossips. • Thus, Janie has complete knowledge about her own identity and she is at her full strength with self-assurance.

4. Post Storm Clean Up/Jim Crow Law • What was the difference between how the whites were buried and how the blacks were buried? • What do you think Tea Cake is trying to say when he says that “look lakdey think God don’t know nothin’ ‘bout de Jim Crow law”?

5. Jim Crow Laws • Jim Crow Laws were the laws that separated the blacks from the whites. • These laws were mentioned as the whites received a more honorary and ceremonial burial in that they were buried in corpses, while blacks were simply put in a ditch and buried.

6. Tea Cake’s illness • What are the first few signs of Tea Cake’s illnesses? • How does Janie react to them at first? Towards the end? • Do you think Janie handled the situation with Tea Cake’s illness in the right way? Would you have done anything different?

7. Tea Cake’s Illness • Tea Cake becomes ill due to the dog that bit him. • His illness eventually brings about his death as he begins acting out of angers and even tries to kill Janie.

8. Janie’s Tough Choice • What do you think Janie’s tough choice was? Why did she make this choice? • What was ironic about it?

9. Janie’s Tough Choice • Janie shoots Tea Cake, and kills him. • Irony– She loved him but she ended up taking his life. • She loved him, but due to his deteriorating health and insane behavior, she had to kill him, especially after the assualt. • In a way, she did save him from having to go through all the stress and pain caused by his illness. • We can see the contrast between how Janie mourns for Tea Cake as opposed to how she was after Jody died. • She clearly cared for Tea Cake.

10. Janie’s New Self/Coming to a full circle • Janie is now completely aware of her own feelings and identity. • She has experienced sorrow, defeat, and more importantly, true love. • Tea Cake showed her real affection and she will always cherish the memories but also live her life in a strong and self-assured manner. • Her story is now complete and she went from a young woman, in confusion to marrying a possessive man (Jody) to meeting her true love, and then learning from all these events and living accordingly. • She tells Pheoby that she does not care about what others gossip about because they do not know about love or about true happiness. • Is she right?

11. Pertinent Figurative Language • “Look lakdey think God don’t know nothin’ ‘bout de Jim Crow law.” (pg.171) • Tea Cake • All right then, you name somethin’ and we’ll do it. We kin give it uh poor man’s trial anyhow.” (pg. 172) • Tea Cake • “So far as he’s concerned, all dem he don’t know oughta be tried and sentence tuh six months behind de United States privy house at hard smellin’.” (pg. 172) • Tea Cake • ”Somewhere up there beyond blue ether’s bosom sat He.” (Page 178) • “Love is lak de sea. It’s uh movin’ thing, but still and all, it takes its shape from de shore it meets, and it’s different with every shore.” (Page 191)