Chapter 11

Janie finds herself thinking about Tea Cake a lot; she nearly considers asking Hezekiah about him, but decides to not let anyone else know of her interest in the man. When she does not see him for another week, she assumes that it is for the best that a much younger and poorer man does not make contact with her. Tea Cake returns to the store after a week, and initially Janie retains some of her paranoia about him. Gradually, she charms him, and he invites her to a game of checkers again. He coaches her each move, and she improves at the game immensely in the process. The townspeople, having not seen Janie play checkers before, take pleasure in doing so. As Tea Cake walks Janie home, they eat cake and drink lemonade. Tea Cake suggests that the pretty moon demands an adventure and that they go fishing in the moonlight. Having stayed up all night, Janie has to hide Tea Cake in the morning because she does not want gossip about them to travel in the town. Despite this inconvenience, she is thrilled at living spontaneously and doing things according to her heart, even if it means breaking societal expectations. At the store, Hezekiah warns Janie against spending time with a man like Tea Cake.

When she arrives home that night, Tea Cake is already there with a fresh trout that he has caught and is again successful in charming Janie. She falls asleep after eating dinner, but awakes to Tea Cake combing her hair with his fingers. Tea Cake confesses that he is afraid Janie might be disgusted by him. Reassuring him, but not letting him in on her whole gamut of feelings, Janie says that they are friends. Tea Cake is disappointed because he considers them lovers and leaves.

The next day, Janie is preoccupied with thoughts of Tea Cake even as she tries to convince herself that she is not interested in him romantically. The day after, Tea Cake confesses his feelings for Janie at her home and leaves so that Janie can think about them in privacy. Later, they have dinner together and spend the night together. Even as she feels herself sexually attracted to him, a feeling Hurston compares to the relationship between bees and blossoms, she is worried that she knows little about his character. After three days, Tea Cake arrives in a battered car to ask Janie out on a public date to the town picnic.

Chapter 12

The townspeople watch Janie and Tea Cake at the picnic and begin to speculate. Sam Watson, along with other townspeople, believes that Tea Cake, just like other young guys in the town, would use a widow like Janie to extract money from her only to abandon her later. He asks Pheoby to talk to Janie, but she refuses saying that Janie is allowed to act according to her own wishes. However, Pheoby does let Janie know that the townspeople are gossiping. In response, Janie shares that she and Tea Cake are in love and that they plan to move away from the gossiping town after selling her assets.

Janie also tells Pheoby that she is finally ready to leave her Nanny’s teachings behind and live life on her own terms. She explains this by saying that having married two wealthy men earlier to achieve the financial stability that Nanny desired, and being extremely unhappy, she now knows that happiness and satisfaction are superior to wealth. Pheoby is happy for Janie, but also playfully warns her not to be like the other widow in the town who was swindled by her young lover.

Chapter 13

Janie leaves Eatonville to start a new life with Tea Cake, and they get married in Jacksonville. She is so happy that it almost scares her. She doesn’t however divulge everything to Tea Cake; in particular, she doesn’t tell him about the money she had brought from Eatonville. Tea Cake leaves the next morning and does not return for a long while. Janie initially thinks that he might have just left to catch some fish for breakfast, but she is reminded of the stories she heard about scheming young men, and finds herself extremely worried. She decides that no matter what, she would not return to Eatonville where she would be subjected to intense ridicule.

Tea Cake returns and tells her that he found the money in one of her blouses and that he spent it on a grand dinner for himself and his railroad worker friends. Janie tells him that she was worried by his sudden disappearance. Tea Cake tells her that he was afraid that his friends would be too uncouth for a woman of her stature, but Janie retorts by saying that she wants to be a part of Tea Cake’s life in a wholesome manner. Tea Cake then promises to return the money.

Tea Cake returns the next morning having gambled the whole night. Though he bears a cut on his face, he nonetheless seems to have won a wad of cash. Janie does not worry about his gambling habit; she rationalizes that it might just be a benign aspect of his personality. They count the money together, and she tells him that the rest of her money is in the bank. Tea Cake assures her that he would not need any more of her money as he would find a job picking vegetables once they reach the Everglades, the place they also call “the muck.”

Chapter 14

Janie and Tea Cake reach the Everglades, and Janie is taken aback by the unique and lush landscape of the area. She has never seen anything like this before. Tea Cake finds them both jobs picking beans. He makes sure he and Janie procure jobs before the other laborers arrive for the official harvest season. Tea Cake teaches Janie to shoot a gun till, and gradually she becomes better than him at wielding one. Janie does the cooking and cleaning at home, but also works alongside Tea Cake picking beans. She finds the rhythm of life here more pleasing than at Eatonville.

The neighbors gather at their house every night to listen to Tea Cake play the guitar or to watch him gamble. Janie is pleased with this way of life and enjoys being the center of attention at the muck. She sometimes wonders about what the people of Eatonville would make of her new clothes, the dirty overalls, and work shoes.

Chapter 15

Janie notices that Tea Cake and a young girl called Nunkie like spending time playing when they are picking beans together at work. She experiences jealousy for the first time; Hurston describes Jodie’s discovery of jealousy as a tree growing inside her. One day, a fellow laborer named Sop-de-Bottom asks Janie where he can find Tea Cake. In response, Tea Cake waves his arms from a distance. When Janie approaches Tea Cake, she sees that he is engaged with Nunkie in playful wrestling. Janie is shocked, screams, and then separates the two. When Janie and Tea Cake reach home, Janie expresses her rage to Tea Cake. In return, Tea Cake wrestles her to the floor and Janie finds herself deeply enjoying their playful sexual union. However, they do not have a meaningful conversation about what had transpired. Janie urges Tea Cake to tell her if he loves Nunkie, and he assures her that he does not.

Analysis of Chapter 11-Chapter 15

As Tea Cake and Janie’s relationship develops, Hurston focuses on Janie’s psyche without compromising on the complexity of the novel’s narrative. Janie is not only deeply attracted to Tea Cake but is also initially concerned that the town might not approve of them. By focusing simultaneously on Janie’s bliss and fear, Hurston’s treatment of the feminine psyche in the novel goes beyond unimaginative and unilluminating binaries such as “good” and “bad.” Tea Cake also represents a different kind of man: he is not only interested in treating Janie as an equal but also seems interested in her mind and is committed to letting her become her own person. This is evident in his decision to teach her how to wield a gun and play checkers. Tea Cake’s personality is in stark contrast to the judgmental and controlling men Janie had married.

Janie likens her adventure with Tea Cake with the thrill and pleasure a child might derive from breaking rules. Even as Janie is careful to ensure that the townspeople do not know about their closeness, she is impressed and assured by Tea Cake’s individualism, which in turn enables her to grow as individual herself. It is also interesting that Tea Cake is the one who wants to make the relationship public; he does not want to feel like Janie’s dirty secret.

Pheoby encourages Janie to follow her heart, and she once again defends Janie when other people talk poorly of her. Pheoby represents trustworthy sisterhood: she helps other women be independent, even though the society of their time discouraged women from doing so. Janie tells Pheoby that she plans to chase her happiness and leave Eatonville behind. She also refuses to live in the limiting way that Nanny taught her was the only way to survive in the world as a black woman.

Janie is overwhelmed and captivated by the intense love between her and Tea Cake. In some ways, she is in disbelief, but also prepares herself for the ride. She is also cautious and hides the money she had brought from Eatonville from Tea Cake.

When Janie finds out that Tea Cake had taken the money she had secretly brought from Eatonville, she shows her maturity by recognizing that Tea Cake did not mean to steal, that he was just being spontaneous in spending the money on his friends and food. Recognizing this, she points out that his affection is more important to her than money. Tea Cake also reassures her that he does not want Janie’s money. As a result, Janie and Tea Cake are able to develop trust.

At the Everglades, Janie doesn’t mind the hard labor as it helps her spend more time with Tea Cake. Janie’s jealousy of Nunkie displays her need for faithfulness and loyalty from Tea Cake. By playfully wrestling with Nunkie, Tea Cake displays his disregard for social norms. Tea Cake attempts to put Janie’s jealousy and insecurity to rest by being more sexual with her. This also illustrates that their relationship is built on trust as well as sexual passion.