Chapter 16

Janie and Tea Cake decide to stay back in the Everglades for another year because they enjoy their life there. Janie becomes friends with their neighbor, Mrs. Turner. She attempts to set Janie up with her brother, whom Mrs. Turner describes as a “white folk’s nigger.” She suggests that Janie, being a light-skinned woman, deserves a man better than Tea Cake, like Mrs. Turner’s brother.

She suggests that if people like Janie and her brother were to get together, it would eventually result in lightening of black people’s skin in the future. Janie realizes that Tea Cake, who was in the house, has heard the above conversation. Tea Cake is very angered and decides to tell Mr. Turner to keep his wife in check. He changes his mind after seeing that Mr. Turner is a sad, tired man, unable to handle his wife’s domineering nature. Alternatively, Tea Cake asks Janie to be cautious of Mrs. Turner and also asks her to tell Mrs. Turner that he disapproves of her. However, Mrs. Turner, captivated by Janie’s light skin, straight hair, and refined manners, continues to bond with Janie. She believes that all people should attempt to attain “Caucasian features.” The harvest season soon begins, and Janie and Tea Cake get are now too busy to be bothered by Mrs. Turner’s disapproval of their marriage.

Chapter 17

The muck is populated by more people as the harvest season gets underway. Many people return to the Everglades, including Mrs. Turner’s brother. Jealous of what might happen, Tea Cake whips Janie to ensure that she does not cheat on him. She does not respond to his cruel treatment and continues to love him. Other men at the muck are jealous of Tea Cake; they too desire to “wield power” over a beautiful woman like Janie. The men and women of the muck celebrate payday by going to Mrs. Turner’s restaurant. A fight breaks out between some of the diners, and Tea Cake attempts to break off the fight with the ulterior motive of impressing Mrs. Turner and winning her grace. However, Tea Cake’s attempt only intensifies the fight, and Mrs. Turner claims that she was shoved by Tea Cake and berates Mr. Turner for not stepping in to break up the fight.

Chapter 18

Janie observes Seminole Indians travel past her house in large numbers. Puzzled, she asks them where they are going. They respond that a hurricane is coming and they are leaving for a safe, higher ground. As she watches, more Indians, some townspeople, and many animals continue to pass in front of her house. They are all certain that a hurricane is about to strike. One of the local boys offers Janie and Tea Cake a boat ride to higher ground, but Tea Cake refuses stating that they are safe where they are. Instead of attempting to escape, Tea Cake invites some of his friends home, and they all decide to cook, eat, and celebrate. Soon, however, the wind kicks in and Lake Okeechobee turns menacing, prompting people to leave for their homes. Only Motor Boat, one of Tea Cake’s friends, stays back. When the hurricane arrives, it is extremely ferocious and uproots almost everything in its way. Janie, Tea Cake, and Motor Boat look at the hurricane as though their eyes are watching god.

As the wind becomes stronger the water rises, and Tea Cake enquires if Janie regrets leaving her Eatonville home, whether she now resents him for dragging her to a muck. She says she does not and assures him that it is in their togetherness that she finds happiness. The three begin to walk toward higher ground even as they see screaming humans struggling to run against the rising water.

Both Janie and Tea Cake are exhausted attempting to swim against the flow of the ferocious water. When they spot a cow carrying a dog, Tea Cake asks Janie to get hold of the cow’s tail for help. The dog tries to attack Janie as soon as she tries to catch the cow’s tail. Seeing Janie in danger, Tea Cake jumps in and rescues her by fighting the dog to its death. However, the dog, before it takes its last breath, bites Tea Cake in the cheek. They somehow reach the dilapidated Palm Beach the next morning, but they feel as if eons have passed since the hurricane began. They start to feel a bit more safe and discuss the almost fatal experience involving the dog.

Chapter 19

In Palm Beach, Janie and Tea Cake are surrounded by dead corpses. Two white men with rifles approach them and force Tea Cake to help with the mass burials. While men from both races are expected to help with the mass burial, corpses of white people are afforded coffins, whereas corpses of black people are hurled into an unnamed mass grave. This work takes a physical and emotional toll on Tea Cake even as he is sure that Janie is suffering while waiting for him eagerly. They vow to leave the racist Palm Beach and return to the muck.

The couple is happy to return to the muck and find Motor Boat safe. They return to work and hunting. The rebuilding work in the town makes it seem like there was no hurricane. A month after their return from Palm Beach, Tea Cake complains about feeling extremely sick with headaches. Tea Cake thanks Janie for the dinner, but refuses to eat it. He wakes up at night screaming about a nightmare in which something had tried to choke him to death. His condition worsens: he develops a severe aversion to water, which renders him unable to drink water even when he is extremely thirsty.

The local doctor, Mr. Simmons, a white man, is summoned. He informs Janie that Tea Cake has been bit by a rabid dog, and even though he could attempt to get the rabies medicine from Palm Beach, it is unlikely that Tea Cake’s life can be saved. The next day, Janie watches as Tea Cake is overcome by paranoia and blames Janie for cheating on him with Mrs. Turner’s brother. He is still unable to drink water and gets more and more agitated. Tea Cake cries in Janie’s arm, and they are both comforted by their closeness until Janie finds a loaded pistol under Tea Cake’s pillow. She sets the gun in such a way that it shoots through three empty chambers, thereby giving her time if something were to actually happen. Tea Cake returns from the outhouse, swiftly picks up the pistol, and fires a blank at Janie. He keeps firing, and Janie is forced to retaliate to save her own life. She picks up a rifle off the wall and initially tries to break Tea Cake off his frenzy, but is unable to. In the end, she is forced to shoot, and she kills Tea Cake.

Janie is put on trial for Tea Cake’s death the same day. The gathered black people root against her and don’t believe that she is innocent. Dr. Simmons comes to Janie’s rescue and offers expert testimony: he states that Tea Cake was dangerous enough to be locked up in a prison. He testifies that Janie’s life was certainly in grave danger. Janie takes the stand and speaks to the jury about the love and life that she and Tea Cake shared. The all-men, all-white jury lets her free, and the white women console her. However, she loses the support of her friends. She buries Tea Cake in Palm Beach surrounded by roses, as one would bury a king.

Chapter 20

The royal burial that Janie gives Tea Cake proves her innocence, and the black men in the muck request her to continue living there. However, she discovers that she would not be able to live in the muck without Tea Cake. To remind herself of Tea Cake, she packs a packet of plant seeds to plant in her Eatonville house. It is at this point that Janie concludes her story to Pheoby. She tells her that she is well aware of the gossip and the hostile glances that she is about to receive from the townspeople. She declares that it does not matter to her, because she feels fulfilled from having known love. She recalls her memory of killing Tea Cake, but assures herself that until her death, Tea Cake will be alive through her memories.

Analysis of Chapter 16 – Chapter 20

Mrs. Turner is an important character: even as a black person, she represents the internalization of racism that can take place after centuries of systematic racism. Her advice to Janie that she marry her brother even when she knows that Janie is already married to Tea Cake is especially appalling. She believes that having lighter skin is a mark of moral uprightness. She and Tea Cake dislike each other strongly, and she refuses to see him as an equal worthy of dignity and respect. Even when he attempts to breaks a fight her restaurant, Mrs. Turner refuses to see the good in him and blames Tea Cake for shoving her to the ground.

The reader can discern that that Tea Cake is jealous and insecure about Mrs. Turner’s brother. This is a new facet to his otherwise easygoing and adventurous personality. These negative emotions erupt as soon as Mrs. Turner’s brother returns to the muck for the harvest season. In a cruel, preemptive gesture, Tea Cake whips Janie. This is unprecedented and illustrates that jealousy and insecurity might easily lead to fury. In this case, Janie bears the fury even though she is innocent and blameless. Interestingly, Janie does not defend herself or rebuke Tea Cake. This silence, however, is vastly different from her silence in response to Jody’s violence. There was no love, but only stoicism and a desire for survival in Janie’s silence in response to Jody’s cruelty. Here, it is out of love that Janie does not react to Tea Cake’s act of violence. Interestingly, Tea Cake’s friends react with jealousy, which illustrates their perverse desire for control over women.

The early migration of the Seminole Indians and animals shows that they are closely in touch with nature. Tea Cake is arrogant and is unconvinced about having to move to a safer location even after he witnesses so many people migrating for safety. Tea Cake is deeply and unreasonably proud of his physical strength. Interestingly, Janie does not urge Tea Cake to reconsider, which confirms her blind, absolute trust in him.

Tea Cake, Motor Boat, and Janie stare at the eye of the approaching hurricane, and this signifies the insignificance of human vanity and effort in the face of nature’s fury. The hurricane also brings forth Tea Cake’s insecurity: he wonders if Janie regrets her decision to come to the muck with him rather than being protected in her house in Eatonville. She reassures him that she would rather be wherever they are together, even if that puts her in danger. This demonstrates the all-consuming love the two possess for each other.

Until the narrative moves to Palm Beach, the novel is set in all-black townships with few Caucasians in the neighborhood. Palm Beach is thus a new experience for Tea Cake and Janie. It is here that the uniformed men in Palm Beach force and threaten Tea Cake to assist in the burial of the corpses. This act of racist coercion is intensified when Tea Cake notes that the white corpses were afforded coffins, whereas the black corpses were being piled into a mass grave. Tea Cake is struck by the recognition that black people are not accorded respect even in their death.

Tragedy strikes the couple when Tea Cake contracts rabies. It almost seems like a divine punishment for Tea Cake’s arrogance about his physical strength. Tea Cake is reduced to sickness, paranoia; he comes to depend entirely on Janie for care.

That Janie chooses to shoot Tea Cake, the love of her life, is crucial because it stands in contrast to one of her earlier statements: she had told Tea Cake that she will feel happy at home with him irrespective of where they might be. Recognizing his deteriorating cognitive capacities and the fact that he is a definite danger to her life, she chooses to be kind to him by shooting him. It is only after making sure that he does indeed intend to shoot her that she kills him.

The all-white, all-male jury’s decision is dependent on the testimony of the white doctor. Thankfully to Janie, the doctor states that Tea Cake was a danger to himself and others. The image of white men pardoning her and white women consoling her even as the black onlookers reject her is a powerful one. It is only through her grand burial of Tea Cake that she is able to prove her innocence to the black people at the muck.

Janie’s narration displays the wisdom and strength she has gathered. Even as she speaks of the violence and pain she has endured, she remembers Tea Cake’s love the most. She tells Pheoby that Tea Cake had helped her find her own strength and voice. She is no longer worried about the gossip in Eatonville; she is self-assured and independent.