Their Eyes Were Watching God

by

Zora Neale Hurston

Of her three husbands (Logan Killicks and Jody Starks being the first two), Tea Cake is Janie's one and only true love throughout the novel. Twelve years younger than Janie and of much lower social status, Tea Cake appears initially as a risky candidate for marriage. However, he treats Janie with far more respect and affection than either of her other husbands, though all is not perfect in their marriage as Tea Cake at times lies and once beats Janie. Upon their meeting, Tea Cake engages Janie in lively conversation and asks her to play checkers, treating her as an equal player. Tea Cake satisfies Janie's desire for sexual fulfillment and self-expression, allowing her to arrive at the horizon at the novel's end.

Tea Cake Quotes in Their Eyes Were Watching God

The Their Eyes Were Watching God quotes below are all either spoken by Tea Cake or refer to Tea Cake. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender Roles and Relations Theme Icon
).
Chapter 10 Quotes

Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Related Symbols: Checkers
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

He looked like the love thoughts of women. He could be a bee to a blossom – a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God.

Related Characters: Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Pear Tree
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Page Number: 128
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Janie seethed. But Tea Cake never let go. They wrestled on until they were doped with their own fumes and emanations; till their clothes had been torn away; till he hurled her to the floor and held her there melting her resistance with the heat of his body, doing things with their bodies to express the inexpressible.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

"Janie is wherever Ah wants tuh be. Dat's de kind uh wife she is and Ah love her for it."

Related Characters: Tea Cake (speaker), Janie Crawford
Page Number: 148
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Tea Cake was lying with his eyes closed and Janie hoped he was asleep. He wasn't. A great fear had took hold of him. What was this thing that set his brains fire and grabbed at his throat with iron fingers? Where did it come from and why did it hang around him?

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Hurricane
Page Number: 178
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

"Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons. Dis house ain't so absent of things lak it used tuh be befo' Tea Cake come along. It's full uh thoughts, 'specially dat bedroom."

Related Characters: Janie Crawford (speaker), Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Horizon
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:

Of course he wasn't dead. He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking. The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net…She called in her soul to come and see.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Horizon
Page Number: 193
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Their Eyes Were Watching God LitChart as a printable PDF.
Their Eyes Were Watching God PDF

Tea Cake Quotes in Their Eyes Were Watching God

The Their Eyes Were Watching God quotes below are all either spoken by Tea Cake or refer to Tea Cake. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Gender Roles and Relations Theme Icon
).
Chapter 10 Quotes

Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was even nice. She looked him over and got little thrills from every one of his good points.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Related Symbols: Checkers
Page Number: 96
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11 Quotes

He looked like the love thoughts of women. He could be a bee to a blossom – a pear tree blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps. Crushing aromatic herbs with every step he took. Spices hung about him. He was a glance from God.

Related Characters: Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Pear Tree
Page Number: 106
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13 Quotes

He drifted off into sleep and Janie looked down on him and felt a self-crushing love. So her soul crawled out from its hiding place.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Page Number: 128
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 15 Quotes

Janie seethed. But Tea Cake never let go. They wrestled on until they were doped with their own fumes and emanations; till their clothes had been torn away; till he hurled her to the floor and held her there melting her resistance with the heat of his body, doing things with their bodies to express the inexpressible.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Page Number: 137
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 17 Quotes

"Janie is wherever Ah wants tuh be. Dat's de kind uh wife she is and Ah love her for it."

Related Characters: Tea Cake (speaker), Janie Crawford
Page Number: 148
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 19 Quotes

Tea Cake was lying with his eyes closed and Janie hoped he was asleep. He wasn't. A great fear had took hold of him. What was this thing that set his brains fire and grabbed at his throat with iron fingers? Where did it come from and why did it hang around him?

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Hurricane
Page Number: 178
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 20 Quotes

"Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons. Dis house ain't so absent of things lak it used tuh be befo' Tea Cake come along. It's full uh thoughts, 'specially dat bedroom."

Related Characters: Janie Crawford (speaker), Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Horizon
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:

Of course he wasn't dead. He could never be dead until she herself had finished feeling and thinking. The kiss of his memory made pictures of love and light against the wall. Here was peace. She pulled in her horizon like a great fish net…She called in her soul to come and see.

Related Characters: Janie Crawford, Tea Cake
Related Symbols: The Horizon
Page Number: 193
Explanation and Analysis: