Their eyes were watching god Dialectical Journals 1-55

Journal #1:

“Ships at a distance have every man’s wish on board. For some they come in with the tide. For others they sail forever on the horizon, never out of sight, never landing until the Watcher turns his eyes away in resignation, his dreams mocked to death by Time. That is the life of men.

Now, women forget all those things they don’t want to remember, and remember everything they don’t want to forget. The dream is the truth. Then they act and do things accordingly.” (Pg. 1)

The first two paragraphs are defining the gender roles used throughout Hurston’s novel. Just like in a lot of literature, the women are the weaker gender, and men the stronger, more efficient gender. These two paragraphs are saying that men are more empirical than women, especially in their dreams. When men think something is unattainable, like a ship that rarely docks on land, they let it go and move on. When women think something is unattainable, they can’t discriminate the difference between they want and what it true, meaning that women live a more romanticized life. This creates the dynamic for the unsuccessful relationships and unrealistic expectations throughout the novel as a whole.

Journal #2:

“These sitters had been tongueless, earless, eyeless conveniences all day long.” (Pg. 1)

           

The “sitters” in this situation are the town’s people. By using synecdoche, Hurston uses the people’s mouth, eyes, and ears to represent the entirety of Janie’s enemies. She uses their physical and visceral traits to dehumanize them. Now, instead of seeming like harmless old folks, they are vultures picking at her for information and watching her with judgmental eyes.

Journal #3:

“Words walking without masters, walking altogether like harmony in a song.” (Pg. 2)

On page two, Hurston uses a tactic similar to the one described in Journal #2 called metonymy. Here, she is using something unrelated to the person as a symbol for the person (the words represent the person saying them). She is also using personification to make the words themselves seem like living things; things that can injure a person the same way a physically-present human can. Hurston is using this to show how much impact simple words have on this community, and how one false rumor or comment can destroy someone.

Journal #4:

“They, the men, were saving with the mind what they lost with the eye. The women took the faded shirt and muddy overalls and laid them away for remembrance.” (Pg. 2)

This is another comment on gender roles in the book. The men are not only the “rougher” gender, they are also more physical than the women. While the men are admiring Janie’s womanly form, the women are criticizing her ripped overalls and wondering why she couldn’t afford nicer clothing. In some ways, Hurston is saying that men are less materialistic than women, but no less judgmental. This is a theme for the book.

.Journal #5:

“Unless you see de fur, a mink skin ain’t no different from a coon hide.” (Pg. 7)

This is an allegorical statement, or a statement that carries more meaning than the literal meaning lets on. Also, it is a statement about Phoeby’s character as a whole because she is not judging Janie on her experiences like the other women are. She’s saying that something cheap can pass for something expensive on the outside, but once you look at the true value, the charade will have to end.

Journal #6:

“Den they’d tell me not to be takin’ on over mah looks cause they mama told ‘em ‘bout de hound dawgs huntin’ mah papa all night long.”

Janie is reliving a scene from her childhood where the other children picked her on relentlessly. First off, she was black, so the Caucasians all saw her as beneath them, and second of all, she dressed in hand-me-downs from white families, so none of the African American children wanted to play with her, either. In this line, she is talking about the reason she doesn’t have a mother or father: because her father slept with her mother, and he was chased through the woods all night by bloodhounds. The kids tease her because of this story, but they always fail to talk about the part where he tries to marry her mother. This shows the power of relationships throughout the book, and the destruction of one’s life through rumors and gossip, which may be a reason for Janie simply passing by the village people in the first chapter.

Journal #7:

“So this was a marriage!” (Pg. 11)

This is end of a paragraph describing a strangely erotic scene between a bee and a pear tree, where the bee pollinates the pear tree. This also represents Janie’s first “sexual experience”. She has it stuck in her head that the love from the bee to the three are a prime example of what love should be like: golden and glowing, and this is a moment right before the entering of womanhood.

Journal #8:

“Through pollinated air she saw a glorious being coming up the road.” (Pg. 11)

Janie sees Johnny Taylor through the pollen in the air, and as if her vision is cleared, a boy who was unappealing is suddenly a “glorious being”. Being two teenagers, they kiss, and Nanny, Janie’s grandma, awakes and sees them. She calls Janie up to her room and tells her that it is time for Janie to be married since she is now officially a woman.

Journal #9:

“…Ah wants to see you married right away.”

“Who Ah’m goin’ tuh marry off-hand lak dat? Ah don’t know nobody.” (Pg. 13)

This is an interesting couple of lines because it is the start of a dramatic foil in the book: Nanny and Janie. Nanny believes that love should be about social standing and materialistic values, while Janie believes that love should be pure and lovely like the bee and the pear tree. Nanny wants Janie to marry Logan Killicks because he can provide and protect her, but Janie is disgusted by the age difference.

Journal #10:

“So de white man throw down de load and tell de nigger man tuh pick it up. He pick it up because he have to, but he don’t tote it.

He hand it to his womenfolks.” (Pg. 14)

In these lines, Nanny is explaining to Janie that the black woman is the mule of the world, and that she is only suggesting marrying Logan Killicks so that she can avoid an heinous fate. The sexism in these lines is apparent, but they also display something that hasn’t been shown until now: the strength of women. Not only do they carry their own burdens, but the share their husband’s. Plus, pack mules are renowned for their strength and endurance.

Journal #11:

“So Ah told her, ‘Ah don’t know nothin’ but what Ah’m told tug do, ‘cause Ah ain’t nothing but uh nigger and a uh slave’.” (Pg. 17)

This is describing a scene where Nanny is younger, and just had a baby. The head master is whipping her because said baby is blonde haired and blue-eyed, meaning Nanny was sleeping with the director, and asking who the father was. This is an important point in the story because the reader realizes that Nanny wants Janie to be married because both her and Janie’s mother had very hard lives as single mom’s, and she doesn’t want that fate for her granddaughter. Also, Leafy, Janie’s mom, was raped at 17 by her school teacher, which is a form of dominance for men over women.

Journal #12:

“He don’t even never mention nothin’ pretty.”

She began to cry.

“Ah wants things sweet mah marriage lak when you sit under a pear tree an think. Ah…”

Again, the motif of the pear tree re-emerges. This is a conversation between her and Nanny where Janie is complaining about the lack of love in their relationship, and Nanny tells her to get over it because this marriage is what’s best for her social standing. The pear tree represents her innocence and naïveté about the idea of love; her marriage to Logan does not support her idea of how love should be.

Journal #13:

“Long before the year was up, Janie noticed that her husband had stopped talking in rhymes to her. He had ceased to wonder at her long black hair and finger it. Six months back he had told her, "If Ah kin haul de wood heah and chop it fuh yuh, look lak you oughta be able tuh tote it inside. Mah fust wife never bothered me ‘bout choppin’ no wood nohow. She’d grab dat ax and sling chips lak uh man. You done been spoilt rotten."(Pg. 26)

At this point, one of Nanny’s predictions came true: Logan stops worshipping Janie for her physical beauty and begins to expect to do things around the house. Basically, he stopped sweet-talking her once he figured out that she had little to return. Any hope fore Janie eventually loving Logan is gone. This is an indirect metaphor to the motif of women being a mule, like how Logan wants her to plow the fields and take care of his 60 acres of land.

Journal #14:

“Janie pulled back a long time because he did not represent sun-up and pollen and blooming trees, but he spoke for far horizon. He spoke for change and chance.”(Pg. 29)

She doesn’t see Joe as her “bee”, even though she does say that he is her “bee” to her “blossom”, but as her “far horizon” and her escape from her failing marriage. Also, the dramatic foil between Nanny and Janie rears its’ ugly head again: Nanny’s voice is still in the back of Janie’s mind when debating how she felt about Joe.

rnal #15:

"Take for instance the case of Matt Bonner's yellow mule." (Pg. 51)

This is a very important line because it is introducing the main topic of the majority of chapter five: the mule. Mule is a motif for women, and shows up many times in this novel. Also, the reference to black women because the world's mule because they carry all their men's problems as well as their own comes into play. 

Journal #16:

"Look like he took pleasure in doing it. Why couldn't he go himself sometimes? She had come to hate the inside of that store anyway." (Pg. 54)

In both of Janie's relationships, she is treated as a slave more than a wife. In the first case, she quite literally was his mule: she plowed the fields and tended to Logan Killick's 60 acres of land. In her current situation, Joe is forcing her to watch the store instead of doing it himself because he thinks it should be the woman's job. According to a story ruiner by Fielding, work is also directly related to the equality in her relationships. For example, Logan treated her unfairly the same way Joe is, and she doesn't feel like she should have to do the work they've allotted to her. When she meets Tea Cake, however, she is happy to work because he treats her as an equal rather than a dominant and submissive relationship. 

Journal #17:

"Her hair was NOT going to show in the store. It didn't seem sensible at all. That was because Joe never told Janie how jealous he was." (Pg. 55)

Janie's hair is obviously a source of pride and flattery; something to be admired by men and envied by women. Joe wanting her to cover it up is basically asking her to hide a piece of her from the world. This goes hand in hand with how he is slowly taking away her voice throughout their marriage. He wants her to only show him her hair so he can be the only one to admire it, like he would a possession. 

Journal #18:

"Abraham Lincoln, he had de whole United States tuh rule so he freed de Negroes. You got uh town so you freed uh mule." (Pg. 58)

This is a use of sarcasm. Obviously Jody buying one mule from a bad owner is no where near as prestigious as Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves. I think this is used to show how completely he has everyone else fooled into thinking he is a saint (shown by how quickly they agree with Janie's speech, even though she was being fictitious) and yet Janie sees his true colors. She isn't fooled. 

Journal #19:

"A circle, a swoop and a hop with spread-out wings. Close in, close in till some of the more hungry or daring perched on the carcass." (Pg. 61)

This is some fairly intense imagery to simply describe birds eating a dead mule. The vultures in this situation aren't literal, they are the towns people, swooping in and "feasting" on women's rights. This scene is an example of parallelism because this is also the portion of the novel where Janie begins to accept her role as the submissive housewife, so the vultures eating the mule could be Joe taking away Janie's power. 

Journal #20: 

"Mrs. Bogle who was many times a grandmother, but had a blushing air of coquetry about her that cloaked her sunken cheeks. You saw a fluttering fan before her face and magnolia blooms and sleepy lakes under the moonlight when she walked." (Pg. 69)

Mrs. Bogle is an elderly woman who marries when based on who is the highest bidder. She is a woman with very similar morals to Janie's grandmother. Interesting. 

Journal #21:

"Somebody got to think for women and chillun and chickens and cows." (Pg. 71)

Basically, he is saying that he puts Janie's intellect on the same level as he would a three year-old or a domesticated animal without even considering how this might sound to a woman. Then, when Janie tries to defend herself, he tells her that she understands nothing while he understands everything so she should probably just shut up. This is a serious power play by Joe because he wants her to be submissive and will insult her into being something that she isn't. This is not the idealistic relationship she envisioned when she left Logan because they both had the same goal, but Joe was more charismatic: they want to change Janie so that she is basically a lobotomized slave used for labor and tending to their needs. Very romantic. 

Journal #22:

"She wasn't petal-open anymore with him." (Pg. 71)

There are the nature metaphors again. She is saying that he is no longer the "bee to her bloom", basically, the illusion is shattered. She was looking for pear tree, and instead got an apparatus filled with poisonous fruit. It has been shown in the past that when Janie brings in nature, she is usually referring to qualities she wants in a man. She wants glowing, gold love, like the fertility that comes along with the growing of fruit. Now, she is closing the door on the hope that she will find that with Joe. 

Journal #23:

"He was longing for peace, but on his own terms." (Pg. 72)

Joe wants the happiness without all the work that comes along with a successful relationship. No matter how smart or spirited women are, some men simply want them to be submissive. And often, women had no choice and just bowed their heads. This completely destroys any illusion of love left-over in their marriage, and only a pretense remains that flaunts itself to the public. 

Journal #24:

"It's so easy to make yo'self out God Almighty when you ain't got nothin' huh strain against but women and chickens."

"You getting' too moufy, Janie." (Pg. 75)

Janie is saying that it is easy to be the best swimmer if you're racing against people in floaties. Joe is the most successful person in town- but compared to what? Also, I'd like to note that Joe shuts her up immediately, not even bothering to here her out. This probably means that he knows she is right. 

Journal #25:

"But mostly she lived between her hat and her heels, with her emotional disturbances like shade patterns in the woods--come and gone with the sun." (Pg. 76)

Janie is trying to picture life without Joe, but the images are fleeting, like shadows in the woods, and the sun is representing the time she has spent trying to love Joe. Even though she pictures her life outside her husband, she mostly just accepted her fate and lived her physical fate quietly--between her hat and heels. Her clothing is also repressed lifestyle Joe has forced her to live. 

Journal #26:

"He ought not to have to wrassle in there by himself. She sent Sam in to suggest a visit, but Jody said No." 

(Pg. 84)

Joe is on his death bed, kidney failure, and since Janie called him out in front of his friends, he is choosing to die alone. To me, this shows the depth, or lack there of, of Joe's character, and how important Janie's submissiveness was to him. As Janie said, why should she apologize for making him feel small when he does it to her all the time?

Journal #27:

"Listen, Jody, you ain't de Jody ah run off with down de road wid. You'se whit's left after he died." (Pg.86)

When Janie left Logan, Jody was her far-off horizon, someone who was going to lead her away from Logan's farm and onto greater things. Instead, she got the same marriage with a little more charisma, and a lot more charm. The older Jody got, the more he wanted to exploit Janie's age to make him seem younger, but now, he can no longer avoid his age caching up with him. As her descriptions of Jody's physical well-being have shown, Jody is just a shadow of his former self-- little more than a bag of fat and bones. 

Journal #28:

"Then she starched and ironed her face, forming it into just what people wanted to see, and opened up the window and cried, 'Come heah people! Jody is dead. Mah husband is gone from me.'" (Pg. 87)

As the sickness overwhelms Jody, Janie doesn't feel sad. In fact, she feels an overwhelming sense of freedom. This sentence shows the importance of public appearance. Also, Zora's language is almost a mockery of the repressed lifestyle Janie was forced to live. Using words like "starched" and "ironed" brings to mind the monotonous tasks that Janie was expected to do in her past life in order to please the people who had to see her everyday. Janie still feels the need to please them even though her reason for doing so just died from kidney failure. 

Journal #29:

"She sent her face to Joe's funeral, and herself went rollicking with the springtime across the world." (Pg.88)

Since she is still keeping up appearances for her peers, she must have the face of a grieving widow even though she wants to prance through a field of daisies. Also, she brings in some nature imagery, which speaks to her freedom from Joe, and the freedom to find someone who will give her the pear tree love she always imagined. 

Journal #30:

"Before she slept that night she burnt up every one of her head rags and went about the house next morning with her hair in one thick braid swinging well below her waist." (Pg. 89)

Janie's hair is a symbol for her youth, beauty, and freedom. When she was with Logan, her hair represented how she was the youthful element in their relationship, and the pleasing qualities that entailed. Her hair was always bound in head cloths when she was with Jody because he didn't want other men looking at her. He was repressing her beautiful, lively spirit and restricting her freedom by taking control of such an important piece of her body. Later in the book, Tea Cake will praise her hair and comb it, meaning she is finally free from restriction. This is an allegory because literally, she is just burning cloth, but on a deeper level she is burning the control that Jody had over her for so long. 

Journal #31:

"Digging around inside of herself like that she found that she had no interest in that seldom-seen mother at all. She hated her grandmother and had hidden it from herself all these years under a cloak of pity." (Pg. 89)

Janie hates her grandmother because she took something beautiful, like love, and belittled it until it was all about material and social gain. But more than that, her grandmother took these skewed views of love and forced them on Janie, making her marry men who treated her badly because it made her seem important. Janie pities her grandmother because she will never experience the beauty that real, true love can bring, and feels sorry for her because she wasted her life living with these estranged ideals.

Journal #32:

"Here Nanny had taken the biggest thing God ever made, the horizon--for no matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond you--and pinched it in to such a little bit of a thing that she could tie about her granddaughter's neck tight enough to choke her." (Pg. 89)

I think these are the most powerful lines that display the dramatic foil between the grandmother and the granddaughter. This is important imagery because Joe was once described as being her horizon, and ended up nearly choking the life out of Janie. The horizon has been an extended metaphor for Joe, and I think this line is marrying two ideas: the repression of her second marriage, and the repression of her grandmother's ideals. 

Journal #33:

"Seemed as if she had known him all her life." (Pg.99)

This is a contrast from the relative shortness of her other relationships. While Logan had maybe three chapters, Joe barely had six, and yet they were married for almost twenty years! That is a testament to who monotonous and boring their relationship was. Even after knowing Tea Cake for maybe seven pages, you feel like you understand their relationship and his character better than Joe or Logan. These words are part of the story, but also have a very literal meaning when you look at the length of the relationship compared to the length of the relationship in page numbers. 

Journal #34:

"'It's mine too. Ah ain't been sleeping' so good for more'n uh week cause Ah been wishing' so bad tuh git mah hands in yo' hair. It's so pretty. It feels jus' lak underneath uh dove's wing next to mah face.'" (Pg. 103)

Since Janie's hair has been a reoccurring symbol throughout the book, this obviously means that Tea Cake is different from other men because he not only embraces such a cerebral part of her character, he celebrates it. Also, he combs her hair, but is a sign that he respects her sensuality. 

Journal #35:

"He could be a bee to a blossom--a pear tree blossom in the spring." (Pg. 106)

And there it is. Joe is the bee to her pear tree blossom. Even though she said the same thing about Joe, she also compared Joe to a horizon, meaning she was blinded by the thought of starting over and couldn't see him for what he really was. 

Journal #36:

“Dis ain’t no business proposition, and no race after property and titles. Dis is ug love game. Ah done lived Grandma’s way, now Ah means tuh live mine.” (Pg. 107)

Janie has married one man for property, social standing, and because her grandmother thought it would be a good idea, and then another to get as far away as she could from the first one. This is an important scene because not only is Janie talking to Phoeby (the first mention of her in the retelling of Janie’s story), but she is finally making a decision of this nature for herself, and not because anyone told her too. Granny and Janie have obviously had very different notions of what love is, and it’s well past time that Janie tried doing things her own way. Her love for Tea Cake represents her letting go of the ideals placed upon her by her family, and the expectations from society, for example, how they expected Janie to mourn longer for Joe, but how could she when she felt no grief?

Journal #37:

“So the very next morning Janie got ready to pick beans along with Tea Cake. There was a suppressed murmur when she picked up a basket and went to work.” (Pg. 133)

When Janie was with Logan, she was forced to plow the fields and tend to his many acres of land, and when she was with Joe, he made her work the store while he gallivanted about town gossiping. In both of these situations, Janie expressed how much she hated working, and how she felt like the chores she was made to do weren’t her duty. When I first read this, I thought Janie was just whiny and didn’t want to help out around the house, but really, all she wanted was to be treated like a wife instead of a pack mule or employee. This is shown when Tea Cake asks her to work with him because he misses her too much during the day, and she gladly straps on some work boots to pick peas in the field. Even though this work may be harder than the shop or the fields, simply being treated like an equal was enough, and she happily went into the elements.

Journal #38:

“He kin take most any lil things and make summertime out of it when times is dull. Then we lives offa dat happiness he made till some mo’ happiness come along.”

 (Pg. 141)

In this quote, Janie is talking about her husband, Tea Cake. The word “summertime” is using connotation to the images of Johnny Taylor coming up the road in the sunshine and "golden dust of pollen”. This in turn brings images of her love-tree, and reminds us of her ideals for love that have been lacking in her former marriages.  

Journal #39:

“It was so evident that Mrs. Turner took black folk as a personal affront o herself.”

 (Pg. 142)

While reading about Mrs. Turner’s character, I couldn’t help but think that I had to use some part of her rant in a dialectical journal, but all of it seemed important, and here’s why:

Mrs. Turner is a strange kind of racist because instead of hating black people as a whole, she only hates the ones who are, well, physically black. But besides this strange obsession, there is something else about Mrs. Turner that sets her apart from the rest: she is the human representation of judgment in this society. Her racism is literally skin deep, and she idolizes Janie because she has Caucasian traits. Also, for these same reasons, she doesn’t think Janie should marry Tea Cake, but should instead marry her brother because he has straight hair. Later, more evidence to this fact will arise.

Journal #40:

“All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.”

(Pg. 145)

Mrs. Turner adamantly sticks to her belief that the unattainable should be the standard: everyone bearing Caucasian traits. She believes that everyone should have white skin, skinny lips, a pointy noise, straight hair, and a back that goes right to your ankles. Basically, she didn’t value Janie as a woman; she valued her for her Caucasian features. Like being around white people somehow made her whiter. And she hates Tea Cake because he is “defiling” Janie’s half-blood purity. Again, Mrs. Turner is representing society, especially the people who only valued Janie for her appearance. For example, the men in the beginning of the chapter and both of her previous marriages, and the women spreading rumors because Janie came to town in overalls and some boots.

Journal #41:

“’Dat’s all right, Tea cake, Ah ‘preciate yo’ help, but leave ‘em alone’.” (Pg. 151)

Mrs. Turner, again. This is another example of her unrealistic expectations because while Tea Cake is attempting to rid her establishment of a few noisy drunks, her husband sits on the sidelines. Then, she stops Tea Cake to avoid a tussle, and chastises her husband for not helping throw the men out? What? First she wants Tea Cake to act civilized and leave alone, and then yells at her husband for not doing exactly what Tea Cake was doing.

Journal #42:

“The time was past for asking the white folks what to look through that door. Six eyes were questioning God.” (Pg. 159)

These lines in the book are extremely important. Basically, the hurricane is a divine force of nature that is physically destroying the bounds of colonialism. This is shown because Tea Cake and his friends ignore the warning signs and side with their white boss to stay behind. The lines above represent the moment that the black people stop looking to white authority for guidance. Now, the muck, or black territory, is indistinguishable from the white neighborhood.

Journal #43:

“Naw. We been tuhgether round two years. If you kin see de light at daybreak, you don’t keer if you die at dusk. It’s so many people never seen de light at all. Ah wuz fumblin’ round and God opened the door.” (Pg. 159)

This is one of my favorite quotes from the book. Janie is saying that, throughout her relationship with Tea Cake, Janie has accepted that you can’t just have all the good things in a relationship; you also have to have some bad. She is saying that she is willing to risk this pain to achieve bliss.

One thing I would like to mention is the use of use twice in two paragraphs. The door could be a symbol for the major changes occurring, such as Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship and the physical/societal change for the small town.

Journal #44:

“They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.”

(Pg. 160)

This quote summarizes a huge conflict in the novel. In this scene, Janie, Tea Cake, and Motor Boat are hiding from the hurricane outside. This hurricane represents the conflict between humans and God, but more specifically, Janie against nature and society as a whole. This is an important scene because the use of communication and affection provides a certain safety against these divine forces. For example, in the quote I mentioned above Tea Cake and Janie use their intimacy as a means to struggle and survive these forces, and the sense of safety that Janie gains from her love for Tea Cake helps her endure another hostile force at the end of novel- the women of Eatonville.

Journal #45:

“Hurrying, dragging, falling, crying, calling out names hopefully and hopelessly. Wind and rain beating on old folks and beating on babies.” (Pg. 164)

This statement personifies the hurricane, giving it human characteristics of something abusive and evil. This also puts every human on the same level, supporting my earlier statement about the hurricane unifying the two communities in two equal states of destruction. The hurricane (the divine element, a.k.a God) doesn’t discriminate (like Janie said in the quote used in Journal #40) between races, age, or any other determinate factor, and will destroy anything, whether it be a baby or an old man. Even though this sounds terrible, it supports the theme of equality.

Journal #46:

"Once upon uh time, Ah never 'spected nothin', Tea Cake, but bein' dead from the standin' still and tryin' tuh laugh. But you come 'long and made somethin' outa me. So Ah'm thankful fuh anything we come through together." (Pg. 167)

Since the beginning of the book, Janie has made it clear what she wants: she wants to be in love, and not just any love, beautiful and golden love. Now that she's found it, everything is just a bonus. Janie's marriage to Joe was static to the end, but then Tea Cake came along and ended the monotony. He is saying that all of this is his fault and that she shouldn't be glad she ran away with him, and she is saying that anything that happens when he is there with her is twice as good as anything that happens without him, regardless of what it is.

Journal #47:

"Somewhere up there beyond blue ether's bosom sat He. Was He noticing what was going on around here? He must be because He knew everything Did He mean to do this thing to Tea Cake and her? It wasn't anything she could fight. She could only ache and wait." (Pg. 178)

Up until the time of the hurricane, there wasn't much mention of religion or beliefs. I think this represents a human's need to believe in something bigger then them in times of tragedy, more so than any other time. Bad things have happened to Janie, but I never once heard her praying to anything until Tea Cake's life was in danger, so these lines are also a testament to their love. 

Journal #48:

"Naw, you ain't neither. You only sound ole when you tell folks when you wuz born, but wid de eye you'se young enough huh suit most any man." (Pg. 180)

In Janie and Joe's marriage, he would tell her that she was old and looking older everyday, and when she came back with a retort, it destroyed the weak remainder of their marriage. Now, Tea Cake is on his deathbed and telling Janie that she is beautiful and that he knows she will love again, and more importantly, he is actually talking about how his own jealousy makes him feel weak in comparison to her. These are two things that quite literally could have saved her second marriage, but Joe was afraid of being vulnerable to a woman. 

Journal #49:

"The pistol and rifle rang out almost together. The pistol just enough after the rifle to seem its echo. Tea Cake crumpled as his bullet buried itself in the joist over Janie's head." (Pg. 184)

So much irony. Janie killed Tea Cake with a gun that he taught her to shoot, because the man that had promised to take care of her attempted to kill her. Earlier in the book it stated that she had become a better shot than Tea Cake, and that he was envious but proud, well, look how that turned out. 

Journal #50:

"It was worse than that. It was lying thoughts. She had to go way back to let them know how she and Tea Cake had been with one another so they could see she could never shoot Tea Cake out of malice." (Pg. 187)

In court, she is being tried for murder, and the only thought she has is that they have to know why she did it, even if she goes to prison. She is hell-bent on the whole room knowing how much she loved her husband so at least understand why she had to do what she did. 

Journal #51:

"It was not death she feared. It was misunderstanding. If they made a verdict that she didn;t want Tea Cake and wanted him dead, then that was a real sin and a shame." 

(Pg. 188)

Janie doesn't fear imprisonment or death, she is scared that will think she didn't love Tea Cake, and of course to her that is a bigger sin than what she has done. Since she went through so much to find Tea Cake, she won't let their relationship be squandered away by a ruling of first degree murder. The Janie who wanted a love more beautiful than a pear tree will not see it forgotten so easily. 

Journal #52:

"'Well, you know whut dey say 'uh white man and uh nigger woman is de freest thing on earth.' Dey do as dey please.'" (Pg. 189)

This is such a misconception it's ridiculous, but it also shows the difference between the thought processes of Caucasians and black people. Janie's grandmother literally believed that black women were the bottom of the food chain, Joe thought they were the equivalent of domesticated animals and small children, and Janie was treated like a slave for most of her life, and yet here are two white women saying that they are the 'freest' things on earth? I don't think so. 

Journal #53:

"She went on in her overalls. She was too busy feeling grief to dress like grief." (Pg. 189)

When Joe died, she made a point of mentioning how she had to dress up and put on a show for the people of the town so they believed she was truly grieving. Now, when the man she actually loves dies, she can barely make herself get dressed in the morning. So really, she is dressed like grief, but it's real grief instead of the false feeling the town's people were expecting from her. 

Journal #54: 

"The seeds reminded Janie of Tea Cake more than anything else because he was always planting things." 
(Pg. 191)

God has thus far been represented in nature (for example the hurricane), and the idea that Tea Cake was always planting things kind of eludes to Tea Cake a divine thing to Janie. She made him out to be the man in charge of her joy because as she said before, he was could make happiness out of anything and they would live off it. He is a creator of good fortune in Janie's eyes. 

Journal #55:

"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." (Pg. 191)

Even though Tea Cake suffered a tragic end, Janie has prospered from their time together more than either of her other marriages. When she left Joe, she was eager to start her life off new, and she felt free. When she left Logan, she left him for a man who has represented a "far horizon" throughout this entire novel. Now, after having loved Tea Cake, she feels she can finally return home.