Their Eyes Were Watching God Chapter 10 Analysis

In Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston chapter 10 begins when there is a big baseball game in Winter Park and Janie stays back by herself to work in the store. A man walks into the store just as it is about to close and they completely hit it off. After he invites Janie to play checkers and she does not know how to, so he teaches her. Janie starts to get really excited because she feels he is everything a woman could want in a man. They talk and joke around the whole night and ends up walking Janie home. By the end of the chapter, we know his name is Vergible Woods, however, he goes by Tea Cake. Even though Janie is a little cautious, she feels like she has known him her whole life.
Janie begins to worry about Tea Cake; that

maybe he is a little too young for her or he just wants to take her money. Janie does not want to get sucked into another marriage that makes her absolutely miserable, so she decides she is going to give him the cold shoulder if he ever decides to come back. About a week later, Tea Cake comes back and Janie cannot help but smile when he is around. They spend the whole night together joking and having fun. Janie finally feels free again, for the first time since before she married. Hezekiah warns Janie that Tea Cake does not have much money, so she should not walk with him at night. Tea Cake admits to being in love with Janie, but at first Janie does not believe him. One day, Tea Cake comes to Janie’s house and picks her up, so he can show her how much he loves her.
After the picnic, Janie and Tea Cake start spending a lot of time together and the town’s men disapprove. Sam Watson mentions something to Pheoby and she says that Janie is her own women and can do whatever she wants to do. Pheoby goes and talks to Janie the next morning to let her know that the town is not very happy with her decision to be with Tea Cake. Janie explains to Pheoby that Tea Cake is not after her money and she plans on selling the store and making a new life for her and Tea Cake in Eatonville. Janie talks about how Nanny wanted her to live a white women’s life and she did that with Jody and it did not work out, so she is now ready to make her own decisions. She is determined to marry Tea Cake and make a new life with him.
Janie receives a letter from Tea Cake telling her to come to Jacksonville. She leaves the next morning in her wedding clothes that were picked out by Tea Cake. Janie and Tea Cake get married when she arrives. After they have been married a week, Janie awakes to Tea Cake being gone. She also finds that her secret stash $200 is missing. Tea Cake comes home later that night and reassures Janie that he did take the $200. He tries to win back the $200 gambling, however, Janie worries because he has been gone almost all night. When Tea Cake finally comes home the next morning he looks like he is asleep. Janie finds out is from blood loss; he got into a fight with another gambler who accused him of cheating. Tea Cake won back the $200 for Janie and still had $122 left over. He vowed to live off of his earning and not depend on her for money.