Journal #8

In the beginning of chapter 12, when Tea Cake and Janie have been seeing each other for a while and the town begins to notice what is going on, Hurston uses striking diction when she says, "All those signs of possession." (pg 110) This is in reference to all the things Tea Cake has been doing for Janie, like chores around the house and taking Janie to social events.  Instead of using words like love, or commitment, or caring, she uses the word possession, which gives the sentence a very negative feeling to it. It's meaning has become judgmental, as if someone jealous of Tea Cake's position is offering a personal opinion. We know that Janie has just come out of a marriage where she was viewed as a possession, and we hope that this does not foreshadow later events in the novel.

Hurston uses dialogue to emphasize the new direction Janie's life is taking when she says, "Ah done lived Grandma's way, now Ah means tuh live mine."(pg 114) During this scene, Janie is explaining to Phoebe how she wants to live with Tea Cake because she loves him, not because she feels like she must gather material wealth and become higher in the social hierarchy. For the first time, we see Janie's complete rejection of the ideals of her grandmother, and it all comes out through the dialogue. This is a perfect example of an internal conflict somewhat forgotten by the reader coming out and being heard. Janie later brings up points about how her grandmother only wanted to be like her white owners, but could not think what to do once she had arrived there. We are reminded of the white/black power struggle, which had been dormant for many previous chapters. All of this comes out through meaningful dialogue.

When Tea Cake returns after his four-day absence he returns with an object of power, of wealth, or at least an attempt at wealth, "But the fourth day after he came in the afternoon driving a battered car." (pg 108) There is connotation and denotation both working together when talking about a car. This passage occurs after Tea Cake have been together for a while, and Tea Cake proposes that they go shopping so that they can go to a picnic. In reality, the car is probably old, beat up, and less than perfect. However, there is a strong connotation to the image of a car, especially in American society. A car has often been included as a part in the American Dream, and also that it is a symbol of power, social standing, and wealth. Hurston chooses to use this connotation to her advantage, showing that Tea Cake cares enough about Janie that he wants to both impress her and show her that he is capable of providing a good life for her.