Exploring African American Literature

Janie at the end of the novel is a second time widow. Her first marriage just ended abruptly and there is nothing more to say about it, but the reaction to Jody’s death versus Tea Cake’s death displays the power of love. The kind of love Janie discovers under the pear tree. I do take issue with some of the things that occurred between Janie and Tea Cake. There is no excuse to hit your partner, that is not love. I would just like to make it clear that I do not think Janie and Tea Cake’s relationship was a healthy one. However Janie’s emotions for Tea Cake make his death far more deep than Jody’s and that shows the difference between a relationship founded on pure emotion instead of lies. A big indicator of just how bad the relationship between Janie and Jody was shows through in the scene where she tells him off while he lies on his deathbed. From page 85 to 87 the floodgates of Janie’s pent up feelings open into the room. Their toxic relationship is evident through Janie only feeling s

 Baby Suggs and Colors      Baby Suggs is somewhat the head of the remains of Sethe’s family. Her character has a major shift in energy the day that Sethe kills Beloved. She goes from a preacher to a part of 124, stuck in the memory of the tragedy that occured in the shed. The first time she brings up colors is when Stamp Paid confronts her about missing the clearing for several weeks. This is after Sethe has gone to jail. She says to Stamp Paid “What I have to do is get in my bed and lay down. I want to fix on something harmless in this world” (211). Her whole life has been defined by the colors black and white. The white people causing harm to black people is what she has to constantly witness and experience herself. When she is referring to something harmless, she is talking about the colors in the world that are free from this oppression. She begins her studies with blue. She says “that don’t hurt nobody” (211). The color blue has not brought pain to her life. It is something so si