I do not believe Janie Crawford is the ‘new black woman’, — for to be new it must have not existed, but black women have existed since the beginning of time. The term may be correct because Zora Neale Hurston’s character is one that has not been searched for before. Here it is important to argue that during a time in the Harlem Renaissance when all that mattered was dealing with race — rarely gender, and never sexual identity - Janie Crawford is not a ‘new black woman’, rather she represents a black identity that continues the tradition of fighting for freedom. For Janie those freedoms are: of Romance, of Voice, and of Beauty.
The dream for Janie, at the age of 16, was love; that through marriage, love would come naturally — but that was not …show more content…
Janie’s freedom of romance is achieved because Tea Cake does not play games with her, does not hide the truth — this honesty serves to calm the doubt that Janie has. In her marriage with Tea Cake, Janie’s freedom of voice is set free. Janie can speak her mind; interact with her fellow people on the muck while they work. Most importantly Janie can choose when to speak. When Tea Cake slaps her to show his dominance, Janie does not say a word because she chooses to — she understands the situation and acts and does so accordingly. And at the end when Tea Cake is rabid she speaks up and fights back — her voice resonates in this moment. Finally, Janie’s freedom of beauty was stripped in her first two marriages, emerged from hiding after the death of Jody and the reflection in the mirror, but it is out on the mucks that signify Janie’s understanding of her own beauty. In the mucks, where it is dirty and sweltering hot, Janie is alive with laughter — wearing her overalls; But each day she is happy to go back home with Tea Cake, clean up, and work on dinner together because in the end Tea Cake loves her: covered up, head to toe; a mess in her overalls; or clean with her hair
The dream for Janie, at the age of 16, was love; that through marriage, love would come naturally — but that was not …show more content…
Janie’s freedom of romance is achieved because Tea Cake does not play games with her, does not hide the truth — this honesty serves to calm the doubt that Janie has. In her marriage with Tea Cake, Janie’s freedom of voice is set free. Janie can speak her mind; interact with her fellow people on the muck while they work. Most importantly Janie can choose when to speak. When Tea Cake slaps her to show his dominance, Janie does not say a word because she chooses to — she understands the situation and acts and does so accordingly. And at the end when Tea Cake is rabid she speaks up and fights back — her voice resonates in this moment. Finally, Janie’s freedom of beauty was stripped in her first two marriages, emerged from hiding after the death of Jody and the reflection in the mirror, but it is out on the mucks that signify Janie’s understanding of her own beauty. In the mucks, where it is dirty and sweltering hot, Janie is alive with laughter — wearing her overalls; But each day she is happy to go back home with Tea Cake, clean up, and work on dinner together because in the end Tea Cake loves her: covered up, head to toe; a mess in her overalls; or clean with her hair