Tea Cake & Joe Starks Comparison
... than the rest. Something else made men give way before him. He had a bow-down command in his face, and every step he took made the thing more tangible” (Hurston 44). Everyone wants to have the wealth that Joe Starks has. “But how could they know up-to-date folks was spitting in flowery little things like that? It sort of made the rest of them feel that they had been taken advantage of. Like things had been kept from them” (Hurston 45). Tea Cake is good natured and “common”. When she first met him, he was in the store and pretends to strum an invisible guitar. Tea Cake was always making Janie laugh. When they went fishing together they had to dig for worms for the bail. This was such a common occurrence, but it made Janie feel like a kid again. Tea Cake also made friends easily. Tea Cake is also respected because of his good nature. Joe Starks maintains his relationships by bullying the town in order to get their respect and once he gets old, he sacrifices his pride for phony respect. “Janie had robbed him of his illusion of irresistible maleness that all men cherish, which was terrible” (Hurston 75). Tea Cake maintains his relationships because he pays no mind to society or its social rules and he uses genuine love to keep his friends. The way they treat Janie also shows insight to their characters. Joe Starks prizes the respect of the town over his wife’s love and Janie is needed to stroke his ego and Janie is placed away from the town as a “special possession” of Joe. “That night he...