Prompt: Describe a character that is morally ambiguous and present examples. Then, explain how this trait contributes to the work as a whole.
Dubious Tea Cake
by Jenna Feiling
Morally ambiguous characters represent the “gray area” of literature. Such characters discourage the reader from distinguishing their intentions as justifiable or inexcusable, whether said character plays a pivotal role in the work or not. In Zora Neale Hurston’s classic novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, this situation is prevalent; Specifically, with Janie Mae Crawford’s third husband, Tea Cake. Tea Cake plays an essential role in the novel due to his ethically vague nature, both fulfilling Janie’s need for affection and physically abusing her. His role gains significance through his controversial death – overall assisting Jeanie in finding her identity.
Tea Cake demonstrates this character flaw through his unwavering love for Janie. Immediately after their introduction to each other the two were infatuated, Janie constantly describing his charm. When Janie returns to Eatonville, Florida without her most recent husband, Pheoby Watson questions if he had abandoned her. In response, Janie states, “’He give me every consolation in de world. He’d tell ‘em so too, if he was here.’” (7) The strength of their love is a reference towards the central theme of the novel, the search for one’s identity, due to the significance Janie places on passion throughout the narrative.
The aspect of Tea Cake’s character that is questionable is displayed when he beats Janie to show his power over her. The migrants return to the Everglades, including Mrs. Turner’s brother, and Tea Cake feels threatened by his presence. In an act of pure dominance Tea Cake strikes Janie, gaining the respect and envy of the other men. Janie bears no ill will towards the incident, though his actions reveal a detrimental trait to the reader. The narrator states, “ Being able to whip her reassured him in possession.” (147) This act of possessive violence aligns Tea Cake with Janie’s previous husbands, a resemblance that both confuses and repulses the reader.
Both aspects of Tea Cake’s nature gain importance after his fatal endeavor with the rabid dog. After a day’s work of continuous repairs to the dike Tea Cake is attacked by a feral dog, contracting the rabies virus soon after. Janie euthanizes Tea Cake in an act of survival, demonstrating the destructive facets of their relationship. “It was the meanest moment of eternity,” the narrator says, describing his death. “A minute before she was just a scared human being fighting for its life. Now she was her sacrificing self with Tea Cake’s head in her lap.” (184) Although his death portrays a form of justice to the reader this circumstance presents a perplexing concept for the reader; Are the conditions of his death justifiable due to his violent nature, or is the notion of execution as a whole inexcusable? The underlying meaning of the question is truly whether his morally ambiguous disposition plays a factor in his death, in which an answer is presented during Janie’s trial.
The trial centers on Janie's love for Tea Cake, taking place immediately after his death. During the trial, Janie’s neighbors, also classified as the “black group of people” choose to shun Janie for her actions. It is the “white group of people” that accept her disposal of Tea Cake as an act of love, the all-white-male jury clearing her of all charges. This scene demonstrates the strength of Janie and Tea Cake’s love, expressing to the reader the importance Janie placed upon their relationship, and it’s contribution to her own self-recognition. “But she hadn’t wanted to kill him… She made them see how she couldn’t ever want to be rid of him.” (187) This quote represents the positive influence Tea Cake expressed towards Janie’s development, once again reassuring the reader that Janie loved him.
Morally ambiguous characters are the catalyst to many great works of literature. Authors from across the globe have used such vaguely virtuous characters, just as Zora Neale Hurston wrote of Tea Cake in Their Eyes Were Watching God. Tea Cake, concurrently displaying both positive and negative traits, represents this ambiguity and it’s significance to the whole of a story. These characters play a vital role in the plasticity of said works, creating a distinguished aura familiar to readers throughout time.
