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iamother's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I understand now why this book is considered a classic. Because of the way that it gives voice to black women during a time when that was virtually unheard of. The way that it uses the dialect of black people during that time while interweaving it seamlessly with a more traditional Western style points to the complexity of black society. That we are more than people that just react to the opinions and behaviors of white people but instead have our own wants and desires. That is what Janie was in search of throughout the book: a life well lived. A voice that she discovered was there the entire time. Something she was only able to unearth through experience. She realized there was more to life than simply being a wife and only being seen through that lens. Her life wasn’t perfect but if she had to do it over again, she would gladly bear those hardships again for the moments of happiness that still endure. My only problem with this text (and not a major one) is that this work is not indicative of the life of a typical black person during this period. Those adversities are either omitted or glossed over. But I think it was intentional. She was trying to argue that not every work written by a black author during this time period had to carry that tinge of social justice. These experiences are just as valid as those of others, though not as common. The freedom with which these black people operated you would’ve thought it was written in a world post Jim Crow. But it’s not, and that realization took me out of some of the interactions. But I think that says more about me than the story itself.
Content Warnings
Minor: Domestic abuse
redheadorganist's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Blood, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
Moderate: Animal death, Infidelity, and Grief
Minor: Rape
grace_fuchs's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Racism
dxmxus's review
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Slavery
maddyreads89's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
Like Beloved, this is a book I’m giving a lower rating to because I know I’ll love it even more upon re-read
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse
cateyackerman's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Grief
morenowagain's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Grief, Death of parent, and Classism
hannahcstocks's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Infidelity, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Dysphoria, and Classism
lyatheenaka's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
my response paper on the book:
Cages and Lovelier Cages
Everyone’s journey to liberation looks different, especially when you do not know that is what you truly want. Janie spends this novel being swept off her feet; not by men, but by lifestyles, by false promises and desires, none of which will fulfill her. All predetermined and laid out for her bow her head into. Tea Cake was far from the ideal man but what he gave her was a taste of liberation, of choice.
When we first meet Janie, she thinks she wants love. She dreams of the flowers and the trees and the pollen blooming together. She was confident that she could find that in marriage, despite her feelings going into it. “Husbands and wives always loved each other, and that was what marriage meant” (Hurston 21). That was not what marriage means and she quickly learned that. She never found love there, but she did find a cage. It was in the shape of plows, sowing needles, and thankless labor. Janie never wanted to slave her days away for a man she never loved. She soon ran from that cage.
Joe Starks extended his hand, in it laid a different cage, a much prettier one. This one was gilded, in the shape of opulence and high status. The cage had a label on it, in careful loopy script, Mrs. Mayor Starks. She was promised a life with little physical labor and where she would be exalted for her beauty. “A pretty doll-baby lak you is made to sit on de front porch and rock and fan yo’self and eat p’taters dat other folks plant just special for you” (Hurston 29). And nothing else. That is where the problem lies. Being pampered is fine until the loneliness sets in. When the pedestal you were put on is so high that you cannot talk to anyone, what is the point of the pedestal. This realization came slower to Janie and was that much harder to accept, but when the time came, she left it all behind without looking back.
Tea Cake was not perfect. It is very easy to fall into Janie’s view of him and make him an angel in our minds. She loved him with every part of her being, even deifying him in the end. But he is none of the sort. He hit her, he took her money, partook in rather strange activities and was overconfident. In fact, I would not say the storm killed him, but his own hubris. Tea Cake gave Janie something different, he gave her freedom. He gave her no cage, but a place by his side. She made decisions, gave her insight, was heard for once. She was liberated, despite Tea Cake’s faults, because her autonomy is fully realized. Are we sure, though? Being in true love is not the same as being liberated. Love can be a powerful binding force for a woman, and much lovelier and comfortable cage but a cage all the same.
That liberation was tested lethally when it was him or her. If she had picked his life over hers, we would know that she was never truly free. Love held her back from being a free woman. But she picked herself. She did not let love blind her and she took a life to keep hers. No cages, not anymore.
Janie knows what a cage looks like. She loved Tea Cake and would do anything for him, but she knew that she must live. Dying for a dead man might be a choice but it is not liberation. It is just another tool to keep a woman tied down, and Janie knows what it feels like. She breaks through and lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Racism, and Terminal illness
Minor: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
wellreadandhalfdead's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Racism
Moderate: Rape and Slavery