Discussion Questions Ch. 19-20 + Discussion Questions

Chapter 19-20
Discussion questions:
  1. Should the men of the muck feel bad for the way they treated Janie back at the trial?
  2. Was it smart for Janie to leave the Everglades even if she has nothing?
  3. What is the significance of the seeds Janie takes?
  • She plans to plant them wherever she settles down in remembrance of Tea Cake her true love.
  1. Did Janie live a full life?
  • Janie has experienced so much of loss, love, etc, that she has gained knowledge for herself and her likes. Therefore, she has lived a full life.
  1. Has Janie grown since the beginning of the book?
  • I believe Janie has grown since the beginning of the book because of the experiences she has had to go through.
Characters:
  • No new characters
Illustration:

Summary:
After Tea Cake’s funeral, the men of the muck realize how poorly they treated Janie; to appease their feelings of guilt, they beat Mrs. Turner’s brother and run him out of town again. Since the Everglades mean nothing to Janie without Tea Cake, she returns to Eatonville, taking only a package of seeds that she plans to plant in remembrance of Tea Cake. Her story finished, Janie tells Pheoby that she is content to live in Eatonville again, having already lived her dream; she has been to the “horizon and back.” She knows that the town will gossip behind her back, but she doesn’t care. She says that they don’t know what love really is and that they have not truly lived for themselves. That night, in bed, Janie thinks about the horrible day that she killed Tea Cake, and her whole world becomes sad. She realizes, however, that Tea Cake gave her so much and that he will always be with her. He showed her the horizon, and now she feels at peace.
Chapter 19
Discussion Questions:
  1. What would you do if you were in Tea Cakes position? Would you first take care of yourself or your significant other?
  2. Was Janie smart to not make Tea cake go to the doctor? Why or why not?
  • I think it was pretty selfies of her not to make him go to the doctor and dumb of her. The sickness was not just some ordinary cold. It was rabies.
  1. As Tea Cakes sickness worsens, he gets more violent. Should Janie put him out of his misery or cling onto hope?
  • I think that Janie should have just put him out of his misery because he was suffering and in pain. Plus he was not act like himself.
  1. At the trial, the black community turns their back on Janie and the white ladies sympathize for her. What do you think or feel about this situation?
  • I feel like the black community was wrong to turn their back on Janie because she did everything she could to keep him alive and well. She took care of him and stayed with him at his worse and for them to not see that is not right. Plus it is so ironic that the white ladies empathized for Janie and were more understanding than Janie’s own friends.
  1. Should Janie have gotten off free from the trial or should she have served some time? Explain.
Characters:
  • Tea Cake: Janie's husband
  • Doctor Simmons: the doctor that Janie fetches for Tea cakes infection
  • Mr. Prescott: a man who testifies against Janie in court
  • Sop-de-Bottom, Stew Beef, Dockery, ‘lias, Code May, Booty, and Motor Boat: friends of Tea Cake in the everglades.
Illustration:
Summary:
Janie and Tea Cake make it to safety in Palm Beach, but Tea Cake is soon pressed into service by white men who need him to help clear the wreckage and bury the dead. He was instructed to separate the bodies of white victims from the black corpses. The whites were buried in pine boxes and the blacks are just buried. As soon as Tea Cake saw a chance to flee, he takes it. Janie is very appreciative of her husband's efforts to save her life, and she urges him to see a doctor about the dog bite. Tea Cake refuses insisting first they need to find a place to rest. Janie is proud of his heroism, and he wants her to know that she has a real man to take care of her. Tea Cake has had enough of Palm Beach; the city is too inhospitable. Back on the muck, Tea Cake checks up on his old friends and is relieved to learn that only one of them died in the storm. He soon finds work after three weeks and him and Janie take time off to enjoy rifle shooting. Tea Cake then begins to show signs of an infection where the dog bit him on the cheek. Janie tries to take care of him, but as his illness progresses, he becomes more difficult. His inability to swallow water frightens both of them. Janie leaves to fetch Doctor Simmons for her desperately ill husband, but it is too late. The doctor will be able to get the serum, but nothing can help Tea Cake now. In the fury of his illness, he struggles with Janie. Hopelessly deranged, he suddenly threatens her with the six-shooter, and she defends herself with the rifle. His pistol and her rifle fire simultaneously. Tea Cake falls forward and buries his teeth in Janie's forearm, as she catches him. Later, Janie must endure a brief trial, but she is freed. Afterward, she must arrange his funeral. She gives Tea Cake a glorious send-off, burying him in Palm Beach. This time there is real mourning for the dead.

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