Journal 9

I don't know if this theme makes much sense to you guys, but its a shot :). I might want to try this for my Pastiche.

Throughout the last two chapters of TEWWG, Hurston strongly expresses the theme of learning to love through experience.

In chapter 19, Janie tells the Docotor about her love for Tea Cake. "Docotr, Ah loves him fit tuh kill. Tell me anything tuh do and Ah'll do it." (Hurston 177) Earlier in the novel, Janie doesn't give a cahoot about any of her "lovers" (Joe/Logan). They were pressured marriages and she didn't wish to be with them. After those marriages, she had an idea of what she wanted through lack of provision. When Tea Cake comes along, Janie sees her life with him. Her love has grown from being coddled by Tea Cake without giving anything back, to, "[doing] anything" for him. Hurston suggests through this passage, that experience can be the first love or the third love, but it takes learning through experience to achieve that state.

Another passage that highlights the theme of learning love through experience is in chapter 20. Janie tells Phoeby the story of Tea Cake and then discloses that the towns folk can speak all they want. "Two things everybody's got tuh do fuh theyselves. They got tuh go tuh God, and theyg ot tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves." (Hurston 192) Here, Janie shares her life in one phrase: They got tuh find out about livin' fuh theyselves."; Janie's life has been about finding not only herself, but also how to love. Earlier, Janie had followed Nanny's rules for love: Marry, gain property, be happy, love. She then grows through experience with Joe and Tea Cake. Once they are both gone, she is reminiscent, reflecting upon the events that led to her ever growing and constant love for Tea Cake. Hurston has Janie got through the marriages to show that lasting love is learned.

Plot Diagram:
Kaela lives with her older sister, who is widowed.
Her sister gives her insight into finding a soulmate, not without heartache.
She meets a gangster that offers her all the things she didn't have growing up as a poor little sister. She is abused and neglected. A casino owner with a white suit charms his way into her heart and marries her away from the gangster and into his hometown. She decides that she doesn't want someone who will abuse her. As years go on, the casino owner beings to ignore her and actually makes her become a waitress at his casino. She is angered at the domineering position that her husband is taking. One gambler, who arrives just before closing time, strikes up conversation. He learns that she is not living a full life. They elope once the casino owner flies off to Hawaii for a meeting. Kaela now understands what she has been missing in life; a true relationship with no consuming dependencies. Kaela and the gambler go on a boating trip. After an earthquake and whirlpool engulfs their boat, they are separated in the ocean. She lands on shore and sees his body washed up several hundred feet away, where he lies in death. She realizes that she truly loved this man and would have done anything for him. She grows old.