In chapter 11 we see the relationship between Tea Cake and Janie develop. It seems that Tea Cake throws himself at Janie, and Janie is reluctant to accept what it is actually happening. Oftentimes after the two spend time together, Janie will talk down upon Tea Cake and try to convince herself that he is not suitable partner. Eventually Janie is no longer able to convince herself that Tea Cake is an average low-class man, and she begins to fall in love with him. By the end of the chapter Janie incorporates Tea Cake into her fantasy of the blossoming pear tree.
“He looked like the love thoughts of women. He could be a bee to a blossom––a pear blossom in the spring. He seemed to be crushing scent out of the world with his footsteps,”(101.)
Janie begins to see Tea Cake in mystical terms and had developed a sense that he is the partner that she needs in order to be happy. The next chapters two chapters show Janie’s development as a character. She has a clear idea of what she wants and is able to express complex emotions. In previous chapters she bluntly states that she unhappy with the state of her marriage and that she hates Nanny. In the more recent chapters Janie justifies her grandmother’s action given the life that she had lived. As Janie becomes closer to discovering happiness, she is more capable of expressing herself.
