Tea Cake’s suspicious behavior eventually amounts to something, when he beats Janie out of fear of losing power. When we first met Tea Cake he seemed like an easy going person with the right values for Janie. But his need for male dominance seems to be no different than Jody’s. Tea Cake still loves Janie, he is just too concerned with what others think about him. Besides that need to be envied and different, Tea Cake is a good-hearted man. Although it seems like a lot happens in chapter 17, it is nothing compared to next chapter. In chapter 18, we find the source of the book’s title and the central theme/conflict of the book. Janie’s quest to find herself in the world and what obstacles you have to overcome to be satisfied. The hurricane, in many ways, represents the unpredictable nature of the world and how it is impossible for an individual to secure a place for themselves.
Over the course of the novel, since Janie was first married off to Logan, she has been on a quest to find her voice. As she endures more and finds love that is both natural and mutual she is able to express and explore herself. It is implied throughout the story that Janie or humans need a relationship to be content, but by the end of the novel she is on her own. The opening scene in Eatonville portrayed Janie as being miserable. After hearing her discussion his Pheoby, we can see that Janie is secure in her independence.
