Why am I so distrustful of a man with such a happy name?

Human beings are creatures of habit, by and large. We try to create links and patterns whenever possible because it’s easier for us to understand things when they are consistent. That’s why, after Janie’s first two husbands quickly transition from doting partner to bitter oppressor, it’s hard for me to read chapters 12-16 without a heavy dose of suspicion. Even though Janie says Tea Cake never wronged her in chapter 1, I can’t help but expect his “true colors” to begin to show, despite the fact that he hasn’t given me any reason to do so.

Of course, that’s an intentional effect Zora Neale Hurston knew she was creating. She even seems to be stringing readers along that path, probably to jerk the rug from under our feet and laugh at us when we fall. If Tea Cake does prove to be truly in love with Janie and married for honest reasons, I can already hear Janie yelling at me through the pages, “I told you so!”

But Hurston creates plenty of doubt and suspicion to make that told-you-so more surprising, even though she tells you it’s coming in the first chapter. First, Tea Cake disappears with Janie’s two hundred dollars and explains to her that he was at a gathering she wouldn’t have enjoyed. Okay, sounds a bit sketchy, but not a real big deal. Then, he leaves again to gamble the remaining money to recover the lost funds, and returns with over three hundred dollars. Perhaps colored by the expectation of ruined marriage created from the first two marriages, I initially assumed that Tea Cake simply stole the money. Later, Janie does actually see him gambling and winning plenty of times, so it’s not so inconceivable that he would have been able to win the three hundred dollars. Eventually, we see Nunkie flirting with Tea Cake, and again my first assumption is that he’s going to cheat on Janie.

It’s unfortunate, because if the first chapter is any indication, poor Tea Cake doesn’t deserve my suspicion and lack of trust at all. I’m sure Hurston has a compelling vindication in store for him, or she wouldn’t have so obviously set him up to be distrusted. In the meantime, I’ll try not to automatically assume the worst every time Tea Cake gets into these situations that can so easily be misconstrued.