The freedom to move

The ability to move has played an important role in American history. This vast nation was born on rivers, railroads, and roads. In the novel, “their eyes were watching god,” movement plays just as an important role.
Janie has always moved during the important transitional parts of her life. She moved away from her Nanny into a domestic life, one that was too outdated for Janie’s view of love and life. Thankfully Janie lived in a time when an African American had the ability to move freely, no longer just tied to the underground railroad. This allowed Janie and Joe Starks to move away from the farm life and towards a new form of society, an all African American town.
As time progresses and Eatonville grows, Janie’s freedom of movement fades away. Joe often keeps Janie inside the store or post office, restricting her to work once again. Janie never had the freedom to go to town events, like the funeral of the mule or any of the ball games. This simple restriction affected Janie greatly and only until Joe’s death was Janie free once again.
As Janie fell in love with Tea Cake, Janie used her freedom of movement more and more everyday. Tea Cake and Janie would often use their freedom of movement to go fishing at night or take a road trip to St. Louis. Yet there is one key difference that separates Tea Cake from Logan or Starks, Tea Cake would often leave for days on end, keeping Janie in suspense as to where or what Tea Cake was doing. This separation between the lovers is like the peach tree and the bees. Janie would stay in one place, in wait of Tea Cake, just like the peach tree would wait for the bees return. As hard as these times of separation were for Janie, eventually she come to learn Tea Cake would never leave her for another woman.
Lastly the move to the muck allowed Tea Cake and Janie to live the free life. Both moved about the town, going to dances and eating out, working in the fields together. Both were free, and both were in love. They even choose not to move away from the muck where they built their love. Yet in the end, Janie moves back to her home, to grow her roots and remember the time she spent moving with Tea Cake.