Imagery/ language appreciation & Interpretation

I love the last lines on page 99: "So she sat on the porch and watched the moon rise. Soon its amber fluid was drenching the earth, quenching the thirst of the day."
It sounds perfect - I can see what Janie must be seeing at the moment. There is a certain magnificence in a rising moon that just washes away the weariness of the day. The light from the moon satisfies those on Earth like water that quenches thirst. There is also something distinctively appealing about the "amber fluid" dripping from the moon onto the ground. I love how Hurston describes the light which is an abstract thing as if it is a tangible liquid. It seems to me, though, that the moon is more silver than amber in color.

This imagery of the rising moon's light quenching the thirst of the day also relfects Janie's current situation. Janie has always felt unfullfilled in her marriages. Since she was 16 she had thought about what a marriage is. Sitting under a tree in her yard she saw "a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the thousand sister-calyxes arch to meet the love embrace and the ecstatic shiver of the tree from root to tiniest branch...frothing with delight. So this was a marriage!" (11). She wanted, "to be a pear tree - any tree in bloom!" (11) which shows her desire to have a wonderful marriage like the bees' union with the flowering trees. However both of the two marriages she has ends in disappointment. After Joe's death, she still has not experienced a partnership where there is mutual respect from both people, or a relationship where she can enjoy herself.

This changes when she meets a new character, Tea Cake. He is easy-going and adventurous. He treats her like a friend, instead of an object that should be jealously guarded. He teaches her to play checkers, something Joe never bothered to do, since Joe had thought she was incapable of playing games like that. Janie notices that it is nice to be treated like an equal when Tea Cake patiently teaches her how to play. "She found herself glowing inside. Somebody wanted her to play. Somebody thought it natural for her to play. That was nice" (96). This sort of treatment from Tea Cake brings out her confidence. She enjoys herself that day at the store, and she relishes how they can talk naturally, as if they had known each other for a long time.

Janie's new feelings of happiness reflects the quote. Her desire for a healthy relationship is begining to get satisfied after the two unhappy marriages, with the introduction of Tea Cake. The "amber fluid" makes me think of some precious liquid like molten gold. This represents the preciousness of Tea Cake's attention to Janie, who has not experienced this respect before. Tea Cake's attention makes her feel alive and wonderful, and it is finally quenching her thirst for a relationship that is fun and where she can show her true self.