The role of Tea Cake

When people start noticing the time she is spending with Tea Cake, she is cautioned that “nobody wouldn’t marry Tea Cake tuh starve tuh death lessen it’s somebody jes lak him—ain’t used to nothin’… Tea Cake ain’t got doodly squat. He ain’t got no business makin’ hissef familiar wid nobody lak you” (102-103). Phoeby warns Janie: “whilst he ain’t no jail bird, he ain’t got uh dime tuh cry. Ain’t you skeeered he’s jes after yo’ money—him bein’ younger than you?” (112) There is an evident class difference between Janie and Tea Cake that stems from many factors. Tea Cake is described as a dark, younger man, who is used to having no possessions; a suitor entirely unsuitable for the attractive lighter-skinned, long-haired Janie who is the sole possessor of a fortune.