Suggestions
Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select.Please wait while we process your payment
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. Sometimes it can end up there.
Please wait while we process your payment
By signing up you agree to our terms and privacy policy.
Don’t have an account? Subscribe now
Create Your Account
Sign up for your FREE 7-day trial
Already have an account? Log in
Your Email
Choose Your Plan
Save over 50% with a SparkNotes PLUS Annual Plan!
Purchasing SparkNotes PLUS for a group?
Get Annual Plans at a discount when you buy 2 or more!
Price
$24.99 $18.74 /subscription + tax
Subtotal $37.48 + tax
Save 25% on 2-49 accounts
Save 30% on 50-99 accounts
Want 100 or more? Contact us for a customized plan.
Your Plan
Payment Details
Payment Summary
SparkNotes Plus
You'll be billed after your free trial ends.
7-Day Free Trial
Not Applicable
Renews June 7, 2023 May 31, 2023
Discounts (applied to next billing)
DUE NOW
US $0.00
SNPLUSROCKS20 | 20% Discount
This is not a valid promo code.
Discount Code (one code per order)
SparkNotes Plus subscription is $4.99/month or $24.99/year as selected above. The free trial period is the first 7 days of your subscription. TO CANCEL YOUR SUBSCRIPTION AND AVOID BEING CHARGED, YOU MUST CANCEL BEFORE THE END OF THE FREE TRIAL PERIOD. You may cancel your subscription on your Subscription and Billing page or contact Customer Support at custserv@bn.com. Your subscription will continue automatically once the free trial period is over. Free trial is available to new customers only.
Choose Your Plan
For the next 7 days, you'll have access to awesome PLUS stuff like AP English test prep, No Fear Shakespeare translations and audio, a note-taking tool, personalized dashboard, & much more!
You’ve successfully purchased a group discount. Your group members can use the joining link below to redeem their group membership. You'll also receive an email with the link.
Members will be prompted to log in or create an account to redeem their group membership.
Thanks for creating a SparkNotes account! Continue to start your free trial.
Please wait while we process your payment
Your PLUS subscription has expired
Please wait while we process your payment
Please wait while we process your payment
“Going to high ground. Saw-grass bloom. Hurricane coming.”
Janie and Tea Cake, her third husband, have gone down to the Everglades to find work in the bean harvest. One day they observe several bands of Seminole Indians moving east. One of the Seminoles warns them that there is a hurricane coming. For the Seminoles, the hurricane is a natural force that is too powerful to withstand, and the only rational response is to flee.
Beans running fine and prices good, so the Indians could be,
Unlike the Seminoles, the workers in the bean fields are in denial about the destructive force that is about to attack them. Their immediate financial advantages from picking beans are more important to them than the impending threat. The workers, including Janie and Tea Cake, set themselves apart from nature, unable or unwilling to recognize their own insignificance in the face of nature’s power. As such, the hurricane symbolizes not only impending danger but the habit some have of turning a blind eye to obvious threats for the sake of profit.
The wind came back with triple fury, and put out the light for the last time. They sat in company with the others in other shanties, their eyes straining against crude walls and their souls asking if He meant to measure their puny might against His. They seemed to be staring at the dark, but their eyes were watching God.
Since they did not leave to reach higher ground in time, Janie, Tea Cake, and the other bean field workers must face the full fury of the hurricane. In their hearts, they realize they are now at the mercy of the storm. They are helpless, unless God intervenes. The hurricane has become a symbol of impersonal, uncontrollable chaos against which human efforts are puny.
This sickness to her was worse than the storm.
After they survive the hurricane, Janie and Tea Cake face a new threat. Tea Cake, who was bitten by a mad dog while rescuing Janie during the hurricane, has now developed rabies, and the doctor warns Janie that Tea Cake’s death will be painful. The hurricane becomes Janie’s reference point for all life events that are beyond human control. The hurricane symbolizes chaos, evil, and undeserved human suffering.
She wanted him out of the way of storms, so she had a strong vault built in the cemetery at West Palm Beach.
When Janie buries Tea Cake, she attempts to provide for him in death what he did not have in life: security against uncontrollable natural destruction. Janie’s gesture is both poignant and futile. The sentence reminds us that only death releases us from being at the mercy of nature. The storms represent everything about life that is precarious and remind the reader that human life is precious.
Please wait while we process your payment