Their Eyes are Watching God Chapter 19

Through out the entire book, Janie is quick to talk; however, she says almost nothing during the trial. Why?

It turned out that Tea Cake made a stupid decision to stay home with Janie as the storm slapped him in the face. After that he was bitten by the dog (which he killed with a knife) while trying to save Janie he became very sick. Even though he was sick Tea Cake was also forced to help bury many of the dead people from the the storm/hurricane that hit.

Feeling kind of down and not in the best shape lately Tea Cake becomes kind of crazy and accuses Janie of sneaking out at night to see Mrs. Turner's relatives. Later, after a big fight that they have between one another Tea Cake decides to sleep with a gun under his pillow! This in some way worried Janie and made her somewhat scared so she also decided to get a hold of a gun (rifle) to make sure that if anything got out of hand she had protection. It turns out that this was a good idea for Janie as Tea Cake shot his gun twice after they had gotten into another fight and before that Tea Cake could pull the trigger a third time Janie shot him dead to the ground to defend herself.

During the trial (which she was put on for the murder of Tea Cake) Janie decided to remain very quiet and not give away much information/evidence. Although he was dead now she still had feelings and respect for him and she always will. Life without Tea Cake wouldn't be life at all. Staying quiet seemed to be the best way to handle the situation in Janie's mind.