Cast of Characters

Janie Crawford

            Janie is the central character of this novel. The story follows her life and the struggles she goes through looking to find love along with an ideal husband. Janie has a picture of love in her mind from when she was younger, sitting underneath a pear tree in the springtime. The rest of her life she searches for that same feeling in experiences with her three different husbands.

 Tea Cake

            Tea Cake is Janie’s third and final husband. Of all of her husbands Janie finds him to be the closest to perfect and lives very contently with him. The most attractive part of Tea Cake to Janie is that he allows her to be herself and do things that she wants without forcing her into anything. Along with that she admires the fact that he has big dreams for his own life.

Jody Starks

            Janie’s second husband who she runs away with from her first husband. He aspires to be a successful and powerful man. They move to Eatonville, which is an all black town, where he eventually becomes mayor of.

Logan Killicks

            Janie’s first husband from an arranged marriage by her grandmother. He treated Janie like another one of his servants and eventually she ran away with Jody.

Pheoby Watson

            Supports Janie while the rest of the town critizes her decisions with her husbands. She is the one that Janie is telling her story to for the entire novel.

Nanny Crawford

            Janie’s grandmother who raises her. Eventually marries Janie off to Logan.

Mr. and Mrs. Turner

            Residents of the “muck” where Janie and Tea Cake live together. Mrs. Turner is racist and often talks bad about her own race. Tea Cake does not like this and demands Janie to not invite her to their house anymore.

Sam Watson

            Pheoby’s husband who is a part of the conversation between Janie and his wife at times.

Amos Hicks

            Amos lives in Eatonville and is one of the first people that Janie and Jody meet. He tries to take Janie away from Jody, but fails in his efforts.

Motor Boat

            One of Janie and Tea Cake’s friend in the muck who flees the storm with them. He hides in an abandoned house and survives.

Hezekiah Potts

            Janie’s helper at the store that she runs in Eatonville. He tries to help Janie cope with Jody’s death.

Dr. Simmons

            The doctor who diagnoses Tea Cake’s bite infection as fatal.

Nunkie

            A girl who lives in the muck that tries to flirt with Tea Cake. This leads Janie to become extremely jealous.

By Ty Frazier