IOP Journal #3

The dogs are a little more tricky to figure out. Because the dogs provide protection to women, when they run off the man that raped Janie's mother but it was also a dog that killed Tea Cake. I believe that Hurston is trying to show how sometimes trying to protect women actually ends up hurting them more. Because Janie's father wanted to get back together with her mother and marry her but the dogs ran him off because they thought they were protecting her. But if the father stayed than maybe Janie would've had a mother and a father and been able to grow up like most children and live a happy life. Or maybe not. With Tea Cake the dog killed the only man that truly loved Janie and that she loved back with all her heart. The dog believed that Tea Cake was a threat and so he wanted to get rid of him, causing much more pain to Janie than anything else. However it was a mad dog so maybe it was too crazy to realize that Tea Cake was actually a blessing in her life and not something that was harming her. There is also the quote that says "he worked like a dog for her" this refers to Tea Cake and his devotion to Janie, so maybe the dog represents devotion and love, but that doesn't fit. I will have to look deeper into the analysis of the dog.