The Fate of Tea Cake
At the very end of Their Eyes were Watching God , Tea Cake undergoes a transformation of his character, as rabies twists his brain, making him suspicious of everything and everyone, especially Janie. This suspicion shifts to absolute rage, culminating in him trying to shoot Janie, and Janie killing him. This fate, I think, is an incredibly close parallel to the fate of Joe Starks, but the speeds at which each person changed were quite different. Joe Starks impressed Janie with his promises of status and of change to Janies dull life with Logan. But, once they were married, it didn't take long for him to start abusing her, and, as they age, his treatment of her gets worse and worse. Tea Cake, on the other hand, changes his character over the course of days, but he undergoes the same sorts of changes to his personality. The difference being, we view the Tea Cake infected with rabies as not his true self, the actual Tea Cake would never do such a thing. But with Jody, we see the shift...