Previous
Literary Devices
Definition of Allegory
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The Tortoise and The Hare" is... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and events. The story of "The... read full definition
An allegory is a work that conveys a hidden meaning—usually moral, spiritual, or political—through the use of symbolic characters and... read full definition
Chapter 10
Explanation and Analysis—Jumping Her King:
Tea Cake teaches Janie to play checkers while he tries to court her. During one of those games, there is a subtle allegory, in the gameplay, which describes how Tea Cake is taking Janie from Joe Starks:
He was jumping her king! She screamed in protest against losing the king she had had a hard time acquiring. Before she knew it she had grabbed his hand to stop him. He struggled gallantly to free himself. That is he struggled, but not hard enough to wrench a lady's fingers.
Here, the description is from the narrator and in standard English, but clearly the narration is inflected by Janie's emotions, indicated by the exclamation point in the first sentence. In other words, while this passage looks like neutral first-person narration, it is clearly showing Janie's emotion.
It is not difficult to guess that Hurston implies that "her king" is Janie's late husband, Joe Starks. (A "king" is a type of piece in checkers.) As Tea Cake is teaching Janie to play checkers, he is trying to take Janie as his own, and in so doing "jump" Joe Starks, taking Joe's wife from him. Then, during this game, Janie "screamed in protest" that Tea Cake jumped her king. This is referencing Janie's hesitation in falling for Tea Cake, which she felt throughout his courtship: "All the next day in the house and store she thought resisting thoughts about Tea Cake." Janie tries to stop him and he "struggled gallantly"—a good description of how Tea Cake flirts with Janie slowly and gently since he knows she is a recent widow and will resist. Indeed, he wants to be with her and will try hard for it, but "not hard enough to wrench a lady's fingers." He will instead continue his gentle flattery and persuasion. In all, this checkers move is a representation of the acts of courtship that will continue between Janie and Tea Cake.
Related Themes:
