A Weird Comparison

I was reading through some other blogs and came across one about The Snows of Kilimanjaro and it kind of got me to thinking about the relationship between Harry and his wife(were they married?) compared to the relationship between Tea Cake and Janie. They have some surface similarities. In both relationships, there is a lot of physical attraction. Both men take their wives to new places and both couples shoot as a hobby. Both men die of preventable diseases that cause them to say harsh things to their wives. However, Harry says what he actually feels about his wife and Tea Cake seems to just be out of his mind. Comparing the two made me appreciate Tea Cake a lot more. He has his bad moments, but he really does sincerely love Janie and does his best to take care of her. The women have some similarities as well. They both seem to be strong women. Helen hunts, ride, and hangs out in the mountains of Africa. Janie also shoots, runs a business at one point, works beside Tea Cake in the field, and picks up the pieces of her life after the hurricane and Tea Cake's death. However, Janie possesses an inner strength that Helen doesn't. Helen clings to alcohol and to her husband because she is not a strong person alone. Janie can obviously be strong by herself, although I do think she tends to cling to the men in her life a little too much. Altogether, I appreciated the characters in Their Eyes Were Watching God quite a bit more than the characters in The Snows of Kilimanjaro.