Janie's mad dying husband Tea Cake bites her, an event their
doctor warned could also infect her. We think the risk to be
negligible, but I argue that in the ignorance and dread of the 1930s
the threat was meant seriously. It is also consistent with the
ambiguity and Trickster character in African folktales influencing
Hurston. Janie's story thus becomes her testament; perhaps her
courage also speaks to those suffering chronic illness today.