Might Zora Neale Hurston's Janie Woods Be Dying of Rabies? Considerations from Historical Medicine

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.