As this question acknowledges, Janie Crawford seems to constantly be giving up or surrendering something for the sake of someone else. In other words, she seems to frequently be placed in a position where another’s welfare and feelings are deemed more important than her own welfare and feelings.

In the beginning, Janie seems to sacrifice her dream of a loving, passionate marriage to her grandma. In order to appease Nanny, she marries Logan. Janie doesn’t love Logan, and it doesn’t appear as if Logan loves Janie. At one point, he threatens to kill her.

For a moment, it might seem like Janie starts putting her own needs first by heading off with Jody. However, this marriage winds up leading to further sacrifice for Janie. In order to comply with Jody’s jealous, oppressive views, you could say that Janie has to sacrifice her enchanting hair and her own voice. Remember, at the store opening, Jody won't let Janie speak.

With Tea Cake, one might be able to argue that Janie really does put her needs first. She actually loves and desires Tea Cake. Tea Cake, in return, actually seems to care about the needs of Janie. He doesn’t ask her to make sacrifices. He helps develop her talents and capabilities. He even teaches her how to play checkers.

In fact, one could argue that Tea Cake makes the ultimate sacrifice, as Tea Cake saves Janie from the bellicose dog. His rescue leads to him contracting rabies and eventually dying. Again, in this case, it looks like Tea Cake made a sacrifice.