I have to say that after reading the introduction to Cane, I am still confused on who Jean Toomer is. It didn’t focus on his childhood much and with that vital piece missing I could not get a good sense of who he was and where he came from. However, the introduction broke Cane down into three sections where each focused on a different topic. The first section as we can tell from reading, looks closely at the lives of various women and how their actions were opposite of what society thought was “right” or “moral.” For those who didn’t read the introduction (because it is three times as long as any other book’s introduction) I recommend taking a glance at it. Especially pages XXI – XXII because many of Toomer’s writings are described here as well as the topics associated with them.
The short stories of "Karintha", "Becky", "Carma", "Esther" all have to do with how society sees and reacts to each of these woman’s behaviors and situations. Although McKay’s poetry was filled with anger and his longing for a place to feel at home, I believe that a similar theme of loneliness, feelings of an outcast, and separation from both races can be detected in Cane. I paid especially close attention to "Becky" and how Toomer uses specific wording to continually reinforce the theme. He writes “her eyes were sunken…her eyes, harsh, vacant, staring” which I think is describing Becky’s initial reaction to her baby and what the town had to say about her (5). It seems as though she was in shock and feelings of emptiness and loneliness began to develop as her town looked down upon her and cast her out. Toomer continues by describing her new home as the “ground islandized between the road and railroad track” (5). Using the word “islandized” emphasizes Becky’s distance from the rest of the town. “Pushed up where a blue-sheen God with listless eyes could look at it” also indicates the lack of interest and enthusiasm that the towns people had for Becky and her children (5). The last thing I want to point out can be found on page seven where I believe Toomer wanted to reference religion and how God judges an individual. I gathered this from where Barlo “threw his Bible on the pile” where they believed Becky to be laying. Much of Toomer’s short stories in the first section have to do with judgement, society’s views of what is right and wrong, and how racism and prejudices come into play.
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4 comments:
You had some good insight on the poems. As I was reading Becky I took her vacant stare as being that she is kinda of empty and almost dead inside. She just had a son of a mixed race and now her and her child doesn't fit anywhere in society.
It seems like a lot of us were really drawn to Becky's story, and I was one of them. You wrote, "Much of Toomer’s short stories in the first section have to do with judgement, society’s views of what is right and wrong, and how racism and prejudices come into play," and I think this is a very insightful statement. I think the majority of what we've read in Cane so far is Toomer's way of making a commentary on areas where he thinks that blacks should be given more credit, or areas where he thinks that they are making poor decisions. For example, simply by discussing the language that the black community uses to disrespect Becky, Toomer suggests that he doesn't approve of the way blacks acted, once again making his commentary on blacks as a society.
I thought it was interesting how Toomer portrayed the women in his stories, I feel like they were all tragic characters and when reading you genuinely feel for them. I like your take on the "islandized" phrase Toomer used. I never thought of it as her being isolated but more as her being a black woman.
After learning more about Toomer in class, it's interesting to here that he was actually a transplant to the south, considering he's clearly so fascinated by life in rural Georgia. "Becky", which you mentioned, is a particularly interesting look at the complex reactions to interracial relationships in the South.
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