Cane (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Jean Toomer
- First Published: 1923
- Type of Work: Novel
- Genres: Social realism, Short fiction
- Subjects: African Americans, Love or romance, Race, Sex or sexuality, Biracial people, Murder or homicide, Gender roles, Interracial relationships, Prostitution or prostitutes, 1920’s, Chicago, Georgia, Jews or Jewish life, Oppression, Washington, D.C.
- Locales: South (U.S.), Chicago, IL, Georgia, Washington, D.C.
The first part of Cane consists of six prose units (only three are fully developed stories) and ten poems that separate them. All are about a segregated South of sugar cane and cotton fields, and women are the main characters in all the narratives. The first, a lyrical two-page sketch, tells of Karintha, who “ripened too soon,” and whose languid beauty lures both young and old men despite her passiveness. After giving birth to an illegitimate baby, she abandons it in a sawdust pile at the local mill, sets the mill ablaze, and turns to a life of prostitution. The sadness and...
[The entire page is 2395 words long]
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