named after a foolish black character in an 1832 minstrel show. Beginning in the 1880s, Southern states started passing laws that mandated blacks to ride in separate railroad cars, stay in separate hotels, attend separate theaters, eat at separate restaurants, use separate restrooms, drink from separate water fountains, and attend separate schools from whites. In 1892, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the rights of states to enforce these laws in the landmark case ofPlessy v. Ferguson, ruling that it was permissible for states to segregate the races as long as the facilities provided for blacks were, in the famous phrase from the decision, "separate but equal."

The issue, however, was that the facilities available to blacks were far from equal to those enjoyed by whites. Black schools were scarce, and those that existed were run by teachers willing to work for almost nothing and had minimal operating budgets. Public transportation in black neighborhoods was limited, while laws prevented affluent blacks from moving into white neighborhoods. White landlords could neglect properties in black areas, knowing their tenants had few alternatives for housing. Medical facilities available to blacks were rudimentary.

The oppressive Jim Crow laws in the South remained largely unchallenged until the 1950s, when television enabled civil rights activists to highlight the injustices of segregation to the entire nation. In 1955, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spearheaded a boycott of public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama, following the arrest of Rosa Parks, a Black woman who refused to sit at the back of the bus.

In 1963, state officials in Mississippi incited a riot by refusing to comply with a court order that allowed James Meredith, a Black man, to enroll in the university. The National Guard had to intervene to protect citizens from the state militia. The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established national standards for the equal treatment of individuals of all races.

Narration
The narration in this book is inconsistent, shifting from section to section, and offering readers more of an emotional experience than a straightforward narrative. The language throughout is highly poetic, with words selected for their sound and impact. The text frequently transitions into poetry, not just in standalone poems but also within story segments like "Karintha," "Blood-Burning Moon," and "Box Seat." This stylistic choice has led to difficulties for critics in categorizing the work. For instance, critic Edward W. Waldron described Cane as a "novel-poem," while others have labeled it as an impressionistic piece or an imagistic novel.

The narrative voices in the stories vary significantly. Often, a third-person narrator provides an omniscient perspective, meaning the narrator has insight into all characters' thoughts and conveys them to the reader. In "Blood-Burning Moon," the narration reveals Bob Stone's thoughts, then shifts to Tom Burwell's perspective, and then back to Stone's. There are also instances of a third-person narrator limited to a single character's viewpoint, as seen in the novella "Kabnis" or the story "Esther," where readers are guided to think like Esther but only understand King Barlo's thoughts at the end.

The book also employs various forms of first-person narration. In "Fern" and "Avey," the narrators are straightforward, appearing in the story as the main characters. A more obscure first-person narrator tells the story of "Becky." For most of the story, it is unclear that it is being narrated in the first person until the final paragraph when the narrator starts using "we." This revelation positions the narrator as a community member, providing specific details about a particular ride on a particular day. Much of the book's voice feels communal, as if the collective thoughts of the nearby residents are being shared, although at times the narration closely reflects Toomer's personal experiences.

Symbolism
Due to the poetic nature of this work, much of its significance is conveyed through symbolism. One example is the cotton plant, explicitly mentioned in the poems "November Cotton Flower" and "Cotton Song," and referenced in other sections like "Kabnis." Since many white people owned slaves specifically to harvest cotton before the end of the Civil War in 1865, cotton has come to symbolize enslavement for many Black Americans. Another recurring symbol is fire, such as the sawdust fire that engulfs the area with a sense of guilt after Karintha loses her baby near the mill, or the fire Esther sees in the windows of the McGregors' notions shop.

The house described as being on Rhobert's head, "like a monstrous diver's helmet," exemplifies symbolic language. Naturally, he couldn't have an actual house perched on his head. This metaphor highlights that the typical associations of a house—stability, permanence, and a sense of belonging—are burdensome for Rhobert.

In the dark basement of Halsey's shop, an old man sits silently. He neither moves nor speaks, and his presence seems almost unreal. His role in the story is purely symbolic. Lewis underscores this when he says, "That old man as symbol, flesh, spirit of the past, what do you think he would say if he could see you?" For Kabnis, the old man serves as a moral compass, reminding him of African American history. It's suggested that the old man might have been a slave. After Kabnis berates him for a while, the old man finally utters "sin," repeatedly. He embodies the significance attributed to him but lacks any independent relevance in the narrative; there's no practical explanation for his presence in the basement.

Structure
Critics have varied opinions about the book's structure, ranging from calling it "perfect" to claiming it has no structure at all. The only clear pattern is that it is divided into three parts, each with its own distinct theme. The events in the sections do not overlap, and the characters do not carry over from one part to another. In the first section, two poems precede each prose piece, but this pattern diminishes by the start of Section Two.

The book's strongest advocates highlight the thematic progression. It begins with stories of isolated, rejected women who are used sexually, but by the end of Section One, the focus shifts to women who are desired rather than rejected. Section Two centers on men who desire women but struggle to act on their desires due to their uncertain status in Northern society. Section Three follows Kabnis, a Northern black man who goes to Georgia to explore his heritage. Over the course of his story, Kabnis becomes increasingly similar to the Southern men who distanced themselves from women in the earlier sections. Readers who pay close attention to this structure will notice that, despite the lack of a traditional plot, each "chapter" (including poems and character sketches) builds on the previous one, advancing the central theme.

Although Cane is often labeled as a novel for simplicity, it doesn't quite fit that category. Its genre is challenging to pin down. The best description would be a collage of stories, sketches, plays, and poems, all tied together by recurring themes. Toomer describes its structure as follows:

From three angles, Cane's design is a circle. Aesthetically, it moves from simple forms to complex ones and back to simple forms. Regionally, it transitions from the South to the North and then returns to the South. Or, from the North down to the South, and back to the North. From the perspective of the spiritual entity behind the work, the curve begins with Bona and Paul (awakening), plunges into Kabnis, emerges in Karintha, etc., ascends into Theatre and Box Seat, and concludes (pauses) in Harvest Song.

The book is divided into three sections. Part One takes place in the rural South, Part Two is set in the industrialized North, and Part Three returns to the South. Toomer employs various modern techniques throughout. The poems in the book are primarily free verse, ranging from short, imagistic lines as seen in "Nullo" and "Face," to longer, Whitman-esque lines as in "Harvest Song." Some pieces in the book are actually prose poems rather than stories, such as "Seventh Street," "Rhobert," and "Calling Jesus." "Rhobert" includes surrealistic elements, featuring the unusual image of Rhobert wearing a house as a helmet and lines like "God is a Red Cross man with a dredge and a respiration-pump who's waiting for you at the opposite periphery." Toomer also uses modern techniques like stream-of-consciousness and internal monologue, particularly in pieces that incorporate dramatic elements, such as "Box Seat" and "Kabnis." An example of this is the following internal monologue by Muriel in "Box Seat":

Shame about Dan. There's something awfully good and fine about him. But he doesn't fit in. Where? With me? Dan, I could love you if I tried. I don't have to try. I do. O Dan, don't you know I do? Timid lover, brave talker that you are. What's the good of all you know if you don't know that? I won't let myself. I? Mrs. Pribby who reads newspapers all night won't. What has she got to do with me? She is me, somehow.

In this passage, Muriel jumps from one thought to another, mirroring the associative nature of the mind.

The American South

Though Jean Toomer's time spent in the American South was fleeting, it left an indelible mark on his identity, bridging a connection to his ancestral heritage. Despite never meeting his Southern-born father, Toomer's work resonates with a longing for the past, as eloquently captured in his poem "Song of the Son." This piece articulates a yearning for unity with his African roots, evoking images of "souls of slavery" and "cotton bales," symbols of a way of life shared by his forebears. The opening section of his book vividly sketches Southern women, whose varied sexual lives thread a narrative rich with diversity yet woven with commonality.

One such woman is Fern, an enigmatic figure whose allure captivates those around her. She embodies a fluid identity that defies conventional expectations, simultaneously invoking Jesus Christ and performing like a Jewish cantor. Regardless of the social and racial divides that characterize their existence, men are universally drawn to please her. Toomer’s portrayal of Fern is multifaceted; she is imagined in divergent roles, from a prostitute to the spouse of a lawyer or doctor, symbolizing the complex interplay of identity and expectation in the South.

Washington, D.C.

Transitioning from the pastoral settings of the South, the narrative shifts to the bustling urban landscape of Washington, D.C., the focus of the book's second part. Toomer's "Seventh Street" conjures vivid imagery of streetcar tracks and sleek Cadillacs, capturing the vibrancy and restlessness of the city. This setting contrasts sharply with the rural South, illustrating the diverse backdrops against which African American life unfolds.

Chicago

In the concluding section, Toomer's narrative ventures into the heart of the Midwest, setting the stage in Chicago with the story "Bona and Paul." This tale explores the transient relationship between a Southern white woman and a Northern African American man, encapsulating the complex dynamics of race and identity. Chicago, with its own distinct cultural tapestry, serves as a fitting backdrop for this exploration, bridging regional divides and highlighting the tension and unity that characterize American experiences across geographical boundaries.

Despite being written nearly eighty years ago, Cane addresses issues that remain pertinent today. Race relations in American society continue to be a significant and often troubling issue, alongside concerns of gender and class. Toomer provides insights into individuals who, due to their mixed ethnicity, find themselves excluded from any specific ethnic group. However, these individuals are uniquely positioned to observe societal relations objectively, free from the biases of any single group. Paul, from "Bona and Paul," appears to be one such person.

1. Toomer perceives the spiritual and cultural identity of African Americans diminishing. Do you believe he views this as a positive or negative development?

2. Are there contemporary ethnic groups—such as African-American, Native American, or Asian—whose cultures are vanishing?

3. Cane features a rich array of characters that help to explore its themes and issues. Which character or story in the book do you believe best illustrates its themes?

4. Some characters in Cane come from mixed ethnic backgrounds. What might be the advantages and/or disadvantages for someone of mixed ethnicity? For instance, a person might have parents of different races or religions.

5. Does Cane possess a sense of unity, or would you argue that it is merely a collection of works by the same author rather than a cohesive whole? Should the book be classified as a novel, or does it belong to a different genre?

6. Toomer appears to present two conflicting ideas in Cane. One is that African Americans need to embrace both their heritage from slavery and their African roots. The other is the idea of transcending racial boundaries. Is it possible to achieve both simultaneously?

As one might expect from any book exploring the African-American experience, Jean Toomer's fictional work Cane addresses the issue of racism. The most evident example of this is in the story "Blood Burning Moon," which depicts aspects of race relations in the early twentieth-century American South. The narrative revolves around a love triangle involving a white man, Bob Stone, a black man, Tom Burwell, and Louisa, the woman with whom both men are involved. Bob Stone is the youngest member of a family that owns the sugar cane industry, employing most of the workers in the area known as Factory Town. He represents the racial prejudices of whites in the early twentieth-century South:

He passed the house with its huge open hearth which, in the days of slavery, was the plantation cookery. He saw Louisa bent over that hearth. He went in as a master should and took her. Direct, honest, bold. None of this sneaking that he had to go through now. The contrast was repulsive to him. His family had lost ground. Hell no. His family still owned the niggers practically. Damned if they did or he wouldn't have to duck around so. What would they think if they knew? His mother? His sister?

Despite his involvement with a black woman, Stone feels ashamed for breaking this cultural taboo. Additionally, he resents the loss of power his family has experienced since the abolition of slavery. Without owning Louisa, he cannot exert control over her as his ancestors did. Ironically, when a white man owned a black woman, his sexual relationship with her was not stigmatized among whites. However, a consensual relationship with a free black woman carries a stigma. Stone feels that his family has "lost ground."

When Stone learns that Tom Burwell is also involved with Louisa, he becomes enraged with jealousy and confronts Burwell. He tries to attack the larger and stronger Burwell physically, but when he fails, he pulls out a knife. Burwell, who is skilled in knife fighting and has spent time on a chain gang for cutting men before, responds by pulling out his own knife and slitting Stone's throat. Before dying, Stone manages to escape and identify Tom Burwell to the concerned onlookers as he collapses. This leads to a horrific lynching and burning of Burwell by a white mob.

While such violent events are significant, Toomer views them as merely the surface of deeper, more complex issues. One of these issues is the dynamic among African Americans themselves, especially between those with lighter skin and those with darker skin. This is a topic where Toomer had profound insights from personal experience. Although identified as black, his heritage was quite mixed—his mother was a light-skinned black woman, and his father was white. Toomer navigated both black and white social circles with ease, yet he never truly felt a sense of belonging in either. Characters of mixed ethnicity in his works often feel alienated from black culture and struggle with a strong sense of identity. An example of this is the story "Becky." Becky, a white woman with two children fathered by black men, is ostracized by both the white and black communities, leading her sons into lives marked by violence:

They'd beat and cut a man who meant nothing at all in mentioning that they lived along the road. White or colored? No one knew, and least of all themselves. They drifted around from job to job. We who had cast out their mother because of them, could we take them in? They answered black and white folks by shooting up two men and leaving town. "Godam the white folks; godam the niggers," they shouted as they left town.

Clearly, the two sons experience profound alienation and lack a strong identity. Their mother's isolation due to her mixed-race relationship means neither the black nor the white community will accept them.

Another character who faces alienation and identity issues due to her light skin color is Esther. Although part of the African-American community, her parents are among its more affluent members. Esther "looks like a little white child" and clearly lacks a normal, healthy social life, living instead in a fantasy world centered around a vagrant named Barlo, who causes a stir in town with his mystical experiences. When Barlo returns, Esther uncharacteristically decides to approach him. Barlo spends his time in a saloon with lower-class individuals, and it is here that Esther confronts him, resulting in her rejection and humiliation as the saloon's patrons, along with Barlo, laugh at her. She loses even the fantasy of Barlo, which "was the only living pattern" her mind knew. Esther, as a southern woman who is neither fully black nor fully white, finds herself utterly alone, rejected by both cultures.

Esther is described by Toomer using the term dictie, an adjective that lower-class, darker-skinned individuals use to refer to upper-class, darker-skinned people. This division between these groups is another issue Toomer explores. For example, in the story "Theater," he depicts an educated black man and a woman from a lower social class. John and Dorris are attracted to each other, but they cannot fulfill their desires due to the class barrier that separates them.

The social issues Toomer addresses in Cane—such as racism, the loss of black identity, and class divisions among African Americans—stem from a much larger concern. This broader issue is the erosion of African culture among blacks, initially caused by being forcibly taken from Africa and subsequently having to conform to the social structure of white society. Essentially, the overarching concern is the loss of black culture.

• 1920s: The Ku Klux Klan, originally a post-Civil War terrorist organization aimed at oppressing Black people through threats, property destruction, and murder, is revived after being inactive for fifty years, launching a new wave of lynchings.

  Today: The Ku Klux Klan still exists, but its violent actions have decreased in favor of political engagement.

• 1920s: Artists like Pablo Picasso and Jean Toomer produce works that distort reality, embracing modernism, which rejects traditional artistic forms.

  Today: Postmodernism counters modernism by ironically adopting traditional principles, mocking the serious and humorless attitude of modernist art.

• 1920s: The radio emerges as a new entertainment medium, allowing people to enjoy professional performances from the comfort of their homes.

  Today: The Internet is the latest entertainment platform, enabling people to shop, research, and access a vast array of pictures, videos, and recordings without leaving their homes.

• 1920s: African Americans are legally barred from accessing specific hospitals, schools, and neighborhoods in the South.

  Today: While laws now impose severe penalties on businesses that discriminate based on race, many Americans still live in segregated neighborhoods.

• 1920s: Middle-class white Americans engage with the exotic rhythms of jazz music, which originates from a Black culture that remains mysterious to them.

  Today: Many middle-class white Americans listen to rap music, which also comes from a Black culture that is unfamiliar to them.

• 1920s: In the South, Black people are often murdered if suspected of being involved in interracial relationships.

  Today: Although social disapproval persists in some areas, the idea of Black and white marriages is much more accepted in America.

Cane is frequently credited with igniting the movement among African-American writers known as the Harlem Renaissance. Key figures of this movement—such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and James Weldon Johnson—acknowledged the significant influence of Toomer's work. The theme of identity crises faced by individuals of mixed African-American and white heritage is examined in works like Johnson's Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man.

If one word could describe Cane, it would likely be modern. Similar to many modernist works from the early to mid-twentieth century, it presents a fragmented perspective of the world. In this manner, it resembles Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, a book that profoundly influenced Toomer, as well as Edgar Lee Masters's Spoon River Anthology. Both of these works address themes from multiple characters' viewpoints rather than a single, all-knowing perspective. Toomer extends this fragmentation further by diversifying not only the perspectives but also the genres, incorporating monologue, narrative stories, poetry, and drama.

After publishing Cane, Toomer adopted a markedly different approach to his writing and likely reconsidered his perspective on his identity as an African American. This shift was significantly influenced by his interest in the teachings of Russian mystic Georges Gurdjieff. When asked to include his works in anthologies of African-American literature, he often asserted that he was not Black but simply American. However, the desire to transcend racial identity is already suggested in Cane, especially through the character of Paul. He further explored this theme in a long poem titled Blue Meridian, which he released in 1932.

Sources
Benson, Brian Joseph, and Mabel Nayle Dillard. "Lifting the Veil." In Jean Toomer. Twayne Publishers, 1980, p. 50.

Bontemps, Arna. "Introduction." In Cane. Perennial Classics, 1969.

McKay, Nellie Y. Jean Toomer, Artist. University of North Carolina Press, 1984, p. 9.

Turner, Darwin T. "Introduction." In Cane. Liveright Publishing Corp., 1975.

———. In In a Minor Chord: Three African-American Writers and Their Search for Identity. Southern Illinois University Press, 1971.

Waldron, Edward W. "The Search for Identity in Jean Toomer's 'Esther.'" In CLA Journal, Vol. 14, March 1971, p. 227.

For Further Study
Byrd, Rudolph P. Jean Toomer's Years with Gurdjieff: Portrait. University of Georgia Press, 1990. This biographical study explores Toomer's life beginning with his first encounter with Georges Gurdjieff in New York City in 1924.

Kerman, Cynthia Earl, and Richard Eldridge. The Lives of Jean Toomer. Louisiana State University Press, 1987. This biography is valuable for providing documented corrections to earlier misunderstandings about Toomer's enigmatic life.

Lewis, David Levering. When Harlem Was in Vogue. Oxford University Press, 1979. This accessible book narrates the comprehensive story of the Harlem Renaissance, covering both literary and social perspectives.

Woodson, John. To Make a New Race: Gurdjieff, Toomer, and the Harlem Renaissance. University of Mississippi Press, 1999. Woodson effectively demonstrates the connections between Gurdjieff's ideologies and his follower Toomer. This book is essential for understanding Toomer's career post-Cane.