Becky is a white woman cast out by the community because she has two black sons.
Writing Cane[ edit ] Jean Toomer began writing sketches that would become the first section of Cane in November on a train from Georgia to Washington D.
In order to form a book-length manuscript, Toomer added sketches relating to the black urban experience. When Toomer completed the book, he wrote: Toomer was even willing to cancel the publication of the book.
He said that the design was a circle. In his autobiographyToomer wrote: With Negroes also the trend was towards the small town and then towards the city—and industry and commerce and machines.
The folk-spirit was walking in to die on the modern desert. That spirit was so beautiful. Its death was so tragic.
Just this seemed to sum life for me. And this was the feeling I put into Cane. Cane was a swan-song. It was a song of an end. These images become "beauty so sudden" in the sestet.
For example, the dialogue does not use tags "he said" or describe the thoughts of the speaker. There also seem to be stage directions.
It does not follow the format of a professional play. Modernism and Cane[ edit ] Critical reception[ edit ] Cane was largely ignored during the Harlem Renaissance by the average white and African American reader.
Both would have told Jean Toomer not to write Cane. The colored people did not praise it. Although the critics gave it good reviews, the public remained indifferent. And like the singing of Robeson it is truly racial.
Cane was not widely read when it was published but was generally praised by both black and white critics. Montgomery Gregory, an African American, wrote in his review: One whose soul mirrored the soul of his people, yet whose vision was universal.
Essay on An Analysis of Jean Toomer's Cane - An Analysis of Jean Toomer's Cane In the prose fiction Cane: Jean Toomer uses the background of the Black American in the South to assist in establishing the role of the modernist black writer. Cane - Chapter 18 "Rhobert" Summary & Analysis Jean Toomer This Study Guide consists of approximately 97 pages of chapter summaries, quotes, character analysis, themes, and more - everything you need to sharpen your knowledge of Cane. Advance apology to readers by the authors: This comprehensive history of Hancock County Ms deserves to be available on the World Wide Web. Countless hours have gone into its creation and researchers ought to be able to avail themselves to its offering.
Jean Toomer …is the answer to this call. Gregory believed that Toomer was biased towards folk culture and resented city life. Du Bois reviewed Cane insaying: On the contrary, Mr. I love it passionately, could not possibly exist without it.
Jean Toomer belongs to that first rank of writers who use words almost as a plastic medium, shaping new meanings from an original and highly personal style. Toomer surely was familiar with the Joyce and Masters books, and he knew Anderson personally.
Critical studies since [ edit ] as of March Cambridge University Press; Racial and Social Constructions in the Literary Imagination. Oxford University Press; University of Missouri Press; The Edwin Mellen Press; Strategy and Technique, Magic and Myth.
Newark, DE; London, England: New York University Press; Boelhower, William, "No Free Gifts: Indiana University Press; Boutry, Katherine, "Black and Blue:AFAM Intro to African American Studies This course provides an overview of African American history and culture.
Topics include major events, persons, and issues spanning the period from the African heritage to contemporary times. An Analysis of Jean Toomer's Cane In the prose fiction Cane: Jean Toomer uses the background of the Black American in the South to assist in establishing the role of the modernist.
Along with Richard Wright's Native Son and Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man, publication of Toomer's creative montage Cane () was a defining moment in Harlem's era of artistic experimentation. Toomer was born on December 26, , in Washington, D.C.
Analysis and discussion of characters in Jean Toomer's Cane. Fernie May Rosen, the central character of “Fern,” is beautiful but unhappy.
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) is a service we offer sellers that lets them store their products in Amazon's fulfillment centers, and we directly pack, ship, and provide customer service for these products. Cane is a novel by noted Harlem Renaissance author Jean Toomer.
The novel is structured as a series of vignettes revolving around the origins and experiences of African Americans in .