Jean Toomer's Reapers
The first section of Cane by Jean Toomer contains a collection of poems and short stories. These poems and short stories are all different but they are all unified and linked to the title of the book, Cane. It is evident that they took place at a time when the black race was enslaved and working in the cane and cotton fields. All of these works are referenced to the cane field. Toomer also uses repetition of certain words, phrases, and ideas to unify the poems and stories and give the illusion that they are all connected and lead from one to the other. Another unifying factor is also the idea of the slave song evident in the poems. Most of these works have a rhyming, singing tone to them. Toomer references cane in all of the works in the first half of Cane. The rural south, at the time these works take place is a place of slavery. The slaves were employed in the cane fields. Toomer uses the idea of dusk in a lot of his poems in Cane. Dusk is linked directly to cane. The beauty that comes with dusk does not last very long and the sweetness that comes from chewing cane does not last very long either. Toomer draws a parallel between the idea of dusk and cane. Many of the main parts of the sto
The slaves that used to work in the cane and cornfields were all part of a chain gang. They were all chained and shackled to each other by the hands and feet. They are all working together in rhythm in the hot sun. Music and singing was a way for them to take their minds off the work and to give themselves hope. In Cane, all of the short stories have a verse or stanza that is repeated after the fashion of a chorus from a song. For example, I "Karintha" Toomer writes, "Her skin is like dusk on the eastern horizon,/ O can't you see it, O can't you see it,/ Her skin is like dusk on the eastern horizon/ ...when the sun goes down" (Toomer 1). This stanza is repeated three times throughout "Karintha". It has a rhyming tone to it that would go with the rhythm of workers in a cane field. Cane, it is the title of this book; it is common throughout all of the works in Cane. It is a very appropriate title for this work that is about the black race enslaved to work the cane fields. Toomer used this idea of cane to link all of his poems and short stories. Some of the poems are about the work that needed to be done in the cane fields; some are about hope, hope that the black race would someday not have to work these fields. Toomer repeated his ideas from poem to poem and story to story to create a smooth flow from one to the next. It gives the reader the sense that this is one complete work and they are all linked by this common thread. Another way that Toomer links all of the poems is by repeating certain ideas and themes in the short stories and poems. In a few of the stories Toomer repeats the idea of the pine needles. In "Karintha" Toomer writes, "A child fell out of her womb onto a bed of pine-needles in the forest. Pine-needles are smooth and sweet" (Toomer 2). And in "Becky" Toomer writes, "O pines, whisper to Jesus..." (Toomer 6). And at
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Approximate Word count = 1259
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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