Redemption in Cane

Melonie Loeb:
In "The Search for Black Redemption," a critique by John Reilly, Cane is said to be a "monument of the early period of self discovery." Reilly believes that during the Negro Renaissance there was a movement to educate the people on what it was to be black. He said that Cane is a book in three parts, yet a unity among those parts existed, that helps to lead the black people to a better self-identity. In the first section, there is a focus on women in Georgia and their relationship to their instinctual sexual being. The second section is set in Washington D.C. and deals with men that have migrated from the South and their historic trail. The final section is back in Georgia and is one long play or narrative. It brings all of the themes from the first two chapters together. Reilly thinks that Cane is important because of its place in Afro-American literary tradition, right next to Du Bois. I think Reilly brought insight into the social movement that was going on at the time and tied it into what was going on within each of the pieces. For me, it was hard to see the book as a whole and not just the sum of its several parts. After reading this critique, I learned that there is a unity that brings each of the parts together. Cane now makes more sense to me as a literary work that influenced the African American communities instead of a collection of works just thrown together.

Heidi Korstad:
John Reillyıs The Search for Black Redemption describes Toomerıs portrayal of the black soul and the black usage of sensuality and self-realization as a means of achieving redemption, whether spiritual or other. Reilly says that the first portion of Cane shows the " need for and the conditions of redemption." This part is all about Georgia and its inherent qualities. It also speaks a lot about women and how they seem to be the vessel for redemption. The second part of the book, about Washington D.C., shows "increased intuition of spontaneous life." The blacks experiences in society, away from their home soil and culture, has cut them off from their own souls and spirits and therefore make them unable to grasp this redemption. In "Kabnis", the character has allowed the restraints of the environment to become "internal" and he fights this for the rest of the story. I agree with Reilly in that Toomer does seem to rely solely on the spirit of women and on sex as the means for redemption of the blacks. Toomerıs descriptions about the women bring to mind saintlike images as if by just being with them, one could have some sort of spiritual experience. I think Toomer conveys that only by becoming aware of ones inherent and natural sexuality and of ones deepest roots can a culture really find redemption and be fulfilled.

Sharron Rush:
The essay "The Search for Black Redemption: Jean Toomer's Cane" by John Reilley examines the concept of redemption from the spiritual, psychological, and social perspectives he finds in Cane. On a spiritual level, he looks at the ways in which the various characters attain or lose transendence through sensory experience. He uses the examples of the Southern women character's in Toomer's book as embodying different aspects of a "lyric celebration of the redemption of the folk through spontaneous expression of their inner selves." The psychological realm is explored, according to Reilley, as the migration to the city imposes "urban self-consciousness" upon the self-expression of the characters. This is typified by the struggle between Dan and Muriel in "Box Seat." Dan's need to create passion in their relationship is juxtaposed with Muriel's desire for respectability. Reilly sees a similar loss of redemption in Bona and Paul's alienation due to racial confusion. Social redemption, the struggle by blacks to assert identity in the midst of prejudice, migration and artistic ambition, is epitomized by the conscious attempt by black artists to transform the folk experience into literature. In his discussion of the place of Cane in the African-American literary tradition, Reilly theorizes that the "redemption of personality" was the twentieth-century black writer's main theme. While I appreciate the detail and coherance of Reilly's arguements, I have a couple of objections. I think that while there is a beauty and dignity expressed in the rural episodes, "redemption" as a term for self expression is inadequate and misleading, since the result is not always self awareness, but is often alienation. To say that the main preoccupation of black artists is their identity is also a reinforcement of the segregation of experience that Toomer and others objected to. Redemption would be more clearly demonstrated by the fact that these works demonstrate truths about the HUMAN condition, the struggle for love, the urban plight of alienation and loss of identity felt by all.

Maria Fuentes:
The critical essay I choose to write about was The Search for Black Redemption: Jean Toomer's Cane, by John M. Reilly. This essay really personifies the true meaning of the book Cane. Reilly helps understand Cane by describing it as "Poetry and prose were whipped together in a kind of. Realism was mixed with what they called mysticism, and the result seemed to many of them confusing." Reilly goes on to talk about the epigraph and its importance in the book. He explain that Toomer's use of epigraphs for his prose were important because they emphasis the many different characters in the book. Reilly talk in great detail about each arc of the book and the significance of the characters with regard to the area and the environment where they live. Reilly writes about how Tommer's characters "can neither conceptualize nor articulate the goals because they are folk characters, but he second and most important reason is that Toomer conceives of self-discovery as an intuitive experience which must be described or, rather, transmitted in a way that will perceive the content feeling." Reilly makes takes the book and analyzes each sketch from each arc and in great detail tells the significance of the characters to the African American culture of that time. The phrase that really stood out, in the essay, was when Reilly called the theme of the book Cane as a redemption of personality. This is such a great line! The way I interpreted this line, after reading Reilly's description of Cane and after reading the book, as not necessarily a saving from sin, but as a pay back of ones character, or central being which makes a person an individual and different from everyone else. I felt that Reilly was talking about Toomer's writing not as an answer as to why African Americans suffered a great deal. I think that the book was more a pay back of trying to get an identity for the culture of that time. I think that Cane was much more than Blues as McKeever wrote. I felt Reilly was correct in calling the book a counterbalance that equally emphasizes the importance of black literature and black lives.

Cynthia Hill:
Both of the critical essays on Toomer's Cane were very interesting but "Cane as Blues" was harder to read and understand than "The Search for Black Redemption" thus I chose the later to respond to. The author, John Reilly, discussed the three arks of Cane and the "impression that Cane is a collection of fragments coincidentally unified by a common binding" with in each section. He went through each short story and or poem to describe the common thread that ran through each. He went through the first ark and pointed out the focus on the "women's relationship to her instinctual sexual being". I agree with his focus and I also think that Toomer used the appearances of each of these female characters as a factor in the story. Toomer described each of the women's faces: "Her skin was the color of oak leaves on young trees in the fall.", "...her high-cheek-boned chalk-white face.", "...carrying beauty, perfect as dusk when the sun goes down.", "Her eyes sunken, her neck stringy...", " Face flowed into her eyes. Flowed in soft cream foam..." I feel that Toomer uses the women's appearance as either an explanation or rational for the sexual driven actions. Whether beautiful or not, fair or dark each woman reacted to her sexual the only way she knew how--instinctively or what society expected her to do. Reilly describes the common thread of the second section of Cane (about a black community in D.C.) in his critical essay as being that the spontaneous black life is threatened. The heart of any relationship is spontaneity which is absent in all of the sketches in the second ark therefore none of the relationships work out accordingly. John is drawn to Doris and her dance in "Theater" but refrains. He is only left to dream and not act on his wants and desires (exclusion of spontaneity). In "Box Seat", Dan refrains from taking Muriel into his arms when he has the chance (again exclusion of spontaneity). Avey falls asleep on her beau (no spontaneity) while he is confessing his passion about life which makes him loose his fire. The lack of spontaneity in all of the characters in the second section destroys each ones desire, lust, and passion. According to Reilly's critical essay, the common thread for the third ark of Cane is "the characters become more self-repressing because of the mentality they have developed in the city." Kabnis is a man who "fully internalize(s) the repressive forces of the environment." In Kabnis the theme is man versus himself because Kabnis finds the enemy or adversary within himself but projects them outward to the environment in his mind. Kabnis is fighting himself in this section; he is the threat not the environment. Kabnis seems to reject those who are trying to "redeem" him (Lewis and Father John) and help to relieve him of his self-generated anger. Cane has autobiographical roots of Toomer's life and his experiences. Kabnis is very related to Toomer's short teaching commission. Eventhough Toomer might not have experienced the exact same events that is what he perceived of the South and its influence.

Heidi Korstad:
I guess now that I think about it, Cane probably did have a huge impact on the black culture of that time. I didn't really think about the outside effects of the book, but I think Melonie is right about Toomer's connection to the African American communities and the influence it must have had on them.

Tonya Browning:
Great response folks. I feel this is the better of the two critical pieces, but like Sharron, I don't agree with everything the author claims. Do you think this was better written? Why is redemption shuch a loaded term? Cynthia reminds me that the conflict between personal and societal redemption is an important one

Maria Fuentes:
I agree with Melonie. Cane makes so much more sense now! It's pretty neat the way Reilly brought in all the social movement issues that were going on and how people were kind of finding themselves.

Kristin Keene:
I really think that the best thing about "Cane" is the actual title. He writes "The Cane of the title, like the pine & the soil, thereby derives meaning from the people who work in it and conveys in concrete form the complex of feeling and experience that is the soul of hte Georgia Blacks." To me, Cane itself, the actual sugar, is a way of interperting history. Cane is a symbol of the times,. If he were to have used something different, history would have been interperted differently. Toomer was writing of times before any of us readers were alive. What we think of the imagry and what went on is what we read. We can take what we know of Cane and relate it to Toomer's writings. Not only do I love the title, but I love the strategy behind it. It seems like it is the link, the one thing that is parralel to everything. It is almost as if Toomer has described a community in southern and urban settings and the string that runs through it all is Cane. So, is the cane itself black redemption? How is it redeeming to black folk of this time. It's symbols and meanings can go in a million directions, how is that redeeming?

Cynthia Hill:
I agree with Melanie in that before reading the autobiographical section or critiques it was hard for me to see Cane as a whole novel and not just short stories, poems and a play put together. Now after realizing the similar stands that run though each section it too makes more sense to me. Toomer's work is definatley influential and important to the African American literary community. His comparision to W.E.B. DuBois is merited but his literary voice was not quite as powerful as DuBois and his "The Song of Black Folk."

Melonie Loeb:
I guess I never really thought of "redemption" as a loaded term for this piece. I agree with Sharron that this term could be misleading and inadequate. It wasn't as appearant to me when first reading it since redemption is a word used so much out of context that it doesn't have such a strong meaning for me as it does some people. I see redemption as more of an ideal that is what was desired by the African Americans at the time.

Heidi Korstad:
I really like Toomer's use of the epigraph in describing his characters. I think that his imagery is excellent for conveying the image that he wants us to connect to the characters. I agree with Maria's statement about the importance of the epigraphs that accompany the prose pieces. They do make the characters that they describe more sort of come alive for the reader.

Maria Fuentes:
The redemption essay was good, but I also agree with the last line of McKeever's essay where it said "For black folk are the only people, at this time , in this place..." It also kind of goes along with Reilly's redemption theme, that thses people are finding their personalities and their culture. It is really important that this book illustrates how blacks were trying to get an identity and figure out what they wanted, how they should deal with their experiences and deal with society.

Maria Fuentes:
Sharon, your responses are always cool, where do you get this stuff!! WOW, two thumbs up on your response!!!

Kamal Bhuiyan:
In the little article "The Search for Black Redemption: Jean Toomer's Cane" John M. Reilly clearly presented how Jean Toomer wanted to discover his self consciousness and identity and an African-American. Cane is a pictorial discription of looking for his destiny. Toomer wanted to know what was the meaning of being black and he did it by employing his thoughts into various beautiful characters such as Kabnis, Karintha, Fern and et cetra. Reilly things that Toomer has devided Cane into two parts. The first part is the impressionistic style of narration that represents the sensations of instinctual life and the the second part represents the desintegratrion of collective and sponteneous life. This two parts have two different settings: One is a rural setting and the other one is an urban setting. Reilly wanted to tell the reader how Toomer wanted to describe the social movements that were going on at that time and what was his position being into that movement.

Cynthia Hill:
Toomer's use of epigraphs set the stage for not only the stories but for the whole sections. His use of poems could describe many of the characters in his writings not just the characters previous and after the position of the poem thus giving the sections common strands that links them all together.

Sharron Rush:
Melanie's point about the education of the public into the realities of black life is a very good one. It is easy to forget that these voices were among the first to ever try to explain the conditions of the lives of Southern rural blacks. Perhaps the "redemption" that is most critical is the recording of these experiences in a way that pierces the layers of separation. As widely read by the dominant white cultural arbiters, this work helped to transform the perceptions of an entire society.

Cane as Blues

Kenneth Direkly:
I feel that Toomer's Cane can be interpreted many different ways, each unique to the reader. I agree more with McKeever's interpretation, however, than I do with Reilly's criticism. McKeever feels that Cane is Toomer's way of expressing the blues. He examines each character in Cane and finds that each one took actions that displayed their particular blues. For example, McKeever states that Kabnis' blues deal with the fact that he tries to deny his heritage. I believe that any reader of Cane could find this same correlation, however I also believe that a reader can find links between anything they wish. If a reader wanted to interpret Cane as a bedtime story, I'm sure that reader could back up his or her claim with bits and pieces of Cane taken out of context. I feel that the true meaning of Cane is unique to each reader, to their past experiences and biases. As discussed in class, Cane is a hypertext, many different nodes linked through variations on a theme. For this reason I don't believe that reading criticisms of Cane will give you the true meaning of Cane because they evaluate each node of the work separately, not as a complete hypertext where everything flows smoothly. I feel that there is no substitute for actually reading Cane, although reading the multiple criticisms can help the reader understand and sort through difficult sections of the work. Toomer does an excellent job at tying pieces of his hypertext together despite the fact that he "filled out" the middle sections of Cane. To me, Cane is type of harmony that continues to ressonate long after you are finally able to put the text down, a true masterpiece ahead of its time.

Jennifer Walder:

B.F. McKeever's critical piece describes Cane as a story of the blues. The blues are an impulse which keep painful details of life experiences alive in one's mind which can then be transformed into a lyricism. First, Cane is an autobiographical depiction of a man whose life is a journey through ups and downs. Cane also depicts other characters as illustrating the blues. From the blues of Becky to the blues of Kabnis, all the characters seem to have some element of blues. Kabnis, though, seems to have the heaviest load of blues, perhaps the epitome of the blues. He is a man who is mostly alone and whose experiences emit pain. From his trying to find his identity to his wanting to strengthen his soul, Kabnis has many painful life experiences. However, everything seems to turn around for him when he finds out that there is hope in that things are more than meets the eye...things will be changing in the future. I think the McKeever's depiction of Cane has a really powerful message. I agree with McKeever in that the work has many elements of the blues. It didn't take me long into reading the book to notice that most all of the characters have some sort of sadness or pain in their lives. I think that McKeever does a good job in giving examples of the different elements of blues. I think perhaps the most convincing argument is that Cane as an autobiographical work is quite illustrative of the blues. Toomer had a lot of pain and tough experiences in his life to write about from his upbringing to his moving between the South and the North. It was these events which stayed alive with him and allowed him to write the book.

Kesha Fomby:
In "Cane as Blues", B.F. McKeever compares the writings of Jean Toomer to blues. The blues can be a type of music or a mood. When most people think of the blues, they generally think of sadness or depression. McKeever disagrees with this assumption and says, "The blues is not a state of chronic melancholia but a mood ebony that can only be described as chaos." It is a "mood", a state of mind. A definition of musical blues as defined by "The Columbia Encyclopedia", blues is a jazz form of music whose lyrics are "earthy and direct and are mostly concerned with basic human problems-love and sex, poverty, and death." All of which Toomer writes about in "Cane". Ralph Elision describes blues as "an autobiographical chronicle of personal catastrophe expressed ", this also describes "Cane". Although "Cane" is not an autobiography, it displays some of the things Toomer has witnessed, experienced, and felt throughout his life. His opinions a views of the world affects what he writes and the images he uses. In addition, it seems that Toomer includes himself into his pieces at times, as noted in an epigram from "Kabnis", "Lewis resembles the self portrait Toomer sometimes created in his fiction and drama". The blues, as well as other forms of music, is often reffered to as poetry put to a melody. Poetry is defined by Webster's as "the language of the imagination or emotions expressed rhythmically". In this sense, "Cane" is very much like "the blues" because he writes rhythmically (and not always in verse). Waldo Franks refers to this quality when he states, "for Toomer is finally a poet in prose." The previous is one interpretation, another one would be a more literal one. In "Cane", Toomer shifts back and forth from poem poems (poetry) to short stories (prose); hence, Toomer is a "poet in prose." This shift does not only occur with in the book, but also within the stories. In some of his stories, Toomer inserts short verses. These often repetitive stanza can be compared to a song's chorus. This too gives Toomer's work a musical, blues like quality.

Billy Lynch:
"Cane is not the autobiography of a man, but rather the chronicle of the fate of an idea." (B. F. McKeever, 192) In his critique, B. F. McKeever explains that this idea, the blues, is vividly characterized in Jean Toomer's imagery of Georgia. Through the eyes of Toomer, we see that, as McKeever puts it, "Georgia is the blues,...An everlasting song, a singing tree,/ Caroling softly souls of slavery..." (B. F. McKeever, 193) McKeever points out how the blues is prevalent in Kabnis when "Kabnis describes his alienation in the South in terms of loneliness, dumbness, awful, intangible oppression; and he feels himself to be an atom of dust in agony on a hillside." (McKeever, 193) McKeever sees the blues in Karintha, who wishes to ripen to soon; in Becky, an outcast white woman with two mulatto sons; in Fern, a woman who finds no fulfillment in the men who run to her; and in Esther, a woman who waits for the return of her exotic childhood crush. McKeever makes Œthe blues' come alive by describing how it is present throughout Cane . Until I read his critique, I did not have a clear picture of what Œthe blues' really meant and the experiences that are Œthe blues'. McKeever clarifies the blues as "an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one's aching consciousness, to finger its jagged grain and transcend it..." (McKeever, 193) He shows us that Cane is the blues in its depiction's of painful experiences and lives of the downtrodden in Georgia.

Stacie Wright:
B.F. McKeever's critical piece on Cane takes a forward approach at defining Cane through the exact words that appear in the text. He makes direct ties between his ideas and the book by starting multiple sentences with, "Cane is . . ." followed by things such as "oracular", "redolent", "the blues" and "a vision of Life." Many of these words and phrases were taken straight from the text or are supported by text. McKeever states all of his claims and then proceeds to justify them with many excerpts from the book. This method is highly affective in the development of his ideas since the reader can recall the characters and situations in the book to which he is referring. I relate with many of the claims McKeever made in this response to Cane. I was especially moved by the sentence, "Cane is not the autobiography of man, but rather the chronicle of the fate of an idea." I think that sentence support my belief that this book does not try to portray the characteristics of life of one single Afro-American person but rather the suffering and endurance of race. The reader should not focus on the characters in this book specifically but rather their experiences and how these were brought about and affected by America's attitude towards Afro-Americans. Toomer wants to tell his people that they should be proud of what they have endured, that they should continuing being strong as individuals and as a race, and that their suffering has not gone without progress. That is to say, their race is like cane, enduring and strong.

Jeremy Baksht:
Cane is Toomer's famous representation of Georgia in the nineteen hundreds. Cane tries to represent an accurate depiction of what he saw and felt through stories and poems. McKeever believes Cane is a representation of the blues. He defines the blues not as a series of down notes or as a "state of chronic melancholia", but a mood described as chaos. This chaos is man's attempt to find meaning in the world and to find some significance for life. McKeever in essence is staking his claim to the fact that blacks of the time were treated as second class citizens and had a hard time with the chaos of meaning in life. He felt that it was harder for blacks to feel significant in an oppressive world. McKeever then demonstrates his hypothesis with several examples. Such as the blues of Karintha, Fern, and Kabinis. I think McKeever's hypothesis is a very interesting one. I am not sure that I agree completely that Cane is Toomer's outlet for the blues. I think he was interested in depicting the black experience. To him the black situation might have been characterized by a lack of civil rights and at times a down trodden existence. However behind this countenance was a strong culture replete with pride, unity and a love of family. In Cane's story Kabanis, Kabanis feels like "an atom of dust in agony on a hillside." I can definitely agree with McKeever's blues theory when I read particular lines like that one, but I still feel that within the heart of Cane there still lies a hint of optimism that stops it from feeling blue.

Tonya Browning:
Great point about how Toomer writes rhythmically Kesha. I think that's an important point toward understanding the article. Like Trey (aka Billy) I had some problems understanding the author's interpretation of "blues." Writers like Langston Hughes always seemed more blues-oriented to me because he actually uses lyrics from blues pieces. However, evoking a feeling of the blues makes sense to me in terms of this text.

Kristin Keene:
"tradgedy is life seen close at hand", an individual piece of Cane is tradgedy, whereas you look at a whole feild and you see a community, an integration of things. Toomer writes the bluse as he describes each individual person and his dilema's, he shows up close and personal each persons face. Tradgedy. Thus it is blues

Jennifer Walder:
I agree with Kesha's response to McKeever's "Cane as Blues." I think that she brings up some valid points and think that her including the different definitons of "blues" really adds some more definition to the idea of "Cane is blues." I think that Cane especially fits in with the definition given by "The Columbia Encyclopedia", in that a lot of what Cane wrote did in fact have to do with basic human problems. I think that his writing about basic human problems is what makes his book so easy to read. Since he is writing about problems which are common to everyone, he can reach more people with his writing. I also think that Kesha had a good point about blues being referred to as poetry put to a melody. Cane also fits in with this definition of the blues. Cane will write in play format and prose and then support a lot of his already mentioned themes and ideas in a short poem, truly, in my opinion appealing to most all literary senses. This is another factor which makes the book so appealing to me.

Corey Snyder:
McKeever's claim that Cane is a form of the Blues does not sit well with me. There is, of course a prevalent feeling of despair and alienation throughout the text, but I don't think that qualifies it as the blues. The blues are the grandchild of the slave's field calls and songs, which were not always songs of sadness, but most often songs of hope and faith in God. If a slave were to spend his or her time lamenting his or her condition with no hope for salvation there would be no point to life. Instead slaves recalled Bible stories of liberation and salvation, instilling hope and giving reason to trudge on. While the salvation theme may not be as prevalent in Blues songs of the twentieth century as it was in slave songs, another theme is: humor. So many old blues tunes were popular because they were funny in a strange sort of way. They were often songs of drinking too much and waking up in an immense woman's bed, or some other story that left the listener laughing. The blues were not a way for the black citizen to bring about social reform or influence the white politicos. They existed largely to entertain the black community. I cannot, therefore, support McKeever's claim that Cane is another form of the Blues.

Kris Desormeaux:
I think McKeever's corrolation of Cane and the blues is a really strong one. If you think about it, this is very true when looking at certain parts of Cane. For example, Kabnis, Becky, Karintha, and Fern all experience pain or sorrow in their stories. The blues is based on and made up ofthe pain and sorrow that people feel in their lives and experiences. Also I think that McKeever was speaking of the lyrical style that Toomer used in Cane. Some of the readings were like song lyrics put on paper as viewed as poems. McKeever had a very good claim when relating Cane to blues and he supports this well in the criticism. Also the mood of the blues captures the reader when you are reading these stories. One finds themselves feeling sorry and down for these characters.

Kenneth Direkly:
Kesha, I agree with your definitions of the blues. I feel that Cane has integrated into it many musical sections and a melody that ties all the sections of Cane together. Thank you for opening my eyes. I didn't think I could find a real foundation for describing Cane in terms of the blues. I only felt that Cane had a rhythm that does not make it the blues, just one that makes it musical. After reading your response I can now see Cane as the blues. However, I still firmly believe that Cane is like a persons life. There are many subjects, many events, and many people that come and go. All these things are held together by common themes, or if you will values of the person. Like I said before I think Cane should be read entirely, not just picking pieces out of context. Just like if you wanted to know someone really well you would have to know about their whole life, not just what they did at the age of ten. You would need to walk a mile in their shoes before you could critque how worn the shoes were. So, in order to understand and critique Cane you need to read the whole thing as it is presented. That is why I was somewhat uneased by the criticism for Cane As Blues. I didn't feel that I could relate what McKeever was saying to the entire novel, just parts of it. The total impact of the book is much more than just the sum of the parts.

Corey Snyder:
LISTEN TO THE BLUES!!! THEY ARE NOT THAT DEPRESSING!!! GO BUY A ROBERT JOHNSON RECORD!!!

Garrett T. Crouch:

Toomer's literary classic, "Cane" could be described as a struggle for dignity. As B.F. McKeever puts it in his critical piece "Cane as Blues", it is evident that Jean Toomer is relays his powerful message through vivid description and stark contrasts between black and white. This style of writing symbolizes the conflicting lines of color of life in the early 1920's. The blues elements are present throughout "Cane" and is exemplified well when looked at from the south perspective and the north. These two regions contrast each other but also relate to each other because of the common struggle of the black man is a white society. Toomer accurately describes these "blues" by his depictions of his characters. All through out the story there is a consistent vibe that could be considered by most to be a slow rythym and there are elements of a depressed state of mind from his characters but like Jeremy, I agree that after reading the end of Kabnis there was a sense of optimism,

Kesha Fomby:
In response to Jennifer Walder's message, I can see where you can interprete the"blues" that McKeever speaks of as "sadness or pain", as it is true that most of all characters endured some sort of sadness. When I read McKeever's criticism I didn't get the impression that he meant "blues" as depression or sadness, in fact, he states, "The blues is not a state of chronic meloncholia..". I interpreted the "blues" as something that portrays real life, this includes the good points along with the bad. "Cane" is about life- love, pain, fear,and happiness. Toomer writes about all aspects of life. It is the blues because he doesn't leave out any aspect, he doesn't down play any side of life. It is truthful and real, as is the "blues".

Stacie Wright:
I think that Billy did a great job with using the text to support his ideas just as McKeever did in his piece. The references to the different characters and their situations in the first paragraph of BIlly's response links Mckeever's claim that Cane is the Blues to each part ofthe book well. The reader is reminded of the various characters in the book that make McKeever's link to the blues appropriate and show how the book can be tied together using this theme.

Jennifer Walder:
I think Stacie made a great point in that Toomer is speaking not only for the specific characters in the book but for the Afro-American race as a whole. I think a good point to remember also is the time period when the book was written. Since "Cane" was written at the beginning of the Harlem Rennaissance (sp?), I think that it supports the idea that Toomer is speaking for the entire race. He is probably trying to, like Stacie said, give his people a message about being strong.

Billy Lynch:
In response to Jeremy Baksht.
It was interesting that you found an element of optimism in Cane. Kabnis ends with him leaving in a drunken state while Carrie falls to her knees asking for Jesus to come again. Becky ends when a chimney falls on her after a life of exile. Esther waits for her lost love until he returns only to laugh at her. Fern finds no fulfillment in the countless men who turn to her. Maybe you see something that I don't.

Kris Desormeaux:
The criticism of Cane entitled Cane as Blues by B. F. McKeever was a short criticism of the novel and compared the text to the content of blues songs. He uses the stories of Karintha, Fern, and Kabnis to name a few to point this out. All of the stories listed were of tragedy in some way, and so is that of the blues. They both talk about all of the bad things that occur in ones life and the sorrow and pain it brings along with it. I think that McKeever's comparison of the book as blues is quite interesting. He added material in his criticism that I thought was irrelevant to the point and to the book, but he made some good points about the text. For example, he pointed out that the stories of Fern, Karintha, and Becky were all of tragedy and sorrow. He said that they sounded like lyrics to blues songs because Tommer's writings were very lyrical in style. Overall I thought that his criticism of the book was well done and took an interesting point of view.

Cane as Autobiography

James Lo:
2-28-1997 About Jean Toomer's Autobiography selection
In Toomer's autobiography selection he clearly indicated how and why he started the composition of Cane. Toomer had a deep relationship with his grandparents, I believe they are his only relatives at the time. It seemed that Toomer's grandfather is rather demanding and such matter affect the relationship between the grandfather and Toomer himself. Finally Toomer was offered a job at Georgia as a principal. In the Valley of Cane he worked and experienced the folk life of the Black Americans. A traditional life which is disappearing as many were urbanized and forgetting their culture. After returning to his grandparents, Toomer has the deep understanding of the beautiful culture and improved his relationship with his grandfather. At this time Toomer had started the composition of Cane, a work Faldo Frank regarded to as a "vision" but not a actuality. However, Toomer himself believed what he wrote is the real thing, the really beautiful black culture as he saw it. Similar to Toomer's point of view, I also believed he is writing on an actuality which might be dying out at the time. Toomer was deeply affected by his experiences at Georgia, and he just wanted to write about his experience. However, since most of black writers at time were composing material criticizing discrimination and poor condition of the blacks, Toomer's work seemed rather unrealistic at the time. For Toomer, since he did not experience discrimination himself, as quoted in the selection, "Šhe had run in prejudice in college, and asked if I had. I said "no."" Toomer wrote Cane to publicize the culture he saw in Georgia, not as a Black showing off his culture, but as human being praising an wonderful tradition. That's why Toomer was angered when he was asked to published Cane as a Negro author. It seemed the society has its own prejudice that black authors have to be categorized in their own group and writing their own work. That's interesting how Toomer finally ran into prejudice himself right before his success.

Audra Leifeste:
Throughout this selection, Toomer is extremely realistic in the sense that the way he describes some of his feelings it is easy for the reader to feel what Toomer felt. For example when Toomer wrote how the "apartment seemed to suck my life" (Toomer 140), I think most college students (and faculty too) know the feels like to say "college seems to suck my life!" Toomer wrote of how life was always somewhat of a struggle, even when his dream came true. He saw many different ways of life - from Washington to Georgia to New York. And each one of these times he left for another state he felt it was supposed to be a part of his journey in life, or as he said it was a "God send" (Toomer 141). Many steps of Toomer's life seemed to relate to his writings, although he never wrote about himself directly. Everything he wrote was actual reality, not a vision he suddenly had. Toomer said that many asked him to write a sequel to Cane, but what they did not know is that this was actuality for Toomer, not fiction. Through all his experiences, from being drained from his grandparents to going down to Georgia to act as principal, he fianlly had the chance to get his writings published. In the end though, it was not quite done the way he had wanted it. Race became an issue between Toomer and those who helped him. At first nothing was said about his race. Then his publisher tried to persuade him to feature himself as a Negro. This made him mad. He told them that in fact he was not a Negro. In fact he almost did away with the whole idea of becoming published. At any rate he did become published, which was what his true dream was. The fact that Toomer did not consider himself Negro is still very interesting to me. Was it because to Toomer Negros were only from the South? What I found to be interesting about Toomer is that as a writer, he was a very simple man who did not ask for much out of life. Nothing came easy to Toomer. In fact that is what made him grow and allowed for his writings to be published.

Kimberly Williams:
Jean Toomer's Autobiographical Selection depicts some of the events that he went through in order to write Cane and get it published. He talks about being completely drained of energy due to his work and caring for his aging grandparents. I can really identify with his state of mind when he describes how even though there was nothing physically ailing him, he was emotionally tired and suffering from stress. His cure comes about when a man who was head of an industrial and agricultural school came to town and asked him to be his principal in Georgia. This would be Toomer's escape which would enable him to concentrate more on his writing. Toomer's story of his trip south and first hearing folk songs and Negro spirituals reminded me of W.E.B DuBois' first trip to the south. Both of them fell in love with the beauty of this music. They also lead very advantaged lives in the north, but when they came to the south, they experienced a new found culture that they were not accustom to since they didn't have much exposure to other blacks. DuBois also believed that even though he was an inspiration to the Harlem Renaissance, he didn't feel these young writers were doing anything to raise America's consciousness so he challenged them to produce works that came directly out of personal experience. It was these experiences of the south that Toomer poured into Cane which makes it such an effective piece of work. How ever I do not understand why he didn't want to be identified as Black when Cane went to the publisher. He wanted to be seen as simply an outsider (a Northerner) looking in and observing the lifestyles of the Blacks in the south. Even though he is light-skinned and not from the south, he can still empathize and experience genuinely the pain and hardships that some of these people went through. If he was white he wouldn't fully be able to do that. By identifying himself as Black, it only adds validity to Cane via the author. However it seems like keeping his identity concealed was more for profitable reasons and so the book would do well especially if Waldo Frank is behind it. I do feel that he has an air about him, as if he can not identify with these people in the south because the majority of them didn't not come from a privileged background like he did. I think he saw himself as the exception. An American who simply wanted to write a wonderful piece of work. Even though he was able to do this, he still could not escape the fact that he was Black and that is the way he would continue to be seen for the rest of his life.

James Lo:
I think Toomer did not want to be published as a negro because he wasn't writing Cane in view point of black man. Rather I believe he wrote Cane as a observor of the culture and behavior at the time. Therefore when he was asked to be published as a Negro, he was furious, since the publishers did not see the point but rather think "Cane" just as another work by black author at the time...

James Lo:
to kimberly:
perhaps Toomer just want to be known as a great writer instead being identified as "the great black author"

Audra Leifeste:
I think James is right about Toomer being very close to his grandparents. He seemed to hold a very strong bond with them. I also believe that when Toomer's grandmother became sick it drained a lot of energy from Toomer and his grandfather as well. It was almost as if Toomer and his grandfather were competing for energy. I believe that all Toomer's experiences gave him a deeper understanding not only of the folk life of the Black Americans but of life in general. James, you bring up a very good point about Toomer and his writing versus the other authors' writings of that time. I did not really think about how other authors were pretty much just criticizing disctimination, etc. Toomer was almost writing ahead of his time.

Tonya Browning:
It also surprised me that Toomer did not want to be identified as black, especially because (as Kimberly notes), it adds credibility to his work. However, it is not clear what all the parameters of the discussion involved. Was it a question of money or like James mentions, he wanted to be a "great writer" instead of a "great black writer." Toomer seems to imply Liveright (his publisher) was only interested in publicity. However, Toomer himself says he is "not a Negro."

Tonya Browning:
It's ironic that it only works one way, you are called black if you are partly of color, but never vice-versa.

Audra Leifeste:
to kimberly:
Yes, all of Toomer's experiences made Cane such a great piece of work. I agree with you Kimberly...neither do I understand why Toomer did not want to be known as Black. Oops! Ran out of time!

Kimberly Williams:
I also find it interesting and disturbing that Toomer did not consider himself to be a Negro. It seems to me, that even though Toomer could write a very vivid account of some of the life experiences of other Negroes in the south, he acts as if he could not identify with them because he was from the north and lead a very priveleged life. Even though he was a light-skinned Black and may have been able to pass as white some of the time, I do not believe that he was never discriminated against in his lifetime. It is true that one's race should not matter when all you are striving to do is be a wonderful writer, but I do not believe you should hide your identity behind your work, especially since what Toomer was trying to do was capture the essence of Black life in the south. He may not have been able to identify with a particular southern lifestyle, but he can and should be able to identify with the culture of being a Negro.

Sharron Rush:
The difficulty of putting yourself in the shoes of another is especially hard when that other is an artist of deep perceptions. One of the the things that occurs to me is the comment in Turner's biographical essay that Toomer considered himself to be part of a "new race." The degree of racial mix in the US was unique, it had occured in the space of very few generations and was widespread. Racial identity was guesswork in many cases. Maybe it was acceptance of this that Toomer was trying to achieve by refusing to be identified racially. By saying he was not a Negro, was he insisting on wider recognition of the ethnic combination that had occured? Even Langston Hughes, who very much identified and was proud of his black heritage, wrote that Africa was so long ago and far away. He seemed to long for an end to distinctions that are based on what isn't even quantifiable. Wouldn't the world be less troubled if this were the case?