Passage II

The Harmony of Jean Toomer's Cane

[1] By his own admission, author Jean Toomer led an unfocused early life. [2]When Cane his unconventional book was published in 1923, some critics felt it reflected the author's lack of direction. [3] Those reviewers were mystified: what sort of work was this? [4] While each piece explored African American life in the early twentieth century, the book as a whole seemed to follow no clear pattern. (17) [5] Cane combined short stories, poetry, and even a short play. (19)

Other reviewers, as well, enthusiastically praised the book. They recognized strength in the varied styles and the book's underlying depth and unity. These critics argued that while the various parts of Cane might seem disconnected, they could also be seen as linked by common themes and imagery.

The title represents a key image that repeatedly recurs throughout the book. Toomer uses sugar cane, a tall plant grown in warm climates, as a symbol not only of refreshing nourishment but also, in its cloying sweetness, of smothering excess. For example, in one poem, the image of the cane rustling in the wind is described as a soft, sweet song. In a later story, however, the cane's overpowering scent "drenches" the workers who cut the cane stalks, forcing them to inhale its syrupy thickness with every breath.

Sugar cane comes to represent contradictions and ambivalence as Toomer weaves the image into situations and settings that are both nurturing and disturbing. (26) Love struggles against racism, determination strives to overcome poverty, beauty battles corruption, and solitary characters want to find friends. Even when the book's setting shifts from the temperate South, to the colder North, cane remains a pervasive and powerful image.

Today Cane is taught in many classrooms and is highly regarded by literary scholars. For many readers, Toomer has created a memorable central image that connects his conflicting accounts of joy and pain.(30)