From its inception in the 18th century, the Gothic genre has mostly focused on the experience of wealthy white men. However, as the genre took hold in America, with its own haunting history of slavery and racial subjugation, American authors of...

Jean Toomer’s Cane was written in response to the author’s time spent in Georgia teaching in rural black schools. Toomer, born and raised in affluent areas of the North, was surely surprised by many elements of his stay in the black rural South,...

“Life is swift, and the value of life is the value of every moment.” -Waldo Frank

Out of all the readings for this class, this sentiment is expressed strongest in the works of Jean Toomer and Sherwood Anderson. Cane and Winesburg, Ohio are books...

Both Jean Toomer and Ralph Ellison allude heavily to Old Testament imagery as they illustrate the Southern American landscape in their respective novels, Cane and Invisible Man. Toomer compares, through spirituals and spiritual-derived language,...

Throughout the text Cane by Jean Toomer, the author creates a paradoxical depiction of women because, although he at times criticizes the metonymization of women, he also participates in it. For example, the first half of the book relies almost...

Jean Toomer, in his novel Cane, compiles issues that plague the black community of the United States through the lens of characters who struggle with conflicts that arise because of racism in both the North and the South. These issues include...

Naturalism describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principle of objectivity and detachment with regard to the study of human beings (Campbell). Charles Darwin, renowned biologist postulates his natural selection theory in...

Esther endured five long years of loneliness. Her determination to prove herself and fulfill her desire left her more alone and disappointed than her initial hunger for companionship. In “Esther” by Jean Toomer, Esther’s morality and desires are...

Many southern writers are known for obscuring the boundaries between human and nonhuman--especially in regard to African Americans. When executed properly, authors are capable of conveying to the reader how African Americans were not typically...

In his biographical introduction to Cane, Darwin Turner quotes William Stanley Braithwaite as saying, “In Jean Toomer, the author of Cane, we come upon the very first artist of the race, who with all an artist’s passion and sympathy for life, its...

When placed in an environment of high stimulation, populace, and activity, one may begin to feel the desire to escape or detach from civilization. Such environments, most notably urban cities, often consist of a variety of tall buildings, which...