Jean Toomer Summary

Jean Toomer Born December 26, 1894 Washington, D.C. Died March 30, 1967 Doylestown, Pennsylvania American poet, short story writer, dramatist, and essayist Jean Toomer. (Courtesy of the Library o... Read more

Biography EssayWhen the writers of the early Harlem Renaissance read cane in 1923, in the words of Arna Bontemps, they "went quietly mad." No prior literary description of the Afro-American experience... Read more

The literary reputation of Jean Toomer is based primarily on Cane (1923), a collection of poems, impressionistic prose sketches, and stories on Afro-American topics. He published a few other poems, st... Read more

In the following essay, Chase explores Toomer's complex portrayal of women in Cane, maintaining of his female characters that: “Perhaps they are all the same woman, archetypal woman, all... Read more

In the following essay, Eldridge discusses the recurring imagery in the first part of Cane, asserting that it functions to unify the overall themes of the work. Although many of the poems and stories ... Read more

In the following essay, Benson and Dillard offer a thematic and stylistic analysis of Cane. Cane, published by Boni and Liveright in 1923, was Toomer's first book-length work. His early poetry,... Read more

In the following essay, McKay interprets the second section of Cane as an exploration of Toomer's urban experience in the North. I After the violence and despair at the conclusion of “Bl... Read more

In the following essay, Rice uncovers “a pattern of imagery” in the first and second sections of Cane. The broad connections between Parts One and Two of Cane have been noted by several ... Read more

In the following essay, Christensen assesses the flaws in “Withered Skin of Berries” and deems it “an indispensable part of our heritage from the Harlem Renaissance.” The p... Read more

In the following essay, Reckley emphasizes the thematic and stylistic significance of “Seventh Street” and “Rhobert” in Cane. Whether Cane is considered to be a novel or a ... Read more

In the following essay, Jones analyzes Toomer's utilization of and experimentation with myriad literary forms in Cane. The Structure of Language: Metaphor and Metonymy In his foreword to the 19... Read more

In the following essay, Whyde investigates Toomer's narrative representation of the body in Cane. Long before Jean Toomer published his first novel, Cane, in 1923, the questions of racial defin... Read more

In the following essay, Lindberg discusses Toomer's theories of racial and national identity. At least as early as 1924, when Alain Locke was constructing the New Negro and putting together his... Read more

In the following essay, Abbott considers the function of the female characters in Cane, maintaining that they are often the “sites onto which men project their judgments and desires.” Ma... Read more

In the following essay, Kodat delineates the two camps of Toomer criticism and asserts that the “great strength of Cane lies in Toomer's risky decision to represent racial and gender opp... Read more

In the following essay, Peckham provides a stylistic analysis of Cane, particularly the way the disparate elements of text work together as a unified whole. In the past decade several important prelim... Read more

Critical Essay by Robert Littell While Mr. Toomer often tries for puzzling and profound effects, he accomplishes fairly well what he sets out to do, and Cane is not seething … with great inexpr... Read more

Critical Essay by Arna Bontemps [The publication of Cane had an important effect on] practically an entire generation of young Negro writers then just beginning to emerge; their reaction to Toomer�... Read more

Critical Essay by Fritz Gysin At first sight, Cane seems to be a collection of poems, sketches, stories, and dramatic passages…. The loose structure of the book has induced many critics to disc... Read more

Critical Essay by Jean Wagner It is no easy matter to determine the specific share of the poet in the work of Jean Toomer, for the whole process of his thinking, and his art as a narrator, obey the be... Read more

Critical Essay by Richard Eldridge The interlocking of man and nature [in Cane] creates a verbal tone-poem which reveals the mystery and spirituality that Toomer was so fond of describing…. [Th... Read more

Critical Essay by Bernard W. Bell Following the publication of Cane, Toomer, convinced by personal experience and extensive reading that "the parts of man—his mind, emotions, and body&#x... Read more

Critical Essay by Nellie Y. Mckay The Wayward and the Seeking includes autobiographical selections, short fiction, poetry, two plays, and a number of Toomer's aphorisms and maxims … a re... Read more

Racial and Gender Conflict: According to Toomer, it's only Natural. There are two real conflicts in Jean Toomer's "Blood-Burning Moon." The first is racial, which can be referenced in the very first... Read more