In Jean Toomer's "Cane," the concept of beauty functions as an illusory device; aesthetically pleasing elements in the novel are linked to the violence, destruction and overall disturbing themes associated with life in the South for black people. Through a series of intervwoven vignettes, “Cane” simultaneously elegizes the natural allure of the Southern landscape as well as the horrors that took place there; mourning both the positive and the negative in such a way that the juxtaposing facets of beauty and horror depicted in the novel become indiscernibly connected. This degradation of beauty's quintessential meaning accentuates the disillusioned, romanticized ideas of the South; particularly in the context of “Karintha” and “Kabnis.”
In “Karintha,”
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the story’s titular protagonist is a woman characterized entirely by her captivating beauty and inherently seductive qualities; desired by men "even as a child" (Toomer 3).
However, as a device, beauty does not function in "Karintha" as it does in other works of literature. Karintha's comeliness operates not to her benefit, but instead as her downfall. The first description of Karintha in the story illustrates her as being "as perfect as dusk when the sun goes down" (Toomer 3), but there is a backhanded aspect to this compliment. Dusk, or sunset, is widely considered to be one of the most beautiful times of the day, and it's this magnificent display of light and color that Karintha is presumably being likened to. Dusk is also the transition from day to night; the purgatorial period of ambiguity in which the sun is not totally there, but neither is the moon. This phase of in-between is reminiscent of adolescence which, coincidentally, is a period of life Karintha never had the opportunity to experience. The burden of lust was thrust upon her by her physical appearance, and because of this her abundance of older admirers forced her to be "ripened too soon" (Toomer 5). The comparison of Karintha to the sunset is deceptive, because it's not only a reminder of her purloined youth, but of the disadvantage she had from the start simply by being born as a woman with prepossessing
features. In the story, the preacher describes Karintha as being "as innocently lovely as a November cotton flower" (Toomer 4), which, similar to the likening of Karintha to dusk, is revealed to be a tongue-in-cheek comparison that derives meaning from a falsehood. The story eventually establishes that the November cotton flower is not a romantic, idyllic image of innocence and loveliness; stating immediately after the comparison of Karintha to the flower that "rumors were out about her," and that "she played 'home' with a small boy who was not afraid to do her bidding" (Toomer 4). By associating the November cotton flower with the hidden sexual exploration of a child, the facets of beauty and innocence that were assumed to be there are lost. This parallel between beauty and deception is further highlighted in "November Cotton Flower," which is the companion poem to "Karintha."
Race manifests itself as a key challenge to Jeannette’s views on freedom and immaterial love. She never truly saw people of other races in a different light until the family arrived in the small town of Welch, West Virginia. In Welch, racial divides were
Personal characteristics, appearance, or natural physical function seem to be the manner in which the black girls view most of the other characters in the story. From Mrs. Margolin, the troop leader, to other characters in the story, the description includes outer personal characteristics or appearance rather than inner qualities to be admired. The description of the camp counselor is an example. “Mrs. Margolin even looks like a mother duck--she had hair cropped to a small ball of a head, almost no neck, and huge, miraculous breast” (357). The description of her attire is equally non-complementary as references to Mrs. Margolin as “Big Fat Mamma. The historical south, as the narrator describes shows white individuals in their segregated locations and blacks in theirs, with only chance meetings as both races conducted daily routines such as shopping or moving about through the streets. Therefore, having the white Brownie troop being a part of the camping trip is like being invaders as Arnetta describes--“with their long, shampoo-commercial hair, straight as Spaghetti from the box” (358). Thus, hair as well as complexion added fuel to the flame of envy and hatred, which is alive in Arnetta’s mind. A physical function such as a sneeze, which causes mucus to drip from her nose caused the narrator to wear the name “Snot” since first
Dusk. It is that darker side of twilight when the sun has just set, but the moon has yet to take full charge. It is a time of mergings, of vagueness and ambiguity, when an end and a beginning change places. The sun steps aside and lets the moon and stars take over for a while. As the most pervasive image in the first section of Jean Toomer's Cane, it is the time of day when "[t]he sky, lazily disdaining to pursue/The setting sun, too indolent to hold/ A lengthened tournament for flashing gold,/Passively darkens" ("Georgia Dusk," 15). It is also a reflection of the souls of the characters, like Karintha, "perfect as dusk when the sun goes down" (3). Dusk and its smoky, dreamlike derivatives form the connective imagery joining light and dark, day and night, black and white. It is the kind of imagery that most closely articulates what George Hutchinson called Toomer's dream of a new "American" race in his essay "Jean Toomer and American Racial Discourse" (227). He says, "Toomer's vision of a coming merging of the races makes perfect sense within the framework of the first section of Cane: the dystopia of the contemporary South implies a corresponding utopia" (234). While Hutchinson's theories rely heavily upon miscegenation and Toomer's use of racially mixed characters, the more compelling evidence seems to lie in the murkiness of both the mystic-like atmosphere of rural Georgia and the half created characterizations of its people. Through his distinctly modern use of imagery, Toomer creates a new iconography that defines a vision of the future where colors merge and race is no longer the harbinger of identity.
He uses syntax synonymous to delicate to describe her as “kind”, “tender-hearted”, and “pious.” This creates an image of a small compassionate woman. Also, he uses an overstatement to emphasis her empathetic nature by claiming: “There was no sorrow or suffering for which she had not shed a tear.” This was also a contradiction to the follow up description of his mistress once she had assumed her role as a slave-owner; Douglass describes how her “tender heart became stone, and her lamblike disposition gave way to one of the tiger-like fierceness.” These rhetorical appeals create an image for the reader to fully understand the drastic corruption Douglass’s mistress went through in order to follow the norm society had built upon
...nful portrait of what it was like to be enslaved and travel through the slave triangle.
Darkness is one of the main themes in this scene. She said, and brought in cloudy night. immediately. I will be able to do so. Spread thy curtains, love performing night', this.
As much as society does not want to admit, violence serves as a form of entertainment. In media today, violence typically has no meaning. Literature, movies, and music, saturated with violence, enter the homes of millions everyday. On the other hand, in Beloved, a novel by Toni Morrison, violence contributes greatly to the overall work. The story takes place during the age of the enslavement of African-Americans for rural labor in plantations. Sethe, the proud and noble protagonist, has suffered a great deal at the hand of schoolteacher. The unfortunate and seemingly inevitable events that occur in her life, fraught with violence and heartache, tug at the reader’s heart-strings. The wrongdoings Sethe endures are significant to the meaning of the novel.
These lines may seem confusing if not read properly. At first look, these might not make sense because the night is acquainted with darkness, but when the lines are read together as intended, one can see that the night is “cloudless” and filled with “starry skies” (1, 1-2). The remaining lines of the first stanza tell the reader that the woman's face and eyes combine all the greatness of dark and light:
Deborah E. McDowell offers two prominent reasons as to why Douglass’s Narratve being seen as the center and most notably the origin of African-American literary tradition is flawed; these reasons are because of the structures that endorse the exclusion of femininity, and patriarchy of white di...
Toomer portrays the women in '"Cane" as those who believed in using their beauties to earn what they want or had little or nothing interest in developing relationships with men. Women from the south such as Karintha, Carma, and Louisa are portrays as women who taunted men. Many of the men they taunted ended up facing severe consequence such as being thrown in jail or death. Unlike the women in the south, Esther and Bona who were from the upper north. were women who deeply fell in love with me men who had no attention in pursuing love. In the chapter, "Esther" the self titled character finds herself believing that after watching a men perform religious rituals in the street one day when she was younger that she was destine to be his lover.
...omfort and care. The quality of her clothes threatened to derange Frieda and me.” page 63 (Toni Morrison). These sentences say a lot about what and how people perceive others. People are not only judging others by their race in this book but also social class.This connects to Geraldine, who believes a person’s skin tone defines then.Geraldine uses social class to separate black from colored. She calls people “colored” if they aren’t poor and are neat, quiet, sheltered and well-dressed.“Niggers were dirty and loud” page 87 (Toni Morrison).
In these collections of Southern Short Stories is a rich heritage of Southern writers. William Gilmore Simms, Edgar Allan Poe, and Susan Peligru King, writes stories about issues and concerns of all readers. Each character described within the story, whose roots are in the south, struggles with economic survival, family responsibility, love, conflict, races, sexes, and unrealistic expectations. Walter in Confessions of a Murderer by William Gilmore Simms, his character showed no family responsibility with his parents, and any love or respect for the girl he murdered. Edgar Allan Poe, A Tale of the Ragged Mountains, August Bedloe, had unrealistic expectations that Dr. Templeton had his best interest at
Through the mood of the words Angelou uses, the reader is able to recognize Marguerite’s dissatisfaction for her black features. For example the narrator states “Wouldn 't they be surprised when one day I woke out of my black ugly dream… number-two pencil.” The use of the word “ugly” when she describes wanting to wake out of the black dream conveys her association of being black with something unattractive or frightening as a nightmare. Her use of the word “mass” portrays her discontent with how large her kinky hair is. Lastly, the use of the word “too-big” when she is describing a Negro girl tells of her distaste for being larger black girl. These words have a negative connotation and depict an unfavorable outlook of features associated with a black girl. Another example is when she describes a “cruel fairy stepmother” who turned her into a “too-big Negro girl, with nappy black hair, broad feet and a space between her teeth that would hold a number-two pencil.” The use of the word “cruel” tells the reader that the fairy stepmother cursed her by making her black. Furthermore showing her belief that being black is a
In Beloved, Toni Morrison sought to show the reader the interior life of slavery through realism and foreshadowing. In all of her novels, Toni Morrison focused on the interior life of slavery, loss, love, the community, and the supernatural by using realism and vivid language. Morrison had cast a new perspective on the nation’s past and even suggests- though makes no promise- that people of strength and courage may be able to achieve a somewhat less destructive future” (Bakerman 173). Works Cited Bakerman, Jane S.
The study of African American history has grown phenomenally over the last few decades and the debate over the relationship between slavery and racial prejudice has generated tremendous amounts of scholarship. There’s a renewed sense of interest in the academia with a new emphasis on studies and discussions pertaining to complicated relationships slavery as an institution has with racism. It is more so when the potential for recovering additional knowledge seems to be limitless. Even in the fields of cultural and literary studies, there is a huge emphasis upon uncovering aspects of the past that would lead one towards a better understanding of the genesis of certain institutionalized systems. A careful discussion of the history of slavery and racism in the new world in the early 17th Century would lead us towards a sensitive understanding of the kind of ‘playful’ relationship African Americans have with notions pertaining to location, dislocation and relocation. By taking up Toni Morrison’s ninth novel entitled A Mercy (2008), this paper firstly proposes to analyze this work as an African American’s artistic representation of primeval America in the 1680s before slavery was institutionalized. The next segment of the study intends to highlight a non-racial side of slavery by emphasizing upon Morrison’s take on the relationship between slavery and racism in the early heterogeneous society of colonial America. The concluding section tries to justify “how’ slavery gradually came to be cemented with degraded racial ideologies and exclusivist social constructs which ultimately, led to the equation of the term ‘blackness’ almost with ‘slaves’.