Characters in Cane Essay

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be an African American growing up in a world of violence and cruelty during a time in the Harlem Renaissance? The Harlem Renaissance was more than just a movement. It focused on art and ways do deal and come out of racism. Different parts of it were interesting, but many more were dreadful. In the novel by Toomer entitled Cane, there are many literary elements that make the story stick out to the reader. One good impressive movement by Toomers Cane, is the way that it gives good characterization of African Americans at a certain time when literature about them was very high and limited. Many effects of racism in the U.S. have made the job of significant black culture very complicated.

The character development in this novel is very distinct than any other novels or stories that Toomer has written. Toomer expresses each character in a different way to make the reader look at the story in different aspects. Toomer had a way of using the short poems to show a particular setting and time when they story was taking place. Each character in the story shows a lot of attitude and personality. The main young lady in the beginning, Karintha, is a young girl who looks at life as a risk taker. She is a young woman who attempts to grow up in a way to fast. She was looked at as a very beautiful girl, who had men wanting her left and right. At the same time, she has this attitude like I know that I am pretty. She knew that the men were like dogs waiting to get a bone. Men young and old wanted her and they didnt care how old or young she was. Most of the men wished that they never got old so that they would have a chance with her, (Toomer, 1923) is basically telling the reader that the men were acting very selfish towards Karintha. Very weak and beautiful object of desire was always personified in Karintha.

Becky, the white woman with two Negro sons, was a weird woman even though she was already dead when the story begins. She was thrown out of the community for having her sons, which were African American, and didnt know where the fathers were. Becky believed in God, but the people who knew her didnt like her because of that and how she exposed herself. The community thought that she was crazy because of her having sons that were black. The black folks would treat her with good deeds by building her a cabin, making sure that she was healthy, and feeding her and her sons when they need nourishment. The author makes Becky look as if she is a very weak person who is weak physically and mentally. Another reason why people in the community called her crazy is because she lived off of other people to make a living there. The two poems that are written after talking about her, Face and Cotton Song, reflected a little bit on Beckys life and how she was very close to God when the other women were working out in the cotton fields.

Another woman in the story that was very adventurous was Carma. She was one of the strongest women who were down in Georgia at that time. Unlike Karintha and Becky, Carma was her own person, and tried to do everything that was right. She was as strong as any man who drove a mule wagon. (Toomer 1923). Toomer made Carma who was a woman with a lot of tricks. One example of one of her tricky ways was when she tricked her husband into thinking that she shot herself, but only wanted some attention. She was also very unfaithful to him.