Cane

What are the narrative and aesthetic effects of the songs that appear throughout the novel? How would Cane be fundamentally different without these songs?

The women in Cane are receptacles of men’s affection and desire, sexually free but with little interior life. In short, the woman characters are conduits for the development of the men. What are other literary methods of character development that authors typically use, and how might they be applied in an imaginative rewriting of Cane?

Animals form part of the natural landscape of the novel—there are the field mice, horses, the bull, and the little dog, to name a few. Closely read the instances where animals appear in the narrative and develop an argument about their symbolism and thematic significance.

What are the defining features of the three parts of the novel? Give a rationale for the format and organization of Cane that considers the themes, subject matter, and style of the chapters in each section. What makes these chapters ultimately belong all together in one novel?

In “Carma,” Toomer writes, “Time and space have no meaning in a cane field” (14). Analyze the passage of time in the novel. For example, what is the difference in the effect of time in “Blood-Burning Moon” (taking place in one night) and “Esther” (covering 13 years)?

The sun and moon are featured prominently in most of the chapters. Would you argue that the sun and moon are characters in the novel? Why or why not?

How do you think the poems inform the prose and vice versa?

Compare and contrast John and Dorris’s relationship (“Theater”) with Dan and Muriel’s (“Box Seat”). What does this comparative analysis say about social class and personal hope?