I found Toomer’s poems and stories in Cane to be increasingly confusing. However, one story really appealed to me. “Blood-burning moon” was one of Toomer’s most vivid and interesting stories. This story seemed to reflect many of the prominent issues effecting the South at this time. “Blood-burning moon” incorporated issues such as interracial relationships, white dominance, and violence toward African Americans. I found the title and the imagery of the moon throughout the story to be very thought provoking. In the first paragraph, Toomer stated that the moon was “an omen”. I could tell that this moon was foreshadowing trouble in the night. The blood-burning moon from the title was an amazing image for me as a reader. Throughout the story, I could picture this full, blazing moon as the events unfolded. Toomer continued to reference the moon and he also incorporated a poem into the story. The strategic placement of this poem was used as foreshadowing as well.
The use of imagery throughout this poem was very significant. There was one line that stood out to me that was particularly descriptive. Toomer states, “all over the countryside dogs barked and roosters crowed as if heralding a weird dawn or some ungodly awakening” (28). The imagery and descriptive language Toomer used to depict the town gave me a real sense that danger was ahead for Louisa. This poem evoked a lot of emotion in me and anticipation of what was to come.
One section of this poem that I found to be very interesting was when Bob Stone describes his feelings toward Louisa on page 31. Several emotions run through Bob’s head as he finds himself questioning how he should feel towards her. He finds himself feeling ashamed, embarrassed, and unsure if he should tell his family and friends about his love for an African American woman. I really liked this paragraph in the story because it is one of the only instances in this book where Toomer writes from the perspective of a white man. I also liked this part of the story because Bob was torn about his feelings for Louisa. I feel as if this uncertainty that Bob was experiencing about being in love with an African American woman occurred fairly often during this time period. This was a nice touch to the story.
4 comments:
I agree. This was one of the segments I felt must resembled a short story, and, once you started reading it you felt you knew something bad was obviously going to happen, motivating you to keep reading. Maybe this was because of the imagery. I am in now way schooled on literary terms, being a Social Studies major. However, I agree that it did wrap up many of Canes themes, and I find it to be another one of Tommer’s cautionary, all most urban legends, much like “Becky.”
You have great insight on this piece. When I was reading Cane this is the piece that stuck out to me most. I was extremely struck by the that the author portrayed the interratial relationships not only from the perspective of those involved but from the african american community that had knowledge of them.
I agree this piece from Toomer was one of the easier to read and follow. It seemed to be more of a story that you could follow along with. I particularly liked page 31, where Bob Stone is torn between his love for Louisa and what his mother, sister, and his friends up North would think when they found out he was in love with and longed for a relationship with an African American slave woman. In previous works it seems that the “masters” simply took the slave women at their own leisure, which makes it more raw and savage. But, Bob struggles with what other will think which gives his love for her depth and dimension and realism rather than something dirty and sinful.
I also liked this poem with the imagery and how it depicted an interracial couple and a love triangle. It's like you knew right from the beginning that something bad was going to happen. I was surprised at the interracial couple and how he had an inner battle with himself because of his choice to be with Louisa a black lady.
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