Toomer’s haunting evocation of the South, where brutality, bloodshed, and loss are paired with lyrical elegies of dusk, female beauty, and Georgia night skies, underlies the tension of Cane. Select a recurring symbol of
“Carinthia”, “Georgia Dusk” and “Blood Burning Moon,” such as cane, dusk, or ashes, and trace it through the pieces, paying particular attention to how it accumulates textual meaning. How does this symbol indicate the
tensions in Toomer’s portrait of the South?