The Portrayal of African Americans Anonymous College

Many southern writers are known for obscuring the boundaries between human and nonhuman--especially in regard to African Americans. When executed properly, authors are capable of conveying to the reader how African Americans were not typically seen as equally human as whites in both the North and the South. This particular technique is especially prevalent in Cane by Jean Toomer.

Due to the unusual combination of short stories, poems, and even a drama, the structure of Cane is quite fragmented. Additionally, the unfinished circles that appear at the beginning of each section extends this idea of incompleteness or inadequacy. When looking back after reading this book, it is quite obvious how the structure as well as the unfinished circles directly relate to how African Americans were seen as insufficient or lacking. The fact that the author claims that there are alternative starting and ending points for the book only exemplifies the fact that it doesn’t matter when in history you start looking at the treatment of African Americans because no matter where you end, they are still treated unequally to at least some degree. Due to this ununified format, the reader is unable to get to know or sympathize with the characters because...