Journal #3

"I came to tell you brother, that white faces are petals of roses. That dark faces are petals of dusk. That I am going out and gather petals" (318).

Toomer begins her story with a beautiful woman named Karintha. Karintha has learned to control men and they beg to be at her beck and call. She has married many times and has had a child. Yet, exposed to this lifestyle she knows that "men do not know that the soul od her was a growing thing ripened to soon. She may be stunningly beautiful, but she lost her virginity too soon as a fruit that was picked before it was ripe. She knows that she is not truly living, just surviving and watching men throw themselves at her in the desperate, yet impossible hope to make her love them. It's a sad story ending with the sun going down...

Fern has a strange beauty, a mixture of races and "weird eyes." Once again the sunset is referenced, as her eyes are compared to its glory. There is something mysterious about her, but what is revealed is that she suffers unknown pain, so furiously she faints when she is on a walk with an admirer. Both women in the story are constantly compared to aspects of nature, but the significance is that both are flowers, "I came to tell you brother, that white faces are petals of roses. That dark faces are petals of dusk. That I am going out and gather petals" (318). This exerpt encourages humanity to embrace nature for what it is, to gather the petals of roses and of dusk, all are beautiful.

The story of Bona and Paul weaves around the fact that Bona is white and Paul is black. Race is interestingly not the central issue. The rose is a prominant symbol in this plot. Crimson Gardens appears repeatedly, referred ti as "a part of life," "a body whose blood flows to a clot," and "gives a glow of immediacy to white faces." As the two tango from infatuation, to cold heartedness to possibly love, the images of red roses and crimson gardens appear again and again. The crimson gardens seem a metaphor for a woman's private parts, they both desire eachother, Bona tries to hide it, but when Paul makes his intentions known she is gone.

Why were the stories of these 3 women intertwined in Toomer's contribution to the book? All were lovely as the roses that are so often mentioned. One white, one black and one of a mixed race. Different flowers, yet all desirable and beautiful. The purpose of these stories may have been to demonstrate that every woman, evert race has it's own beauty and grace.

Works Cited

Toomer, Jean. "Cane." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David Lewis. New York: 1995. 318-332.