Cane

“The young fellows counted the time to pass before she would be old enough to mate with them. This interest of the male, who wishes to ripen a growing thing too soon, could mean no good to her.”

Karintha is among several women in Cane to whom men are inexplicably attracted. This unhealthy desire prematurely introduces Karintha to sexual maturity. Toomer uses language like “mate” and “male” to characterize the men’s desire toward her as animalistic and instinctual.

“Men do not know that the soul of her was a growing thing ripened too soon.”

Through men’s desire, Karintha is brought prematurely into sexual maturity. Toomer uses the metaphor of a “growing thing,” connecting the fact that Karintha was still growing up to the recurring agricultural themes in Cane. Toomer repeatedly uses this strategy, where people are described in terms of the natural world, reinforcing his attention in Part 1 of the novel to the natural landscape of the South. 

“The pines whispered to Jesus.”

This refrain appears in the epigraph to “Becky” and is repeated throughout the story. Toomer is keen on personifying natural elements (like the half-moon as a “white child” in “Kabnis”). Again, this is in keeping with how Cane blends human life and the natural world. The pines, specifically, also bear witness to experiences that people often do not. In “Becky,” the townspeople never see her once she moves, but the pines of the forest near her home do.