by Peter Bruck
nose; to state , however, that she "is the product of miscegenation,
of a Jewis h fathe r an d a Negr o mother," 23 o n th e basi s of suc h
scanty informatio n woul d hav e t o b e calle d a n unwarranted con -
clusion.
No longer young, with just a suggestion o f dow n o n her uppe r
lip, Fer n live s i n a smal l Souther n tow n sometim e betwee n th e
advent o f th e railroa d an d th e ninetee n twenties . Townspeopl e
who walk u p th e Dixi e Pik e ar e accustomed t o find her resting on
the railin g of he r porc h mos t an y tim e o f day . The Dixi e Pike , it
should b e mentioned, a s Toomer reader s alread y kno w (fro m an -
other stor y earlie r i n th e book ) ha s grown "fro m a goat pat h i n
Africa." (p . 18) From this quotation it is obvious that here physical
appearance a s wel l a s th e law s o f matte r an d o f tim e mus t ced e
precedence t o th e creativ e imaginatio n o f a people shapin g thei r
world. An d i t i s equall y obviou s tha t thi s unorthodo x bi t o f
historical research is an attempt at re-evaluating the Afro-American' s
contribution t o th e developmen t o f th e country , "Dixie " bein g
the shibbolet h o f th e ol d South . However, the railroad crosses the
Pike nea r Fern' s hous e an d cut s th e road i n two . Fern lives at the
intersection, both spatially and temporally, of the old and the new.
And sh e doe s not see m t o be actively engaged in changing her sur-
58
roundings o r earnin g a livelihood . Sh e does not car e to pull out a
nail tha t stick s out o f a porch post just where her head comes and
which mus t hav e bee n a sourc e o f constan t annoyanc e fo r on e
who sits on the porch most of the day. Instead, she tilts her head a
little forward an d endures.
The mos t remarkabl e featur e abou t Fer n i s her eyes ; they ar e
strange eyes , w e ar e told , an d we'v e alread y see n i n par t wha t is
meant b y this ; how a person wh o looks at Fern invariably fail s to
realize hi s own existence , how h e forget s abou t himself , an d how
his personalit y seem s to dissolv e in th e process . There i s a report
about a young Negro, who, "once was looking at her, spell-bound,
from th e road . A white ma n passin g in a buggy ha d t o flic k hi m
with hi s whi p i f h e wa s t o ge t b y withou t runnin g hi m over. "
(P. 27).
Men alway s hav e bee n an d stil l ar e fascinate d b y Fern . The y
have approache d he r an d take n her , becaus e "Fern' s eye s said t o
them that she was easy." (p. 25) It may be useful t o point out tha t
it make s n o differenc e whethe r w e stres s th e wor d "eyes, " th e
word "them, " o r bot h i n th e precedin g quotation . I n an y case ,
since it is not Fern, but Fern's eyes, which talk visually to the men,
and sinc e th e messag e they receive is not necessarily identical with
what Fer n ma y hav e intended , misunderstanding s ar e inevitable.
Still, th e me n abou t tow n "wer e everlastingl y bringin g her thei r
bodies," (p. 25) although they got no joy from it. Strangely enough,
those same men become attached t o Fern, feel "as though it would
take the m a lifetime t o fulfil l a n obligation which they could fin d
no nam e for. " (p . 25 ) A s a kin d o f Ersatz thes e simple-minde d
folk drea m o f sendin g Fern candy every week, of performing feat s
of valou r t o rescu e her , o r pictur e themselve s a s th e owner s o f
houses which they can deed over to her.
Of course, Fern is utterly, but innocently amoral. She — or rather
her eyes — knows of no reason why she should withhold her body.
In 1924 , W.E.B. DuBois, the (a t tha t time ) bourgeois and respect-
able blac k edito r o f The Crisis wrot e o f Fer n i n a review that she
was a wanton. H e must hav e sensed th e inappropriateness of such
a label, for he prefixed i t by the word "unconscious." 24
What coul d hav e induce d th e criti c t o partl y alte r hi s ster n
judgement i s th e fac t tha t accordin g t o ou r informant somethin g
inside o f Fer n go t tire d o f bein g sexuall y exploite d b y th e me n
and tha t h e was certain tha t fo r th e lif e o f her sh e could no t tel l
59
why o r how sh e began t o turn them off. A force — unidentified —
is at work in Fern, makes decisions for her, tortures her, as we shall
see, and influences the people around her, too.
So, in time , Fern becomes [sic] a virgin, virgins according to the
author bein g b y n o mean s th e usua l thin g i n a smal l Souther n
town. Thi s metamorphosi s ha s been brough t abou t b y th e some -
thing in Fer n tha t turn s her would-be-lovers away and by the men
who afterwards, out of superstition, set themselves up as her guard-
ians an d se e t o i t tha t Fern , who m the y believ e t o b e someho w
above them , is not approache d by anyone. Fern will thus never be
a mother o f children . Sh e is barren i n a rather unusua l way. Fern
is th e las t i n th e lin e wit h n o on e t o han d th e torc h to . One da y
everything she represents will be buried with her.25
It ha s been rightl y observe d tha t Toome r associate s Fer n thre e
times with th e son g of a Jewish cantor. 26 I n th e secon d instance,
just a s in th e first , th e impression the narrator reports to have had
at th e sigh t o f Fer n i s also a synaesthetic one . He informs us tha t
at firs t sigh t o f her he fel t a s if he heard a Jewish cantor sing, as if
his singin g ros e abov e th e unhear d choru s o f a folk-song . Th e
emotional sensibilit y o f th e spectato r thu s detect s points in com -
mon betwee n Judais m an d Negritud e (i n th e sens e Ralp h Elliso n
uses the term), 27 th e sorro w and the wisdom of many centuries in
exile an d th e specifi c cultura l outpu t o f a people i n chains . The
connection, o f course , is not utterl y new; it had been adumbrate d
by Negr o Spiritual s lik e "G o down , Moses," "Didn' t Ol d Pharaoh
get los'?," "Didn't m y Lor d delive r Daniel? " o r "Joshua fit th e
battle o f Jericho, " t o nam e onl y a few , whic h fo r thei r textua l
basis had expressl y turned to the holy books of the Jews (the only
ones the peculiar institutio n woul d allo w th e 'unknow n bards ' t o
study). Again Fern serves as a medium, as a person, whose limbs or
colour ar e o f lesse r importance . Peopl e "see " throug h he r an d
detect universal qualities behind and beside her.
Fern i s unusua l i n ye t anothe r way . She serves as a receptacle
for al l kind s of things . For "lik e her face , th e whol e countrysid e
seemed t o flo w int o he r eyes . Flowe d int o the m wit h th e sof t
listless cadence o f Georgia's South." (p. 27) The visitor who wants
to lear n somethin g abou t Georgia , abou t th e atmospher e o f th e
country an d th e people who live there, might equally well question
Fern, who is Georgia's medium and embodiment.
So far, b y relatin g the pas t histor y o f Fern and hinting at some
60
of th e possibl e meaning s w e have relied mostl y o n the first o f the
three part s plu s epilogu e tha
t th e stor y i s divided into. 28 B y fa r
the greates t portio n o f th e secon d par t ha s bee n reserve d fo r a
confession b y th e narrato r o f hi s feelings an d sensation s vis á vis
Fern an d a n attemp t a t dialogu e wit h th e reade r i n orde r t o
channel the streams of consciousness of both.
Like th e othe r blac k ma n — Fer n doe s not see m t o exer t th e
same kind o f attractio n o n th e whit e me n i n town; they leave her
alone, which is not th e norma l practic e o f the South in the judge-
ment o f th e narrator , who sometimes speaks with the authority of
a socia l scientist in order to enhance the credibility o f his report —
the narrato r feel s a n obligatio n towar d Fern . He , too, would d o
something for her.
All o f a sudden , however , hi s reportag e ends . Th e speake r
abruptly change s th e tense , switche s t o th e presen t an d heave s
Fern ou t o f time , so to speak . He doe s so by steppin g ou t o f the
story himself . Th e narrator trie s to strik e u p a conversation wit h
us, his readers, who, it mus t b e said , he asume s to b e very know-
ledgeable i n matters of race relations: "You and I know, who have
had experience in such things, that love is not a thing like prejudice
which ca n be bettered by changes of town. Could men in Washing-
ton, Chicago , or New York more tha n th e me n o f Georgia , brin g
her somethin g lef t vacan t b y th e bestowa l o f thei r bodies ? Yo u
and I wh o kno w me n i n thes e citie s will have to say , they coul d
not." (p . 29 ) I n th e cours e o f thi s one-wa y communicatio n (th e
'dialogue,' o f course , completely depend s o n th e assumptio n tha t
narrator an d reade r agre e o n eac h an d ever y detail ; that the y ar e
unanimous, tha t the y ar e at on e o r get alon g with eac h othe r o n
rhetorical questions) , Fer n change s constantly; in th e imagination
of th e tw o associate s she assumes th e roles of doctor's or lawyer's
wife i n a Norther n town , prostitut e i n Chicago' s Stat e Street ,
white man' s concubine , an d solitar y gir l a t a Harle m tenemen t
window.
All the alternative s being unacceptable when compared with Fern's
present statu s th e exchang e o f idea s end s i n a rol l cal l fo r hel p
with no t eve n th e white s exclude d thi s time : " I as k you, frien d
(it make s no differenc e i f you sit in the Pullmann or the Jim Crow
as th e trai n crosse s her road) , what thought s woul d com e t o yo u
— ... You r thought s ca n hel p me , an d I woul d lik e t o know. "
(p. 29-30 ) I t i s wort h noticin g tha t th e autho r ha s taken specia l
61
care t o advertis e an d expos e Fern' s timelessness . Not onl y ha s he
arranged fo r th e frequen t change s in he r costume , whic h w e have
already mentioned ; h e als o trie s anothe r device , thoug h no t un -
usual fo r a writer . H e manipulate s th e reader' s thought s vi a th e
language i n suc h a wa y tha t th e reade r i s forced t o desis t fro m
seeing Fer n a s a rea l person . Coul d anyon e possibl y thin k o f a
character instea d o f a type in respons e t o th e sentence : "Me n in
her cas e see m t o los e thei r selfishness, " (p . 29 ) especiall y i f h e
remembers th e ver y firs t sentenc e of our story (and what has been
said abou t i t i n th e wa y o f interpretation) ; if h e remembers ho w
on anothe r occasio n i t wa s said tha t th e youn g Negro looking a t
Fern ha d completel y forgotte n abou t himself , ha d give n u p hi s
identity, hi s "selfishness " vi s á vi s Fern? Fern , then, is someone
every Blac k American, male or female, can identify with . But Fern
has become a virgin: Fer n wil l not procreate . Fer n stand s for and
symbolizes th e rac e a t a certai n momen t i n it s history 29 i n th e
South o f th e Unite d States . Fern i s a symbolic vision of the Afro-
American's Alte r Ego . "Sh e i s stil l living, " w e ar e told , and ,
ironically, th e autho r give s he r ful l name , Ferni e Ma y Rosen , in
case some foolis h o r nosy perso n "migh t happe n down that way "
(p. 33) t o tr y an d see for himself in the spirit, at best of the singer
in the poem that immediately precedes "Fern" :
Now just before an epoch's sun declines
Thy son, in time, I have returned to thee,
Thy son, I have in time returned to thee. (p. 21)
C.S. Lewi s ha d pointe d ou t tha t othe r tha n allegor y whic h i s a
mode o f expression , symbolis m i s a mod e o f thought . Fer n i s
symbolic in th e sens e tha t you "read .. . something else through its
sensible imitation(s ) t o se e th e archtyp e i n th e copy." 30 Othe r
scholars have noticed this quality about Fern, but attributed othe r
causes t o i t o r criticize d th e autho r fo r it . Davi d Littlejohn , fo r
example, believes that the people in Cane "are drawn with the new
honest artfulnes s o f th e Stein-Anderson-Hemingwa y tradition , so
crisp an d icil y succinc t tha t th e character s see m bloodles s an d
ghostly, ...." 31 Apar t fro m th e fac t tha t the Stein-Anderson-Hem -
ingway tradition can hardly be said to have been in existence when
Jean Toome r wrote his stories, it has to be remembered tha t in the
case o f Fern the literary persona comes to life for long stretches of
time onl y t o th e degre e tha t th e reade r i s willing to go along with
the author and infuse Fer n with the blood of his imagination.32
62
Part thre e o f th e story , on e woul d suspect , i s no t subjec t t o
Littlejohn's criticism . Fo r i n i t w e learn o f a dramatic encounte r
between th e narrato r an d Fern. One evening he walks up to Fern' s
house o n purpos e an d find s he r o n the porch. He tries all kinds of
gambits t o engag e he r i n a conversation. Th e sequenc e o f topic s
again shed s mor e ligh t o n th e amoun t o f delicac y th e narrato r is
able t o muste r tha n i t say s about Fern . A s an opene r h e clumsily
tries a piquan t bi t o f gossip , th e rumou r abou t th e supposedl y
secret relation s betwee n "Mr . an d Miss [sic] So-and-So," "people"
ostentatiously bein g place d second , s o a s t o exclud e th e lover s
from this category. Fer n give s a mere yassu r o r nassu r t o all of his
attempts. A t last , an d a t th e en d o f hi s tether, he suggests a walk.
To counteract th e surpis e tha t hi s proposal generates (men befor e
him ha d suggeste d just tha t befor e offerin g thei r bodie s to Fern),
he trie s t o communicat e wit h hi s eyes, presumably because verbal
communication is often s o full o f semantic snares and pitfalls. This
visual communicatio n seem s to be successful, fo r "th e thin g fro m
her that made my throat catch, vanished. Its passing left he r visible
in a wa y I' d thought , bu t neve r seen. " (p . 31 ) Onc e Fer n ha s
devested hersel f o f thi s breath-taking quality of hers that formerl y
rendered her more or less invisible, she suddenly becomes visible in
a new way. And immediately afterwards th e chronicler records her
first an d onl y utterance : "Doesn t i t mak e yo u mad?
" (p . 31) We
are told tha t "it " refer s t o the row of petty gossiping people, who
represent th e world . N o wonder, Fer n behaved so reticently whe n
the tow n gossi p wa s trie d o n he r onl y minute s befor e thi s out -
break. The y leav e thi s "world " an d throug h a canebrea k ente r
another, th e shadow y worl d o f a Georgi a landscap e undergoin g
change a t dusk . Dus k transform s th e canebreak , set s it in motion,
suggesting the almost imperceptible procession of giant trees. While
they si t togethe r unde r a sweet-gu m tre e th e narrator' s min d
wanders, stray s fro m Fer n an d turn s o n hi s ow n feelings . Thes e
suggest th e idea tha t "thing s unsee n t o me n wer e tangibl y imme -
diate." (p. 31)
When hi s min d return s t o Fer n h e holds her in hi s arms. "He r
eyes, unusually weir d an d open , hel d me . Held God. He flowed in
as I'v e see n th e countrysid e flo w in . See n men. " (p . 32 ) Thi s
crucial scen e is not well understood by the narrator, although he is
a part y t o it . Th e repor t i s studded wit h 'I-dont-knows ' an d th e
like. Hi s excessiv e talkativenes s (abou t ho w peopl e i n Georgi a
63
often hav e vision s an d tha t h e woul d no t hav e bee n surprise d
he had one) , obstrusively urge d upo n th e reader , may be taken as
an inde x o f hi s confusion . Bu t h e make s importan t discoverie s
without knowing it. Luckily, his language knows better than he.
Fern, we discover, is his alter ego. As a carrier of all things Negro
she is also part of his personality.33 W e are told that things unseen
to me n ar e tangibly immediate , and then , when h e come s to , he
holds Fer n i n hi s arms, their union , th e unio n o f bod y an d soul ,
having unconsciousl y bee n perpetrated . Mirrorwis e Fern' s eye s
hold him and something else: God. Because our witness is unwilling
to sa y more, except tha t ther e is something that he calls God, it is
largely a matter of speculation as to what exactly this new element
of th e Trinity means. If some of Toomer's other stories and poems
in Cane ma y legitimatel y b e take n a s a startin g poin t i t woul d
seem tha t Go d i s a ter m applie d t o th e stat e o f reunificatio n a
person achieve s with hi s soul, his racial and/or cultural identity.34