by Peter Bruck
It end s a perio d o f estrangemen t o r anomy , a s th e sociologis t
would cal l it. Huma n being s seem t o posses s this faculty o f bridg-
ing a ga p tha t ma y hav e laste d fo r centuries . I n "Fern " Toome r
has only hinted at the innate psychic possibilities, on other occasions
the peopl e i n hi s stories bring to bea r o n thei r problems this very
faculty an d conjur e u p thei r Africa n heritage : jujumen, greegree ,
and witchdoctors.
As th e swee t momen t o f unio n ends , wit h th e narrato r agai n
ignorant o f how h e brought th e en d about , Fer n run s away fro m
him an d int o th e darkness , he r bod y painfull y shake n b y some -
thing it ca n not le t out . Th e embodimen t o f al l things Negro and
at th e sam e time someone who has become a virgin, Fern is unable
to giv e birth i n clea r speech t o th e qualitie s she encompasses. She
seeks releas e i n song , i n "plaintive , convulsiv e sounds , mingle d
with call s to Chris t Jesus, " (p. 32) not unlik e th e vocal pieces we
are use d t o cal l Negro Spirituals . When he find s he r sh e faint s i n
his arms.
The epilogu e i s a n attemp t a t ironicall y de-emphazin g an d in -
tellectually counteractin g th e narrator' s stron g emotional involve-
ment i n a n overpowerin g encounte r with a Negro girl from a small
town somewher e i n the South. Nothing ever came to Fern, he tells
us. At that high-pitched moment with Fern in the canefield h e had
used these same words and maintained that when one is on the soil
of one' s ancestors , most anythin g ca n com e t o one . However, for
64
both hi m an d her , th e soi l o f th e ancestor s is in Africa . Cleverl y
he disclaim s his spiritual engagemen t an d step s in th e lin e of men
who would do some fine unnamed thing for Fern .
After th e commercia l failur e o f Cane Toomer di d no t simpl y
stop writing . An d h e di d publis h som e storie s i n magazine s and
anthologies.35 Bu t hi s full-lengt h work s wer e al l rejecte d b y th e
publishers. Th e year s 192 4 an d 192 5 ar e reporte d t o hav e been
sterile fo r Jea n Toome r a s a n artist . Spiritually , however , thes e
same year s mus t hav e bee n richl y stimulating . I n 192 4 h e me t
George Ivanovitc h Gurdjieff , wh o had founde d hi s "Institut pour
Ie développemen t Harmonieu x d e l'Homme" i n Fontaineblea u
near Pari s an d attracte d quit e a numbe r o f th e elit e o f Western
Europe.36 Katherin e Mansfield , anothe r disciple of Gurdjieffs ha d
died a t th e institut e a yea r befor e Toome r cam e ther e t o b e
initiated. O n his return t o Ne w York Toome r bega n proselytizing
among thos e o f hi s forme r associate s who were willing to listen .
Out o f th e pe n o f th e champio n o f th e lowe r classes , Langsto n
Hughes, we have a rather unfriendly accoun t of Toomer's missionary
profession.37
When in 192 9 the stock market collapsed the Negro Renaissance
came t o a n abrup t en d almos t overnight . It s author s dispersed ,
went o n a longis h holiday , lik e Langsto n Hughes , stayed i n thei r
European exile , lik e Claud e McKay , o r returned , lik e Countée
Cullen, t o teac h youn g Afro-American s Frenc h i n a Ne w Yor k
High School . Incidentally , Jame s Baldwin was a pupil at Frederic k
Douglas High Schoo l a t that same time and on one occasion wrote
about an interview with Countée Cullen in the school paper.
Jean Toomer , wh o in 192 7 ha d gon e t o liv e in Chicago, on the
30th of October 193 1 married the white novelist Margery Latimer .
Margery Latime r die d i n childbirt h a year later . When Toomer hit
the headline again, it was a rather unfriendly repor t from TIME on
his marriag e t o anothe r whit e woman , Marjori e Conten t Toomer ,
in 1932. 38 Tw o years later th e coupl e move d to Doylestown, Pa.,
where Toomer continue d t o writ e an d receiv e rejection slip s from
the publishers . He did no t liv e to witnes s the Toome r renaissance
of th e lat e sixtie s and earl y seventies. Toomer died on the 30th of
March 1967 , two years before Cane was reissued as a paperback.
65
NOTES
1. Rober t Bon e give s thi s figure i n his study The Negro Novel in America
(New Haven, 1958), p. 81.
"Fern" i s a n often-anthologize d story . Cf . e.g. , Langsto n Hughes , ed., The
Best Short Stories by Negro Writers: An Anthology from 1899 to the Present
(Boston & Toronto, 1967) . Francis E. Kearns, ed., The Black Experience: An
Anthology of American Literature for the 1970s (New York, 1973). The best
buy probably is the paperback edition of Cane (New York, 1969).
2. Forewor d to the paperback edition of Cane (New York, 1969), p. x.
3. Joh n M . Reilly, "Jea n Toomer : A n Annotated Checklis t of Criticism,"
Resources for American Literary Study, 4 (1974), 27-56.
4. Charle s E. Merrill Studies (Columbus, Ohio, 1971).
5. Cf . Arn a Bontemps , "Th e Negr o Renaissance : Jea n Toome r an d th e
Harlem Writers of the 1920's, " Anger, and Beyond: The Negro Writers in the
United States, ed. by Herbert Hill (New York, 1966), p. 23.
6. Wald o Frank , e.g. , i n hi s forewor d t o th e 192 3 editio n o f Cane. Th e
Quotation i s fro m Arn a Bontemps ' "Th e Negr o Renaissance : Jea n Toomer
and the Harlem Writers of the 1920's," p. 26.
7. Ibid., p. 24 . On th e Harle m o r Negro Renaissance the following book s
might b e consulted: Alai n Lero y Locke , ed., The New Negro: An Interpreta-
tion (Ne w York , 1925) , repr . wit h a new introductio n b y Alla n H . Spear
(New York, 1968) . Jea n Wagner, Les Poètes Nègres des Etats-Unis: Le senti-
ment racial et religieux dans la poésie de P.L. Dunbar a L. Hughes 1890-1940
(Paris, 1963); engl. transl . by Kennet h Douglas , Black Poets of the United
States: From Paul Laurence Dunbar to Langston Hughes (Urbana, 1973).
Gilbert Osofsky , Harlem: The Making of a Ghetto (New York, 1966). Nathan
I. Huggins, Harlem Renaissance (New York, 1971).
8. Cf . Mabe l M . Dillard, Jean Toomer: Herald of the Negro Renaissance
(Ohio University, 1967) , p. 76.
9. Lette r t o Nac y Cunard , Februar y 8 , 1932 , cf. Darwi n T . Turner , In a
Minor Chord: Three Afro-American Writers and Their Search for Identity
(Carbondale & Edwardsville, 1971) , p. 32.
10. Cf . Richard Bardolph, The Negro Vanguard (New York, 1961), p. 204.
11. Persona l communication fro m Mrs . Marjorie Conten t Toomer , to whom
special thanks are due for untiring and continued cooperation.
12. Jea n Toome r i n a letter t o Joh n McClure , June 30 , 1922, cf. Turner ,
p. 30.
13. Cf . Rayfor d W . Logan, The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B.
Hayes to Woodrow Wilson (London, 1969).
14. I n a letter t o Claude McKay, Summer 1922 , cf. th e introduction t o the
paperback edition of Cane (New York, 1969), p. ix.
15. I am giving these figures and most of the other details on the authority of
66
Darwin T . Turner' s In a Minor Chord. Prof . Turner' s biographical sketc h is
the on e wit h the grea
tes t amoun t o f detaile d information . Anothe r depend -
able source is Mabel M. Dillard's unpublished doctoral dissertation.
16. Cf . the foreword to the paperback edition of Cane, p. ix.
17. I n a letter date d June 30, 1922 , cf. Dillard , p. 11 . On the question of the
prostitution o f th e integrit y o f aspirin g young Afro-American authors by the
American readin g public, cf. Bontemps , "Jean Toomer and the Harlem Writers
of the 1920's."
18. Cf . The Oxford Companion to American Literature, ed . by James D.Hart
(New York, 1965) , p. 485.
19. Fo r a readabl e accoun t o f th e approac h t o th e stud y o f language s con-
nected wit h the name of Noam Chomsky cf. Joh n Lyons, Chomsky (London ,
1970).
20. Th e exampl e i s from Roderic k A . Jacob s & Peter S . Rosenbaum , Trans-
formationen: Stil und Bedeutung (Frankfur t a.M. , 1973) .
21. Again , what I have in mind is not th e 'implie d reader ' of Wolfgan g Iser.
Cf. hi s Der implizite Leser: Kommunikationsformen des Romans von Bunyan
bis Beckett (München, 1972). Althoug h th e 'implie d reader ' is often calle d
upon t o collaborate , h e i s a t th e sam e tim e bein g carefull y guide d i n hi s
responses b y th e autho r an d h e alway s remain s withi n th e confine s o f th e
fictitious worl d whic h th e narrato r has set up . This boundary mus t neve r be
overstepped an d the reade r has no righ t t o interfer e wit h th e author' s plans,
whereas Toomer readers are, as we shall see, expressly invited to do so.
22. Cane, p. 30. All references in the text are to the paperback edition.
23. Cf . Dillard , p . 48 . I t is not m y intentio n t o detrac t fro m Mis s Dillard's
merit b y selectin g her fo r reference . Others , too, have reproduce d this error
from a n earlie r source . An d besides , Mis s Dillard' s accoun t o f "Fern " i s
among the best that has been written about this story to date.
24. Cf . his review of Cane in The Crisis, February 1924 , p. 161.
25. I t is important t o realiz e tha t Fer n does not remain a virgin. On the con-
trary, sh e becomes a virgin . Ther e ar e undoubtedly reference s t o th e Blac k
Madonna in Cane, but tha t seem s hardly enoug h reaso n to establis h a strong
tie betwee n Fer n and the Virgi n Mary . Since , a s I have pointed out earlier, it
is no t warrante d t o sa y tha t Fer n is of mixe d parentag e either , I cannot se e
how a specific Jewis h geniu s for sufferin g (whateve r tha t is ; a very frivolou s
term i t seem s t o me ) coul d b e sai d t o b e displaye d b y th e heroine. I n his
latest boo k o n the history o f Afro-America n shor t fiction Robert Bone has a
fine interpretation of 'Fern' in the chapter on Toomer, and I agree with almost
everything he say s about th e story . However , Prof . Bon e state s that "no one
who ha s no t mad e hi s pilgrimag e t o Nashville " (Fis k Universit y i.e. , wher e
the Toome r manuscript s wer e deposite d i n 1967 ) "ca n expec t t o b e take n
seriously a s a Toome r critic. " Cf. Rober t Bone , Down Home: A History of
Afro-American Short Fiction from Its Beginnings to the End of the Harlem
67
Renaissance (New York , 1975) , p . 204 . Fo r obviou s reason s an d ou t o f
theoretical considerations the present author has seen fit to adopt an approach
that looks upon the work of art as a more or less self-contained unity .
26. Cf . Hargi s Westerfield , "Jea n Toomer's 'Fern' . A Mythical Dimension, "
CLA Journal 14 (1971), pp. 274-276.
27. Cf . hi s "Remark s a t th e America n Academ y o f Art s and Science s Con-
ference o n th e Negr o American, " New Black Voices: An Anthology of Con-
temporary Afro-American Literature, ed . by Abraha m Chapma n (New York,
1972), pp. 401408.
28. Part s one an d three ar e of exactl y equa l lengt h if th e printe d line i s the
unit to be counted. Part two surpasses them by something like a third.
29. T o my knowledge Mable Dillard was the first to have noticed this. Cf. her
doctoral dissertation, p. 50. In addition we have Jean Toomer's own testimony
in a letter t o Wald o Fran k ca . 1922 : "I n my ow n stuff , i n thos e piece s tha t
come neares t to the old Negro, to the spirit saturate with folksong: 'Karintha'
and 'Fern, ' the dominan t emotio n is a sadness derived from a sense of fading,
from a knowledge o f m y futilit y t o chec k colution. " Cf. Dillard , p. 19. Mrs.
Marjorie Conten t Toome r feel s certain that her husband was not aware of the
meaning o f fer n a s an adjective i n Germa n (personal communication). An in-
terlingual pla y o n word s is thus out o f th e question . I f the girl' s name mus t
have a n interpretation a t all , two ways are open: The name might be taken as
an indicato r o f th e seemin g preponderance o f th e vegetativ e i n Fern' s exist-
ence. Suc h a n interpretatio n woul d probabl y g o int o th e nicetie s o f repro-
duction i n th e lif e o f a fern, which properly belong s in a botany handbook ,
despite certai n parallel s in the plo t o f ou r story. O r it migh t b e understood ,
on th e basi s of th e Jewis h component , as a hint at how "th e Negro is in solu-
tion, in the proces s o f solution . As an entity, the race is loosing its body, and
its soul i s approaching a common soul. " Jean Toomer in an undated letter to
Waldo Frank, ca. 1922. Cf. Dillard, p. 19.
30. C.S . Lewis , The Allegory of Love: A Study in Medieval Tradition (Ne w
York, 1958), p. 45.
31. Davi d Littlejohn , "Befor e Nativ e Son: Th e Renaissanc e an d After, "
Studies in Cane, compiled by Frank Durham (Columbus, Ohio, 1971), p. 101.
32. Rober t Bon e ha s drawn attention t o the fact that Toomer was admitted-
ly an d heavily influence d b y Sherwoo d Anderson' s Winesburg, Ohio. Thi s is
undeniably so . At th e same tim e i t should be noticed that Toomer was, from
a very earl y date , rather critical o f Anderson' s artisti c capabilities. In a letter
to Wald o Fran k (ca . 1922 ) he remarks: "Sherwood Anderson has doubtless a
very dee p an d beautiful emotio n b y wa y of the Negro. Here and there he has
succeeded i n expressin g this . .. . I expect artist s to recogniz e th e circl e of ex-
pression. .. . Sherwood' s note s ar e very deep and sincere. Hence I attribute his
attitude t o a natural limitation. This limitation, extended, is noticeable in the
bulk o f his work. The range of his sensitivity, curiosity, and intelligence is not
68
very wide . One's admiratio n suffers , bu t one' s persona l likin g nee d no t be
affected b y this." Cf. M. Dillard, p. 18-19.
33. Th e concep t o f th e alte r eg o as used here was introduced int o modern
psychological though t b y C.G . Jung . Toome r ha d rea d extensivel y i n th e
literature o f psychoanalysis, especially Freud . Cf. the excerpt from Toomer's
Outline of Autobiography as quoted in Dillard, p. 19.
34. Cf . e.g., my "'Spirit Torso s of Exquisit e Strength': The Theme of Indiv-
idual Weaknes s vs . Collectiv e Strengt h i n Tw o o f Toomer' s Poems, " CLA
Journal, 19 (December 1975), 261-267.
35. Th e question of why Toomer, in the words of Arna Bontemps, turned his
back o n greatness , i s on e o f som e notoriety . I t
ha s bee n discusse d b y a
variety o f people , like Fullenwide r an d Bontemps , som e crediting the pub-
lishers with an almost unfailing literary o r commercial instinct, others falling
victim to a biographical fallacy , which examines the private life of the author
to find there the causes of failure an d success. Cf. A. Bontemps, "The Negro
Renaissance: Jea n Toome r an d th e Harle m Writer s o f th e 1920's, " an d
S.P. Fulle n wider, "Jea n Toomer : Los t Generation , o r Negr o Renaissance, "
Phylon, 27 (1966), 396-403. As far a s I can see from a distance and with the
librarian o f Fis k Universit y closely guarding her treasure of Toomer manus-
cripts Darwi n T . Turne r ha s a fairly correc t an d nearly complete list of the
published an d unpublishe d work s o f Toomer . Cf . hi s In a Minor Chord,
pp. 140-143.
36. O n the teachings of Gurdjieff cf . his Recontres avec des Hommes Remar-
quables (Paris, 1966 ) an d Loui s Pauwels , Monsieur Gurdjieff: Documents,
Témoignages, Textes et Commentaires sur une société initiatique contempo-
raine (Paris, 1954).
37. Cf . Langsto n Hughes, The Big Sea: An Autobiography (New York, 1940)
38. Th e article has been reprinted in Studies in Cane, pp. 15-16.
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
Cancel, R.A., "Male and Femal e Interrelationships in Toomer's Cane,"Negro
American Literature Forum, 5 (Spring 1971), 25-31.
Chase, P., "The Women in Cane," CLA Journal, 1 4 (March 1971), 259-273.
Spofford, W.K. , "The Unit y o f Part On e of Jean Toomer's Cane," Markham
Review, 3 (May 1972), 58-60.
Starke, G.J., Black Portraiture in American Fiction: Stock Characters, Arche-
types, and Individuals (New York, 1971).
Stein, M. , "Th e Poet-Observe r an d Fer n in Jean Toomer's Cane,"Markham
Review, 2 (October 1970), 64-65.
69
Peter Bruck
LANGSTON HUGHES
THE BL UES I'M PLA YING
(1934)
Langston Hughe s (1902-1967), accordin g t o man y critic s "poe t
laureate of Harlem" and "Dean of American Negro Writers," began
his literar y caree r b y winnin g a poetry contes t sponsore d b y th e
black magazin e Opportunity i n 1925 . "Th e Wear y Blues " wa s