Cane Summary

The first section of Cane, set in the American South, begins with a vignette describing the compelling beauty and lonely fate of a young Black woman named Karintha.

Next come two poems, one depicting farmers reaping their fields at harvest, and the other telling the story of a hard year followed by the unexpectedly late blooming of the cotton flowers in November.

The next vignette describes the story of Becky, a White woman who has two sons with an unidentified Black man. Ostracized by both the Black and White communities, Becky and her children nevertheless survive on their grudging generosity until the day her sons leave and her house collapses on her while the narrator of “Becky” and Barlo watch.

A poem describes the beauty of a middle-aged Black woman. Another presents itself as the kind of song field workers might sing to coordinate their motions while moving heavy bales of cotton.

Next, the narrator of “Carma” explains how Carma takes a series of lovers due to her husband Bane’s neglect. When he finds out, he murders two men in a jealous rage and ends up imprisoned and assigned to a chain gang.

A pair of poems then describe the beauty of the American South. The poems also reflect on the ways in which Black people, although no longer enslaved, still suffer the consequences of racism and prejudice, and their inherent beauty and dignity.

A vignette describes the encounter between the narrator of “Fern”—a Northern Black man visiting Georgia—and Fern, another mysteriously compelling and extremely beautiful mixed-race woman.

Then, a short poem describes the beauty of a falling cluster of pine needles in the forest and another poem describes the night and the speaker’s closeness with his lover.

The next short story follows the life of Esther Crane, who witnesses King Barlo having a religious vision when she is a young girl. She obsesses about this event for years, and by the time she’s a teenager, she’s convinced herself that she’s in love with Barlo. She wastes away from her unrequited passion. When Esther is in her late 20s, Barlo returns. Esther follows him to a local speakeasy where she signals her feelings only to find herself the butt of mockery and laughter.

Next, a short poem describes the clash between African religions and the Christianity imposed on enslaved people and inherited by their free Black descendants.

Another short poem describes a beautiful woman using uncomfortable images of racial violence. This leads into the final short story of the Southern section, which describes how a White man named Bob Stone and a Black man named Tom Burwell vie for the attention of a Black woman named Louisa. When Tom kills Bob in a physical altercation, a White lynch mob murders Tom in retribution.

The Northern section begins with a brief description of the vibrant and diverse Black community in Washington, D. C., in the 1920s, followed by a vignette describing a Northern Black man named Rhobert who is sinking into the mud of life under the weight of society’s expectations, represented by his house.

A short story details Avey’s admirer’s enduring feelings for Avey, a slightly older childhood neighbor. Although their lives go in separate directions as they reach adulthood (Avey’s admirer goes to college, while Avey supports herself by taking on a string of lovers), he cannot get over her until they run into each other again as adults and he realizes how empty and lonely her existence is.

Two short poems describe the bustle and activity of a beehive and the electrifying ending of a thunderstorm.

The next short story describes the afternoon rehearsal at a theater in a Black neighborhood of Washington, D. C., during which an alluring chorus dancer named Dorris tries unsuccessfully to attract the attention of the manager’s brother, John, in order to climb up the rungs of the social ladder.

Next, a poem describes a beautiful Black woman’s face, followed by a vignette that imagines the alienation of a Northern Black woman from her soul.

The next short story describes how Dan Moore, a disaffected Northern Black man, visits his love interest, Muriel, then follows her and her friend to the theater. There, Dan’s thoughts become increasingly unhinged before he antagonizes the old man with corns and runs off into the night, never to be seen in Washington, DC society again.

A short poem offers a prayer that expresses the speaker’s longing to understand the relationship between their body and soul. Another presents itself as the song of a harvester who is exhausted and starving yet unable to taste the fruits of their labor.

The final short story in the Northern section belongs to Paul, a White-passing, multiracial man who has come to Chicago from Georgia as part of the Great Migration. A White woman named Bona falls in love with him but worries about participating in an interracial relationship. Paul’s roommate, Art, arranges a double date for himself and his girlfriend Helen to go out with Paul and Bona. Although it’s clear that Bona and Paul are attracted to each other, ultimately Bona’s unwillingness gets the better of her and she runs away before she and Paul can become sexually intimate.

The collection ends with a novella centered on the experiences of a Northern Black man named Ralph Kabnis who moves to Georgia to teach in a school for Black children. Kabnis feels oppressed by the stiff propriety of the school and its headmaster, Hanby. He’s also terrified of the potential for racial violence in the South, described in gory detail by his friend Layman. When a threat intended for another Northern interloper (Lewis) accidentally finds its way to Kabnis, Kabnis nearly goes out of his mind with fright.

A paranoid Kabnis argues belligerently with Hanby and finds himself fired. His friend Halsey offers Kabnis a job as an apprentice in Halsey’s wagon shop. There, Kabnis beings to spend time with Father John, an ancient Black man who lives in the cellar. Kabnis continues to resent Lewis because despite their similar upbringings and education, Lewis has more strength and bravery than Kabnis. On the eve of Lewis’s departure, Halsey throws him a going-away party during which the long-simmering tensions between Lewis and Kabnis flare. In the morning, after Lewis has left, Father John mutters a prophetic revelation about America, which Kabnis rejects.