:: 1 Works Cited
Length: 944 words (3.4 pages)
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Woman?s Social Status in Becky and Blood Burning Moon


Jean Toomer was bi-racial, sometimes being perceived as white and sometimes black. His race was a catalyst for his writings. Toomer wrote prose and poetry reflecting his ideas about race and gender, not wanting either to be an issue in the future. His writings depict people of all races facing struggles, some gender struggles and some racial struggles. In ?Becky? and in ?Blood Burning Moon,? Toomer centers around two females. During the time period of his writings and what is still somewhat evident today, gender decides the role a person plays in society. As a female, one was always inferior to the male, no matter what the race. Therefore, these two works show how being a female affects a woman?s treatment in life; she loses some control of her destiny, which is ultimately decided by a male or a group of males.

?Becky? centers on a white female who has two black sons. She is forced to leave the town and live on the outskirts because interracial relationships are not acceptable to the other citizens. As a female, Becky is unable to deny maternity to the two boys, but the man who impregnated her has no ties to the children and could have denied paternity of the two boys. Becky avoids the criticism from the townspeople by living in her house ?ground islandized between the road and the railroad track.? No one ever sees her. She has no contact with the townspeople, but those who care for her well-being bring her food and leave it outside of her house, anonymously.

Louisa, in ?Blood Burning Moon,? is a black female who is loved by two men, one white man and one black man. She works for a white family, the youngest son being Bob Stone. He is in love with Louisa because of her beauty and charisma. He believes that being a man he has the right to be with any female he wants. However, since she is a black female he fears he will be ridiculed by his family and his friends. Therefore, he hides his love for her around others but always longs to be with her, buying her dresses and silk stockings to please her. Tom Burwell, the black man, also longs for her but can never find the words to tell her so. He hates the sound of Bob?s name because he thinks that Louisa may be in love with him. Louisa struggles between the two men. Eventually, Bob Stone fights with Tom Burwell because he wants no other man to be with Louisa, and Tom kills Bob. The other white men of the town hear of Bob?s death and hunt Tom down; the townspeople catch Tom, bind him, and burn him at a stake, without a trial or chance to defend himself. Louisa cannot say anything in the defense of either of the men. She knows that two men die because both loved her and some believed that, ?Two deaths for a godam nigger. Louisa was driven back (Toomer par 19).? Since she is a female and black, the people of the town believe that two men died for no reason. The men killed to kill, not for a woman.

Louisa and Becky have two similar functions. Both being females, they are treated as inferior. The males dominate in each case. Becky?s two boys? father is not blamed or forced to leave town because he impregnated a woman and did not take care of them. He has no responsibility in that situation and Becky never says who the father is and she never makes him take responsibility. In Louisa?s case, she has no say in who she wants to be with. Bob gives her gifts and she, of course, does not refuse the gifts. Tom is a nice man who never finds the words to really tell her how much he cares for her. So, Louisa lives knowing there are two men who love her but she cannot reject either man, because she does not have that power. In a racial and gender based hierarchy at this time right after slavery, a white male is on top followed by a white female, a black male, and a black female. Louisa is, therefore, stuck at the bottom and does not have the ability to refuse either man. But Becky, her being a female and not really having power over any male, is unable to live a happy life with the other townspeople and is cast away to the outskirts of town. She is treated with no respect.

The focus of both of ?Becky? and ?Blood Burning Moon? is not race. The stories center around two female characters powerless in a society of males. Louisa is forced to live with two males who love her and is unable to choose between either. Becky is obligated to raise two sons with neither support from the community nor help from their father. The two women are treated as simple objects or at least not characterized as real people with feelings and desires in their lives.

Gender inequality is a common theme for Toomer. He wishes gender to be unimportant in daily situations; everyone should be treated equally and no one should be forced to live a life separate from others because of his or her gender. Louisa and Becky are both forced to live a life with no opportunity for equality and no chance to for happiness with another person, because they are females.










Works Cited

Toomer, Jean. Cane. Ed. Darwin T. Turner. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1998.

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Marlow ENGL 12.24