Jean Toomer Essay Examples

Jean Toomer is set apart from the other writers of Harlem Renaissance by the fact that he adopted the status and aspects of high modernism in most of his works of art.His works of art revolves around his clash of racial identity. This made his works to lie on both the whites and the blacks. Jean Toomer made his works to reflect the aspects of the whites and the blacks on how they approached life in America. Most of the other writers in Harlem Renaissance concentrated more on aspects relating to the African-Americans taking into consideration the differences of the classes of the Negros. Most of the writers in the Harlem Reconnaissance concentrated on appreciation and celebration of the freedom of the blacks from slavery. Jean Toomer on the other hand concentrated on the integration of the cultures in order to facilitate the appreciation of all the races in America. His works were therefore mainly based on the transformation of the society through industrialization and improvements in technology.
Jean Toomer therefore concentrated on aspects which entails the unity and cooperation of the people in developing the community and the nation as a whole as opposed to the views and philosophies of the Harlem Renaissance writers. This therefore makes the works of Toomer different from those of other writers in this era. Toomer also targeted the issues which brings the people together irrespective of their racial backgrounds to improve the welfare of the nation as a whole. Jean Toomer therefore tried to concentrate his energy towards togetherness of the people in order to work towards attainment of common goals. His works also caused a conflict of his black ancestry leading to a mixed racial identity.
Jean Toomer was considered a modernist writer due to the fact that he took into consideration the aspects of the modern society like industrialization and adoption of technology in order to better the lives of the citizens in the nation as a whole rather than basing ideas and issues on racial backgrounds. His works are oriented towards improvement of the nature in order to meet human needs. His works also portrayed confidence in science and technology towards improvement of the lives of the people in general irrespective of their racial backgrounds or status.
Jean Toomer included in his works issues concerning his mixed racial identity. This made both the Whites and the Blacks to reject his works for lacking the exact side to lie on. It was therefore difficult to clearly define the racial identity of Jean Toomer and this therefore led to a split identity. Most of his works also touched on the racial as well as cultural aspects of the African-American people therefore making them related to the Harlem Renaissance era. His works therefore partially involves the aspects of renaissance era while others are associated with the influence of modernism thereby appreciating all cultures of bot the whites and the blacks. The works of Jean Toomer therefore fits the Renaissance due to the fact that they contain the aspects relating to his racial identity as well as the cultural aspects of the people of the African-American people in America. The aspects concerning freedom and cultural movements are also elaborated in his works thereby making his works fit the Renaissance era.
In conclusion, the works of Jean Toomer gives an elaboration and description of both the Renaissance era and aspects of modernism. His works are therefore unique from the rest of the writers in the Renaissance era.