Cane - Dusk Synthesis

7 Pages 1851 Words

to want certain things that society has created as priorities and with this urge to fit in with the society around them, material is gained and spirituality is lost.
We also see that the material wealth starts to make an impact on the black culture in the story Esther. Towards the end of the story, we see king Barlo returns in his fancy automobile coming from the urban society, back into the rural area where Esther is. This is clearly a sign of the shift from spiritual to material desires.
All the more so, we see the loss of spiritual ‘wealth’ moving into section two of Cane. Whilst the great black migration gained momentum, material wealth catches the eyes of the black culture, which in return causes the culture (spirituality) to be forgotten. This is perfectly presented in the story Rhobert, where we see Rhobert owning his own house. This is the most valued attribute of the middle class. The problem is however, Rhobert only owned a house, not a home. This is in contrast to what the black tradition strongly believed in the south. It was the south where the blacks really owned ‘homes’, and not houses. Although in the past they had lived in the most rickety, run- down houses, at l...