In Cane, the reader is given a unique perspective on urban life. Any person from any background has the ability to read this book and discover the complicated emotions that accompany the transition out of southern life and into an entirely different environment. The north is portrayed to be an intimidating and sometimes unwelcoming place for people of color to live. Toomer skillfully conveys the disappointment that someone would feel as they left home to find hope, only to discover a similar dynamic of repression in a new, unfamiliar city. I believe it can be beneficial to us as readers to consider both sides of this predicament.
Where there are marginalized groups suffering, there are usually people profiting as well. This idea is explored in Interdisciplinarity in the chapter titled, “Science, Space and Nature.” Page 150 states, “In a sense, the city can only ever be understood textually, because it is far too complicated and labyrinthine to be encapsulated in its material totality: we only ever have access to a selective interpretation of it.” If we were to read an account of the industrialized north from a white perspective, it wouldn’t even feel as if we were reading about the same place. I would expect to read something regarding the promising future that these new industries hold and the positive trajectory of the country at this point in time. There’d be no mention of feeling unwelcome or unsafe walking down the street, for example.
The way that geography is interpreted is, similar to literature as a whole, highly subjective. Cities are like video editing bays and those in power are able to pick and choose what should stay and what should go. Unfortunately, this analogy holds true today anywhere that gentrification takes place. I lived in San Francisco until I was 13 and I still try to visit every summer, and the rate at which the face of the city is changing is alarming. Local families that have been there for generations are being squeezed out to make room for cutting edge businesses, predominantly in the technology field. If you consider this conflict from both sides, there are two very different stories to be told. Those on the wining side might tell of all the new advancements that they are developing as well how they are stimulating the local economy wile those on the losing end would tell the story of how they lost their home to power-hungry entrepreneurs. The study of geography is tricky in that it might seem be an objective hard science, but when analyzed closely it can also open the door to understanding across disciplines.