Action vs. Inaction

There are many binaries in Jean Toomer's Theater. The binary that popped out to me was action vs. inaction. It can be found between Dorris and John, and then Dorris herself. Dorris starts out on the stage dancing, while John is stationary and is watching the girls dance. All John does is watch the girls and make derogatory comments about them.

Even Dorris is not set in 'action.' She fights internally whether "he can love. Hell, he cant love" (54). She is not sure what to do, whether she should give him all she has because he may not be able to love her back like she wants him to. In the end the dominant binary ends up being John's stillness and inaction. He shows his lack of emotion and love for Dorris through his silence.

"Reapers" by Jean Toomer

It has a simple rhyme scheme: a, a, b, b, c, c, d, d. I love the alliteration in the first line with "black reapers with the sound of steel on stones are sharpening scythes" (line 1-2). In line 4, "start their silent swinging" also shows the repetition of "s" to demonstrate to the ear the constant swinging of the scythe, sort of like a slow and steady sound (like a horror movie with the simple, yet repetitive music that is scary and suspenseful). The theme of death and the reaper's apathy pervade this poem. In line 1, "black reapers with the sound of steel on stones" and, on line 4, "their silent swinging" show the reaper's cold yet apathetic feelings toward his job. He sees it as a simple, yet unemotional job to sharpen his scythe and swing it carelessly. On line 6, the reaper cuts a "field rat, startled, squealing bleeds." The reaper does not care that it harms anything else. It just "continue[s] cutting weeds and shade" (line 8). Death does not show favoritism; it cuts down whoever and whatever is in its way.