Cane · Chapter
Becky explained
Becky, a white woman ostracized by both white and black communities for bearing two Negro sons, lives isolated on a narrow strip of land between the railroad and the road.
What happens
Becky, a white woman ostracized by both white and black communities for bearing two Negro sons, lives isolated on a narrow strip of land between the railroad and the road. The community secretly provides for her but refuses to acknowledge her existence. Her sons grow up sullen and violent, eventually shooting two men and leaving town. One Sunday, as the congregation passes her cabin, the chimney collapses, burying Becky. Barlo throws his Bible on the rubble, and the narrator flees in terror.
Themes in this chapter
Racial Identity and Oppression
Becky is cast out by both white and black communities for bearing Negro sons, illustrating the brutal enforcement of racial boundaries and the double-edged nature of racial oppression.
Alienation and Search for Belonging
Becky's extreme isolation—living unseen on a narrow strip of land, visited only secretly—embodies total alienation from community and human connection.
Characters to notice
- Becky
The white woman ostracized for having two Negro sons; lives in isolation and dies when her cabin's chimney collapses.
- Barlo
Present at the scene of Becky's death; throws his Bible onto the rubble.
- Old David Georgia
Brings sugar sap to Becky when grinding cane.
- John Stone
Owns the lumber and bricks used to build Becky's cabin, though he would have shot anyone who revealed his involvement.
Key passages
“Becky Becky was the white woman who had two Negro sons. She’s dead; they’ve gone away.”
Becky, a white woman, had two Black sons; she is now dead and her sons have left.
Opening and closing lines frame the story as a tragic, cyclical tale of ostracism and death.
“White folks and black folks built her cabin, fed her and her growing baby, prayed secretly to God who’d put His cross upon her and cast her out.”
Both white and black communities secretly provided for Becky and her child while condemning her as cursed by God.
Highlights the hypocrisy of communal charity mixed with moral judgment.
“They answered black and white folks by shooting up two men and leaving town. “Godam the white folks; godam the niggers,” they shouted as they left town.”
Her sons retaliated against both races by shooting two men and fleeing, cursing everyone equally.
Shows the sons' rejection of both racial identities and their violent response to marginalization.
“The chimney fell into the cabin. Its thud was like a hollow report, ages having passed since it went off. Barlo and I were pulled out of our seats. Dragged to the door that had swung open. Through the dust we saw the bricks in a mound upon the floor. Becky, if she was there, lay under them.”
The chimney collapsed into the cabin with a dull thud; Barlo and the narrator were thrown from their seats and saw bricks piled on the floor, likely burying Becky.
Climactic moment of Becky's death, rendered with surreal, dreamlike imagery.