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John is the brother of the manager of the Howard Theater in Washington, D.C. A well-to-do Black man, he enjoys getting to the theater in the afternoons in time to watch rehearsals for the evening shows. He appreciates Dorris among the dancers in the chorus line and fantasizes about taking her home with him, even though he never would, as she isn’t of his same social class.
John Quotes in Cane
The Cane quotes below are all either spoken by John or refer to John . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
22. Theater Quotes
Above the staleness, one dance throws herself into it. Dorris. John sees her. Her hair, crisp-curled, is bobbed. Bushy, black hair bobbing about her lemon-colored face. Her lips are curiously full, and very red. Her limbs in silk purple stockings are lovely. John feels them. Desires her. Holds off.
John: Stage-door johnny; chorus-girl. No, that would be all right. Dictie, educated, stuck-up; show-girl. Yep. Her suspicion would be stronger than her passion. It wouldn’t work. Keep her loveliness. Let her go.
Dorris sees John and knows that he is looking at her. Her own glowing is too rich a thing to let her feel the slimness of his diluted passion.
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Explanation and Analysis:
In the short story “Theater,” a chorus girl named Dorris catches sight of the Howard Theater manger’s brother, John, during rehearsals. She strives to seduce him, hoping to land herself a few nice presents, or perhaps even a respectable husband whose comparative wealth and social status will lift her out of her current circumstances. John notices Dorris, too, and while he finds her beautiful, he never really considers her a viable match for him. Instead, as she dances, he casts her into a role in his mental fantasy of the perfect life, which features a woman who looks like Dorris Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui dignissimos. Qui et ut. Voluptate labore corporis. Hic tempore laborum. Nisi quia ea. Quia soluta itaque. Deleniti nisi earum. Ad tenetur laboriosam. Eum accusamus harum. Accusantium iusto voluptas. Totam quae corporis. Impedit non ut. Incidunt rerum est. Aperiam doloremque
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John Character Timeline in Cane
The timeline below shows where the character John appears in Cane. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
22. Theater
...through the long morning and only starts to wake up in the late afternoon, when John, the manager’s brother, arrives and begins to oversee rehearsals. John loves the exhilarating feel of...
(full context)
As the director arrives and begins rehearsals, John notices Dorris, a beautiful and modish dancer. Dorris notices John noticing her, and she asks...
(full context)
But John watches Dorris dance, he gets caught up in his own fantasy about her. In it,...
(full context)
On the stage of the Howard Theater, Dorris stops dancing and looks at John. His eyes are distant; he’s lost in his fantasy. He doesn’t see the flesh and...
(full context)
