America, by Claude McKay
analytical Essay
1105 words
The poem America by Claude McKay is on its surface a poem combining what America should be and what this country stands for, with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people. Mckay uses the form of poetry to express how he, as a Jamaican immigrant, feels about America. He characterizes the bittersweet relationship between striving for the American dream, and being denied that dream due to racism. While the America we are meant to see is a beautiful land of opportunity, McKay see’s as an ugly, flawed, system that crushes the hopes and dreams of the African-American people.
This poem is written from the perspective of an African-American from a foreign country, who has come to America for the promise of equality, only to find out that at this time equality for blacks does not exist. It is written for fellow black men, in an effort to make them understand that the American dream is not something to abandon hope in, but something to fight for. The struggle of putting up with the racist mistreatment is evident even in the first four lines:
“Although she feeds me bread of bitterness,
And sinks into my throat her tiger's tooth,
Stealing my breath of life,
I will confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.” (McKay)
These lines express quite graphically that the relationship between young black immigrants and America, is what would be referred to as a “love/hate” relationship.
Though dealing with the situation is difficult, the poem goes on to express that going through this ordeal has only strengthened the resolve of the African American community. Lines 4-9 of this poem speak to toughness and resolve of the African American community in the fight to gain equality. McKay even goes as far ...
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...for equal rights. In some poems McKay even called for violent acts to change the laws, however, as an educated man, reason prevailed. As result he adopted religion, and his poetry, like himself became conflicted. Out of this confliction came some of the most powerful African American poetry in history. Claude McKay poured his soul onto to paper, and as a result, it seeps in to all who read it.
Works Cited
Kelly, Joseph. The Seagull Reader Poems Second Edition. New York: W.W Norton and Company, 2001.
McKay, Claude. The Poetry Foundation. 1921. 2 October 2011 .
Miller, Nelson. Poets Corner-Bookshelf. 1999. 2 October 2011 .
poets.org. Poets from the Academy of American Poets. 1997. 2 October 2011 .
In this essay, the author
- Describes kelly, joseph, the seagull reader poems second edition.
- Analyzes how claude mckay's poem, america, combines what america should be and what this country stands for with what it actually is, and the attitude it projects amongst the people.
- Analyzes how mckay's lines express that the relationship between young black immigrants and america is what would be referred to as a "love/hate" relationship.
- Analyzes how mckay uses the history of america to voice his outrage at the injustice against the african american community.
- Analyzes how mckay's poem "darkly i gaze into the days ahead" is about time destroying the current foundation of america and starting a new foundation based on equality.
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- Analyzes how the speaker identifies himself as a "negro" and indentifies himself through the title of the poem. he uses dramatic incidents to describe his story and grain the reader's attention.
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614 wordsRead More - Langston Hughes Summaryanalytical essayThis chapter attempts to focus upon the problem of identity that confronted the African-Americans in America. Thus it investigates the African-American’s identity dilemma as shown in the poetry of Claude McKay and Langston Hughes. At the same time, it provides a solution for the African-American’s problem of estrangement and identity crisis. But while McKay’s self-rejection of his blackness urges him to trace the quest for identity in exile, Hughes’ self acceptance of his blackness enables him to reconcile with the white oppressors who stripped the black race from its identity. Moreover, it sheds light upon the psychological consequences that resulted from the violation of the African-American’s identity. Furthermore, this chapter shows the African-American’s self debasement, helplessness, and double consciousness that emanate from the sense of uprootedness.
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- Describes the sensation of double-consciousness, a sense of always looking at one's self through the eyes of others.
- Explains that african-american writers intended to portray the black race's suffering through their works in order to contribute to the american culture.
- Analyzes how du bois sheds light upon the african-american's psyche that is torn apart between being regarded as human being or as a negro.
- Explains that the american culture is racially prejudiced to people with mixed origins, or in particular black descent. its dominant cultural identity is that it should be pure and not impurified by black blood.
- Analyzes how mckay and hughes concluded that the american society exerted tremendous efforts in order to preserve the purity of the white race.
- States that 29 states have laws which make intermarriage between whites and negroes illegal and void.
- Explains that the victims of mixed marriage were not only the couples themselves, but their mulatto children who were the offspring of that illegally-viewed marriage.
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- Analyzes how mckay's genuine love for his mother stems from her less demanding character who freely gave love and warmth to all of her children. hughes grew up with his grandmother whose loving and caring character stands in complete contrast to the rejection, negligence and denial of his father
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1504 wordsRead More - Degrees of Transcendence: Opposing Views by McKay and Hughes on the Consumption of Artanalytical essay...ce taking place within a limited audience, allowing it to grow and develop to eventually define the culture of the New Negro. The transcendent quality of the blues, featured in the poem by Langston Hughes, may be placed in opposition to McKay as there is undeniable value in shared experience. While the nature of blues music within the poem is undeniably black and meant to connect black people, the poem presents music as something that is important for expression and formulation of identity as a dynamic community. The two poems, in their depiction of the performances, propose different solutions to the black condition of isolation. While McKay suggests that the strength to counter oppression and alienation is present in the hidden capacity of the individual, Hughes presents a man who is kept alive through struggle and persistence fueled through a communal tradition.
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how claude mckay and langston hughes reconcile black life in white america. both depict an african-american performer consumed by the isolation and oppression of their condition, but the intensity of the performances prove to be vastly disparate.
- Analyzes how claude mckay's harlem dancer is framed through the gaze of rambunctious youths, debasing the dance to a lewd exhibition.
- Analyzes how the speaker has succeeded in providing an enhanced image of the performer, but the act of assigning meaning to the performance and the representation used holds the capacity to limit the experience.
- Analyzes how the communal performance of "the weary blues" is more transcendent than that of the harlem dancer.
- Analyzes how the speaker's description of the singer of "the weary blues" is less limited as he comes to embody the performance.
- Analyzes how mckay subverts the sonnet form of "the harlem dancer" to address the objectification of black women.
- Analyzes how hughes' "the weary blues" is based on an aabb rhyme scheme with a form distinguished by the use of repetition and anaphora.
- Analyzes how claude mckay limns the rediscovered pride in black racial identity in "the harlem dancer." the transcendent quality of blues music in the poem is undeniably black and meant to connect black people.
1724 wordsRead More - Comparing Poems 'If We Must Die And Langston Hughes' Poemsanalytical essayAlthough many African Americans can easily lose their identity due to the oppression they face, the tone in Claude McKay’s and Langston Hughes’ poems show that fighting back for equality will allow them to maintain their identity. In McKay’s poem “If We Must Die,” he talks about the issue of lynching. African Americans were being lynched for no reason without getting a say in what happened. In response he says, “Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, / Pressed to the wall dying, but fighting back!” (McKay). Although the white Americans were trying to put them down, they are refusing to leave without a fight. McKay uses the word “we” to emphasize that this is a problem for many African Americans. He is speaking to the
In this essay, the author
- Analyzes how claude mckay's and langston hughes' poems show that fighting back for equality will allow them to maintain their identity.
- Analyzes how mckay, in hughes poem "i, too," speaks of segregation between white people and african americans. he is sent to the kitchen because he will not be seen there.
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