Analysis Of Harlem Shadows By Claude Mckay

534 Words2 Pages

It’s 1920 in Harlem New York. Hopeful they were when they moved to the North think they would escape the pain of the South. Only to find that where they went prejudice would only follow. Filling each building with people to the top. There minds and eyes hopeful yet there dreams would soon be crushed. See it was still bad to be African American in a place that preached that all were ‘free’. A very different song would be sung. As I read ‘Harlem Shadows’ by Claude McKay I can see the struggles and pain of a people that only wanted to be free. Claude Mckay states, “stern hard world… of poverty, dishonor and disgrace… has pushed the timid little feet... “ (Stanza 3, lines 1-3). These word bring such a vivid Image of a girl, a little girl running from the struggles of a place she did not …show more content…

Claude McKay calling forward the truth about what really went on in Harlem, not exemplifying the racism, hate or mistreatment but shining a light on a subject. After reading such a powerful piece I can see the little he write of running from the world behind her. Running, running, running and never looking back to see the hate that chased her because her skin. This girl isn’t just one person, Claude Mckay uses this little girl as all the African American people running from the hate. McKay depict this when he says, “The scared brown feet of my fallen race!” (stanza 3, Line 4). McKay not saying that the race is dead and gone but saying that the last of us are running from such hatred and that they are falling and feel beat from the hate that they had not asked for. Only showing the true issues that went on in the 1920’s it wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows. A story untold was that of the African Americans. McKay follows that line up with, “A, heart of me, the weary, weary feet In Harlem wandering street to street…” (stanza 3, line

Show More
Related

  • Analysis: The Harlem Renaissance

    946 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance is the name given to a period at the end of World War I through the mid-30s, in which a group of talented African-Americans managed to produce outstanding work through a cultural, social, and artistic explosion. Also known as the New Negro Movement. It is one of the greatest periods of cultural and intellectual development of a population historically repressed. The Harlem Renaissance was the rebirth of art in the African-American community mostly centering in Harlem, New York, during the 1920s. Jazz, literature, and painting emphasized significantly between the artistic creations of the main components of this impressive movement. It was in this time of great

    Read More

  • Harlem Renaissance and Jessie Redmon Fauset

    728 Words  | 2 Pages

    Harlem soon became known as the “capital of black America” as the amount of blacks in this community was very substantial. Many of the inhabitants of this area were artists, entrepreneurs and black advocates with the urge to showcase their abilities and talents. The ...

    Read More

  • Harlem Dancer Analysis

    981 Words  | 2 Pages

    In his poem Harlem Dancer (698), McKay’s meticulous use of description allows the reader to view the subject from different perspectives, and then to know her in a way that she could not be understood in a simple two-dimensional style. He carefully and deliberately included the use of subtle but flattering A-B-A-B rhyme schemes to promote flow, and to add an overall tone which evokes a palate of feelings with which to paint the picture. Although rich in depth, his words are not especially complex. As it is, neither were the people he was writing for, or about. With the majority of his intended audience being poverty stricken and under-educated, overreaching vocabulary would fall on deaf ears. Elaborate wording would likely feel unauthentic, almost prosthetic. McKay was no doubt a scholar and brilliant writer, adept in the art of seeing people, and translating them beautifully to the

    Read More

  • A Dream Deferred by Langston Hughes and My Little Dreams by Georgia Douglas Johnson

    793 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Harlem Renaissance was a cultural movement during the 1920s and 1930s, in which African-American art, music and literature flourished. It was significant in many ways, one, because of its success in destroying racist stereotypes and two, to help African-Americans convey their hard lives and the prejudice they experienced. In this era, two distinguished poets are Langston Hughes, who wrote the poem “A Dream Deferred” and Georgia Douglas Johnson who wrote “My Little Dreams”. These two poems address the delayment of justice, but explore it differently, through their dissimilar uses of imagery, tone and diction.

    Read More

  • Hyperbole The Landlord

    556 Words  | 2 Pages

    The 1930’s were an interesting time for many African-Americans. Even though they had been freed from slavery decades ago, they still felt oppression. Langston Hughes does a fantastic job of describing this oppression in the poem “Ballad of the Landlord”. The author’s purpose for writing this poem is to show the problems that African-Americans dealt with in the 1930’s which is exemplified through the use of hyperbole, change of lines in stanzas, and repetition.

    Read More

  • The Power Of Limitation In Song Yet Sung By Mcbride

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    McBride’s idea of limitation is prominent during the time of slavery for African Americans, as these same limitations are present during the twenty first century. The power of limitations that African American Women faced during the time of slavery hindered their ability to gain freedom, as freedom for slaves was the ultimate American Dream. James McBride exemplifies this in the novel Song Yet Sung as the first character that we meet is Liz, whom happens to be African American Women. When McBride first introduced Liz to the audience, she was running away from her master as she was chasing the American dream known as freedom.

    Read More

  • America, by Claude McKay

    1105 Words  | 3 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Usage of the Outsider Theme in Claude McKay's Poetry

    758 Words  | 2 Pages

    Claude McKay was an important figure during the 1920's in the Harlem Rennaisance. Primarily a poet, McKay used the point of view of the outsider as a prevalent theme in his works. This is best observed in such poems as "Outcast," "America," and "The White House." In these poems, McKay portrays the African-American as the outsiderof western society and its politics and laws and at times, the very land that he is native to.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Suffering Mirrored By Nikky Finny

    1261 Words  | 3 Pages

    African-Americans’/ Affrilachians’ Suffering Mirrored: How do Nikky Finney’s “Red Velvet” and “Left” Capture events from the Past in order to Reshape the Present? Abstract Nikky Finney (1957- ) has always been involved in the struggle of southern black people interweaving the personal and the public in her depiction of social issues such as family, birth, death, sex, violence and relationships. Her poems cover a wide range of examples: a terrified woman on a roof, Rosa Parks, a Civil Rights symbol, and Condoleezza Rice, former Secretary of State, to name just a few. The dialogue is basic to this volume, where historical allusions to prominent figures touch upon important sociopolitical issues. I argue that “Red Velvet” and “Left”, from Head off & Split, crystallize African-Americans’ /African-Americans’ suffering and struggle against slavery, by capturing events and recalling historical figures from the past.

    Read More

  • Claude McKay's Prominent Position in the Harlem Renaissance

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Claude McKay real name is Festus Claudius McKay was an important person in the Harlem Renaissance, a prominent literary movement of the 1920s. His poems are traditional in technique and on the sentimental side in subject and tone.1

    Read More

  • The Negative Impacts of the Harlem Renaissance

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    The image of African-American’s changed from rural, uneducated “peasants” to urban, sophisticated, cosmopolites. Literature and poetry are abounded. Jazz music and the clubs where it was performed at became social “hotspots”. Harlem is the epitome of the “New Negro”. However, things weren’t as sunny as they appeared.

    Read More

  • We Wear The Mask Analysis

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the novel there were many events that showed how the African Americans were in this time period. One of them being the court case of Tom Robinson, who was put under arrest for raping a white girl. Even though the white girl was the one coming on to him this resulted in her father walking in on them and hitting his daughter. Know this should have ended with the girl getting in trouble, but that was not the case in this time period it was a white man word versus a black man word and in this time a black man’s word was worth less than a dime. This was also shared in some level in the poem, this mask that it says African Americans had to wear to hide there pain and sorrow is the same thing that Tom Robinson had to do when facing life in jail, blacks had no choice they knew their fate in the hands of the

    Read More

  • Mckay Home To Harlem Analysis

    423 Words  | 1 Pages

    The New Negro in Paris takes place three years after The Harlem Intelligentsia. He was residing in Casablanca and what waited him had mail from various people. A few came from valuable reviews from white publishers and criticisms from colored publishers of his new book, Home to Harlem. Yet two letters stuck out, first was money for his book, and second letter was from James Weldon Johnson. James Weldon Johnson met McKay during The Harlem Intelligentsia’s plot, asked McKay to return to Harlem for the Negro Renaissance movement. McKay thought about it was excellent to be invited to work in the movement, at the same time, he knew numerous of people would be content. Remarkably, he was told to travel during the spring and summer where the Negro

    Read More

  • Harlem by Langston Hughes

    672 Words  | 2 Pages

    the life of Harlem and knew that equality and freedom was definitely not present. The poem portrays

    Read More

  • Langston Hughes And Claude Mckay Analysis

    1136 Words  | 3 Pages

    Both authors took a leap by publishing works that criticized their oppressors, a leap that put them each in harm’s way. Each poet was able to inspire and educate in their own way, using their own personal touches; Hughes, working to inform his people and unite them against a common enemy through passionate prose, and McKay, working to ignite the passions of his audience in order to compel them to take a forceful stand. The importance of both perspectives operating in unison cannot be understated. A broader set of perspectives and beliefs about the same issue is effective in inspiring a broader, larger, and more diverse group of readers. The sad image that Hughes creates was most likely effective in reaching even the white Americans who already enjoyed their full freedom, by opening the eyes of whites and other unoppressed races to the plights of early African-Americans. In contrast, McKay’s poem was most likely more effective in rallying African-Americans specifically. The advantage of these (though not greatly) differing messages was immense, and underlines the importance of differing viewpoints, and also inspired different groups of people, in order to bring about a more rapid, and more universally agreed upon change. Against a tyrannical force such as a racist majority, these two viewpoints

    Read More

More about Analysis Of Harlem Shadows By Claude Mckay

Open Document