America By Claude Mckay Essay

America, written was written by Claude McKay during the years of the Harlem Renaissance. Claude McKay was originally born in Jamaica, but made soon made America his home. While living in America as an African American, he had to deal with many struggles against society due to segregation and Jim Crow Laws. When writing America, McKay uses multiple literary devices to get his central message of bittersweet patriotism across. In this 14 line poem he uses devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, and imagery to get his readers to understand how he is angry with this country but he will never stop loving America.

Through the various primary sources, a theme of hypocrisy is introduced, revealing the constant contradiction of freedom in America during the 19th century. This theme is exemplified in “America”, a poem written by James Whitfield. The poem begins with the lines, “America, it is to thee, / Thou boasted land of liberty, - / It is to thee I raise my song, / Thou land of blood, and crime, and wrong” (Whitfield “America” 1- 4). Within the first four lines of the poem, Whitfield introduces the notion that America, albeit boasting of freedom, is truly a land of wrongdoing. This idea is further enhanced later in the poem, as it is mentioned, “Oh no; they fought, as they believed, / For the inherent rights of man; / But mark, how they have been deceived / By slavery’s accursed plan” (Whitfield “America” 37 -

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.

The “American dream,” a promise of the ability to turn your life from rags to riches if you try hard in the United States of America, has been the definition of what it means to be an American. But over time it the American dream has changed and its pledge perhaps more viable than ever. This is due to the simple fact that America as a nation has evolved over time and the core values which its people encompass are a reflection of the times. So as an American how do we define ourselves and our nation outside of the American dream? America has been known over time as a “big brother”- protector of mankind. Yet many of our citizens did not have equal rights until the 1960’s and it took the fourteenth amendment to guarantee equal protection

Langston Hughes, “I too, Sing America” chronicles an African-American male’s struggle with patriotism in an age of inequality and segregation in the United States. The poem cleverly uses metaphors to represent racial segregation faced by African-Americans during the early twentieth century. The speaker presents a battle cry for equality and acceptance, and his words are a plea and a declaration for nationalism and patriotism. Although, the poem does not directly imply racism, the speaker’s language suggests that he equates the kitchen to racial discrimination by the general American society. His word usage signals his wish to participate in a land that he proudly claims as his own despite his personal experiences of rejection. Despite

In the poem ,“America”, Claude McKay uses figurative language and diction to create a dark tone, a powerful empowering tone, and an optimistic tone. The theme of double consciousness of African-Americans is supported in the poem and the poem itself also connects to the purpose of the Harlem Renaissance which was to fight back racial hate and stereotypes with black empowerment.

Life, liberty, freedom, equality, opportunity, and so many other words have been used to describe the United States of America. Every American child grows up with the words “the land of the free” pounded into their heads, and every morning schools declare America as a place of “liberty and justice for all.” Such inflated rhetoric presents America with large shoes to fill. Thus, America’s shortcomings should not be surprising. Langston Hughes and Upton Sinclair were two 20th Century writers, who saw past this idealistic talk and saw the jungle that the United States really was. Langston Hughes wrote in his poem “Let America be America Again”, “Let America be America again. –Let it be the dream it used to be. –Let it be the pioneer on the plain –Seeking a home where himself is free. –(America was never America to me) (1).” He highlights not only the experience of African Americans during the 1930s, but identifies with other oppressed groups including immigrants writing, “I am the immigrant clutching the hope I seek—And finding only the same old stupid plan –Of dog eat dog, of mighty crush the weak.” Likewise, Upton Sinclair conveyed his repulsion to immigrant oppression during the Industrial Revolution in his book The Jungle, emphasizing the gullibility behind trusting the grandiloquence of the American dream.

For J. Hector St. John De Crèvecoeur and Phillis Wheatley the seduction of freedom was strong enough to have a hold over them throughout their lives. They express obtaining or wanting independence through writing about certain myths of American culture and identity. This idea of unfiltered, unbiased liberty saturates images of America. Even before it officially became a gaggle of nations, North America was known as a wide-open space full of possibilities. Crèvecoeur and Wheatley want the opportunity of self-determination, but it comes easier for one and with more complications for the other. Wheatley has the added disadvantage of her race and gender, while Crèvecoeur comes to these lands with all possibilities open and within reach. These outstanding factors affect the way these two write about American identity. Crèvecoeur’s Letters of An American Farmer: What is an American and various poems by Wheatley comment on the experience of being an American and share a critique on oppression, but there is a dichotomy in their specific views of the American Dream and the Self-Made Man due to their different positions in society.

Written in the first half of the 20th century, “Let America Be America” is a poem that documents and responds to the oppressed state of the United States, in both the past and present. The poem is a plea for a return to the original principles of freedom that our country has seemingly forgotten. Additionally, the speaker sees America as the broken home to oppressed people who have lost sight of the ultimate goal of freedom and happiness. Although America is often perceived as the “land of the free,” Langston Hughes’s poem contradicts this ideology by not only painting a vivid picture of oppression in America but also by providing a desperate hope for the future.

Claude McKay’s Harlem Renaissance poem “America” literally describes a man’s ambivalent feelings for a woman who simultaneously weakens and strengthens him. The first four lines introduce the speaker’s unconditional love for a seemingly antagonistic woman. She sinks “her tiger’s tooth” into his throat and steals his “breath of life,” presenting herself as a dangerous predator (McKay 2, 3). The woman is further convicted of “sapping the breath,” yet also “inflating the potency of an […] ungendered lyric ‘I’,” which explains how he could have feelings for such a woman (Maxwell). The speaker’s conflicting emotions are reminiscent in a different scenario shown in lines 5-10 when he is revealed to be a rebel who stands before a king with nothing

In the fight for equality, people of color often feel isolated and separated from those whose privilege reinforces their oppression. However, there are and always have been white people who see the inequalities that are practiced in society and speak out against them in hopes of reaching equality for all. Langston Hughes used his voice in poetry to express his experience as a black man in the United States during the Civil Rights Movement, and his is a household name. There is no doubt that his words have power. The reader expects to feel his experience and gain empathy and understanding through his poetry. In his poem, “Let America Be America Again,” Hughes presents his experience of American life in a powerful contrast to the experience

His employer was trying to shaft him. He fought for his rights, not knowing what the outcome would be, but knowing this was something he felt he must do.

He mourns the Civil War and the deaths that came from it, especially the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He also blames slavery for how people are treated, which I personally agree with. Slavery is something that should have never been accepted as normal. Slavery made people think that it was okay to treat others differently based on their skin tone, which is not acceptable. He questions the ideas that society puts on the individual.

He was not able to exercise his opinion and his belief, as his actions echoed the voice of the locals. His actions were influenced by the ‘followers,’ those who were not supposed to have any say, under the imperialistic rule of the British. The people in the colonies are supposed to be oppressed. Even though, the man knew he was in charge, he was too afraid to overrule the voice of the majority, because he didn’t want to look like a fool. He clearly cared what the locals thought of him, which shows that the locals (the followers) help some power, because if they didn’t the man’s actions wouldn’t have coincided with their

When you hear the phrase "the American people" do you think of a people who are despoiled, alienated, or lost? William Carlos Williams characterizes the American people in this way in his poem To Elsie, which provides commentary on the American people's lost perspective. Through tone and imagery Williams tells of a self-alienating America that has lost perspective of its most treasured ideology, the American Dream, due to its violent and unstable tradition.