Claude McKay is known as a great writer because he wrote from his heart. Whether he was writing about his love for his Jamaican homeland or the injustices he saw as a black man in the United States, his use of passionate language is what made his writings resonate with readers from all backgrounds. He wrote “If We Must Die” following the Red Summer of 1919, a series of race riots that took place between May and October. In those five months, thousands of African-Americans were hunted and persecuted…

Claude McKay’s 1919 sonnet, “If We Must Die”, came at a time when African-American lives were conditional, and seemingly dependent on the actions of the white community. McKay’s choice to write his poem in the form of a Shakespearean sonnet, a form usually reserved for flowery love language, could be attributed to either establishing his worth as a writer to a community not so accepting of black writers and/or to use an easily understood format to convey the strong message of injustice within American…

Claude McKay (1889-1948) moved to America from Jamaica in the early 1900’s. He moved several times before settling in Harlem, New York where he became an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. During his life in America, he wrote numerous pieces of literature from essays, short stories, poems, and more. In the early 1900’s, life in the South was difficult for colored people because of segregation. Thus, the experience of racism motivated him to write poetry. He wrote about peasant life in Jamaica…

between “Yet Do I Marvel” and “If We Must Die” During the Harlem Renaissance, many African Americans struggled through a shifting period in time from slavery to equality. Some African Americans expressed their feelings at that time through poetry such as “Yet Do I Marvel” written by Countee Cullen and “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay. In “Yet Do I Marvel” Cullen writes about how the struggles he is facing relate to God and how he is being punished. McKay’s poem is slightly different; he emphasizes…

The poem “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay is not only a sonnet, but also a story that portrays so much more than what first meets the eye. The poem is discussing a group of people who are going off to battle. The narrator of the poem is preparing the group to die, but implying that they must die with honor and in a noble way. The group has been pressed into a corner and there is no way out without a fight and warns them that death is most likely in their future. This poem sheds light into the author…

Both Langston Hughes and Claude McKay are iconic poets who helped motivate the civil rights movement. Hughes and McKay spoke about the hidden nightmare behind racism and everything it stood up for. Claude McKay in the poem “If We Must Die” and Langston Hughes in the poem “I Too, Sing America” both express a similar theme and meaning through their use of symbolism, tone ,and imagery. First, both “I, Too, Sing America” and “If We Must Die” use tone to express their concerns about their place in society…

“What is equality?” one might ask. We all have different views on specific topics and can describe what something truly means to one’s self like in the 3 text, “I have a dream,” by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr (published; 8/28/1963, genre; narrative and argumentative), “If we must die,” by Claude Mckay (published; 1919, genre; narrative and lyric), & “Harrison Bergeron,” by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. (published; October 1961, genre; satirical & dystopian science-fiction short story). In all 3 texts the authors…

defined, the impacts of racial oppression on its victims are rarely comprehended. Fortunately, there are people who see through the fog, and present their understanding to the world. Lewis Allen, author of the poem “Strange Fruit”, and Claude McKay, author of “If We Must Die” present racial oppression through literary devices and tone. After analyzing “Strange Fruit,” it became evident that the poem expresses racial oppression through literary devices. This is displayed in the first stanza, as the author…

impending danger, the esteemed poet Claude McKay boldly spoke out against the cruelty shown towards his people. In his poem "If We Must Die," McKay encourages blacks and commands them to stand and fight against the misdeeds committed by whites. Instead of asking blacks to accept their fate or to uselessly flee from the threat of death, McKay dares them to stare death in the face and to fight against the power that whites try to hold over them. In his sonnet "If We Must Die," McKay uses bestial imagery,…

If We Must Die by Claude McKay Clearly provocative and even chilling, “If We Must Die” by Claude McKay stirs deep and powerful emotions in any who reads it. A poem inspired by violent race riots, it serves as a motivating anthem representative of an entire culture. Graphic and full of vengeance this poem is demanding action, not telling a story. McKay utilizes imagery to its fullest extent creating an end result which any man or woman, black or white, who has ever felt the hard and hateful…