McKay's use of the
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. McKays's poem, "Outcast," is the most obvious example of this outsider theme. From the title to the last line there are many references to a feeling of alienation and neglect. The voice in the poem longs for "the dim regions whence my fathers came." The voice also longs for "forgotten jungle songs" and yearns to "go back to darkness and to peace." This is the voice of the African-American removed from his native country and made an outsider of his own home. Alienation is also voiced as "I may never hope for full release while to its alien gods I bend my knee." This line illustrates that the speaker is an outsider even where he lives and cannot escape. It would be useless even if he could becaus
" This is most likely criticising the way that white Americans had the full benefit of law, while negroes had the worst of both worlds; being excluded from all its freedoms but included in all its punishments. This makes for another good example of aliention theme in McKay's works. He is speaking as one looking in on something rather than one that is a part of something. The poems "Outcast,""America," and 'The White House" all display the similiar aspects of being the outsider. In another of McKay's works, "The White House," the African-American as a political outsider is clearly demonstrated. The works seem to all work toward the social goal of making America a place where there are no outsiders but only Americans,. It creates a bleak yet vivid picture of the alienation to which the African-American is subjected. " This line indicates that while he struggles as an American, it is America that keeps him going; that she gives him life even as she sucks it away. The voice, or point of view of the outsider is once again used consistently throughtout the poem. " McKay is once again using the point of view of the outsider rather than someone that really feels "American. " He does however "confess I love this cultured hell that tests my youth! Her vigor flows like tides into my blood giving me strength erect against her hate. The image invoked in the line "Your door is shut agianst my tightened face," is that of an outsider looking in or wanting in but being shut out. By referring to the house, the door and the law all as "theirs" and not his, McKay very effectivly illustrates his alienation and disenfranchisement. McKay is saying that he loves America not so much as an American but as an outsider that needs the test to live and become stronger. McKay's "Outcast" is the poem which the "outsider" theme is most apparent.
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Acceptance Essays
