An Analysis Of Claude Mckay's If We Must Die

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Will Ryan Ms. Powers American Literature April 7th, 2014 “If We Must Die” Analysis To analyze a poem like Claude McKay’s “If We Must Die”, one must first understand the context of the writing. At the time it was created, the Red Summer of 1919 was occurring. This was a revitalization of anti-racial feelings that swept across the United States, and the time period was characterized by an increase in hate crimes against African American communities. The casualties included dozens dead, hundreds of injuries, and the burning of over a thousand houses owned by blacks. Claude McKay, being a militant civil rights supporter, used this poem to encourage the black community to retaliate against these attacks. To begin, the title reads “If We Must Die”. McKay repeats this line twice throughout the poem, showing that it was intentionally selected. It sets up the speaker as a first person narration by using the word “we”. By saying, “must die”, McKay is hinting at the inevitable and unavoidable demise of him and his group (presumably African Americans given his history). Since the title is not a full statement, it can be assumed that the rest of the poem will serve to finish the statement. It serves to entice the audience into continuing to read through the solemn tone it conveys, as well as the suspense through the half-finished statement. The first line of the poem reads, “If we must die, let it not be like hogs” (McKay 1). By saying “must die”, McKay is again pointing to how their death cannot be avoided, and it is a certainty. However, through the second half of the statement, “let it not be like hogs”, he is saying that while they cannot control their ultimate fate, they can choose how they meet that fate. Instead of dying as weak, d... ... middle of paper ... ...ousand blows deal one deathblow!” (10-11). He uses this metaphor to show that while those who are against black Americans may attack them numerous times, if the black’s could rally together and retaliate just once, it could be a potential game changer in terms of interracial equality and respect. So he tells his readers, “Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack, Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!” (McKay 13-14). In contrast to his original metaphor about them being hogs, McKay now turns the tables and tells them that they are not hogs but men, and the previously “hungry” and “mad” racists have now been reduced to “murderous” yet “cowardly”, showing that they can be beaten. McKay knows that he and his cause may not win in the end, but that will never stop him from fighting back against what he knows is wrong, and that’s his final argument.

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