Everybody needs to eat and in the modern century one needs money, but what if one doesn't have enough? That is poverty, and it is a strong force that wraps its arms around somebody, trapping them in its grasp. and the urge to leave is strong and that urge can make one do what they would never if not in poverty. In the poem “Harlem Shadows” by Claude McKay and the song “Money Trees” by Kendrick Lamar, these themes are discussed. Born Festus Claudius McKay, Claude Mckay is a Jamaican-American poet born to peasant farmers, who came to the United States in 1912 after getting a stipend and award for his initial work on poetry. In 1922 he published a poetry collection titled Harlem Shadows where in a poem of the same name he describes how the poverty …show more content…
Hurting somebody in any society is immoral, but an immoral deed can make one isolated from society making help harder to get, with a significant example being that criminal records make it highly difficult to gain employment that pays enough to keep one’s head above water. The theme is continued in the poem describing how the actions of a woman engaging in sexual work dishonor her but keep her eating as “To bend and barter at desire's call.Of poverty, dishonor and disgrace, Has pushed the timid little feet of clay, The sacred brown feet of my fallen race!” (Mckay 4, 14-16). To dishonor oneself is to lower oneself to a standard considered immoral by wider society, but morals are not edible or able to warm the body so the force of poverty makes one dishonor oneself by selling one's body despite how one feels about it. Here poverty is the force that is truly dishonorable, making a woman willing to do some of the most dangerous work in a society where making the wrong person angry can lead to losing the little money one has or the loss of
Summary of “The Money” by Junot Diaz In this essay, the author recounts a life event from his childhood. The story begins with Junot describing his family's financial status and living arrangement. Diaz and his four siblings lived with their two parents in a catchpenny apartment in a rough urban borough. Not steadily employed, his mother and father were in a constant struggle to keep the family afloat monetarily; to the point where decent, alimental food was not a likely sight in the household. Despite their meager inhabitance his mother was stowing $200 to $300 monthly and sending it to her parents in the Dominican Republic.
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
Although Langston Hughes’ “Why, You Reckon?” is a short story, it encapsulates differences between races and classes in American society. The story highlights the desperate and hopeless lives of poor African-Americans in Harlem, New York, who would do anything just so they can fill their stomachs. Hughes adds a contrast by putting in a white man who uses his money and privileges to try to experience the exuberance of Harlem but fails to do so. Written in 1934, during the peak of racial divide in America, Langston Hughes’ “Why, you reckon?” shows that real experiences, not money, contribute to happiness.
In his poems, Langston Hughes treats racism not just a historical fact but a “fact” that is both personal and real. Hughes often wrote poems that reflect the aspirations of black poets, their desire to free themselves from the shackles of street life, poverty, and hopelessness. He also deliberately pushes for artistic independence and race pride that embody the values and aspirations of the common man. Racism is real, and the fact that many African-Americans are suffering from a feeling of extreme rejection and loneliness demonstrate this claim. The tone is optimistic but irritated. The same case can be said about Wright’s short stories. Wright’s tone is overtly irritated and miserable. But this is on the literary level. In his short stories, he portrays the African-American as a suffering individual, devoid of hope and optimism. He equates racism to oppression, arguing that the African-American experience was and is characterized by oppression, prejudice, and injustice. To a certain degree, both authors are keen to presenting the African-American experience as a painful and excruciating experience – an experience that is historically, culturally, and politically rooted. The desire to be free again, the call for redemption, and the path toward true racial justice are some of the themes in their
The notion of poverty has a very expanded meaning. Although all three stories use poverty as their theme, each interprets it differently. Consequently, it does not necessarily mean the state of extreme misery that has been described in ?Everyday Use?. As Carver points out, poverty may refer to poverty of one?s mind, which is caused primarily by the lack of education and stereotyped personality. Finally, poverty may reflect the hopelessness of one?s mind. Realizing that no bright future awaits them, Harlem kids find no sense in their lives. Unfortunately, the satisfaction of realizing their full potential does not derive from achieving standards that are unachievable by others. Instead, it arises uniquely from denigrating others, as the only way to be higher than someone is to put this person lower than you.
“In twentieth-century America the history of poverty begins with most working people living on the edge of destitution, periodically short of food, fuel, clothing, and shelter” (Poverty in 20th Century America). Poverty possesses the ability to completely degrade a person, as well as a family, but it can also make that person and family stronger. In The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair, a family of immigrants has to live in severe poverty in Packingtown, a suburb of Chicago. The poverty degrades the family numerous times, and even brings them close to death. Originally the family has each other to fall back on, but eventually members of the family must face numerous struggles on their own, including “hoboing it” and becoming a prostitute. The Jungle, a naturalistic novel by Upton Sinclair, reveals the detrimental effects that a life of poverty exerts on the familial relationships of immigrants in Chicago during the early 1900’s.
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.
Men and women both have a long list of duties to fulfill, whether that be as a spouse, parent, or single being trying to make ends meet. Men, especially are expected to be the breadwinner of their families, providing the dominant source of income, while women are expected to stay home, cook and watch the kids. In his poem, McKay captivates the struggle of the working woman, who is subjected to demeaning work and sexual objectification--a narrative that too many women know too well. McKay describes the Harlem dancer as “half-clothed” and “falsely-smiling”, alluding that she was not content with her job, yet pretended to, so that her audience would be satisfied. The following quote contrasts the Harlem dancer’s grace to coins, “Profusely fell; and, tossing coins in praise.” Because the audience is tossing coins at the dancer she is seen as an object and a mere means of entertainment. Thus, “The Harlem Dancer” conveys gender obligations such as financial duties through the objectification of
From 1608-2002, Louisiana has only executed 658 (ProCon). There have been several different methods from hanging, the electric chair, and now lethal injection. On November 28, 1942, the first woman was executed by the electric chair in the state of Louisiana. Her name was Toni Jo Henry and she suffered in many ways throughout her life. From losing her mother and enduring an abusive father, to working in a brothel where men used her as they pleased, to having her husband locked up in jail with no way out. Does that excuse her killing an innocent man?
Impoverished people have long been exploited, but the ghettos of the United States have been transformed into hot spots in which people are manipulated, used, and treated for less than they are worth. Kendrick Lamar emphasizes this unfortunate truth, as well as the transitioning
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.
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.
Langston Hughes was an activist for the African-American community and made significant artistic contributions to the Harlem Renaissance throughout his career. In one of his most famous poems, “Harlem [Dream Deferred]”, he addresses the limitations and oppression of African Americans after the Great Depression. Many African Americans dreamed of equality, but often times that dream became neglected and pushed aside. In his poem, Hughes responds to a question about a deferred dream with a series of vivid similes, inquiring what happens to a constantly ignored dream.
Thesis: The poems “Negro”, “I Too”, and “Song for a Dark Girl” by Langston Hughes was written around an era of civil inequality. A time when segregation was a customary thing and every African American persevered through civil prejudice. Using his experience, he focuses his poems on racial and economic inequality. Based on his biographical information, he uses conflict to illustrate the setting by talking about hardships only a Negro would comprehend and pride only a Negro can experience, which helps maintain his racial inequality theme.
The poem, “The Negro Speaks of Rivers,” symbolically connects the fate of the speaker of the poem and his African American community to the indestructible and powerful force on Earth- the river. The river embodies both power and dominance but also a sense of comfort. The poem is a prime example of the message of hope and perseverance to anyone who has suffered or is currently suffering oppression and inequality in their lives and in society. The speaker in the poem pledges to the reader that with hard-work, determination, and willpower to succeed, he will get where he is going regardless of the obstacles and challenges he may face on his path of reaching his goals in life.