White City Sonnet

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Coping with segregation A Shakespearean sonnet brings thoughts of love to a readers mind. Claude McKays’ sonnet “The White City” takes a spin on this classic type of sonnet. In the 1920’s McKay lived in world where segregation was still a predominant issue. After world war I, in the midst of the great migration, African Americans found themselves in industrialized cities filling important jobs and working hard, all while earning about a quarter of the respect they deserved. Claude McKay uses the Shakespearean sonnet to cope with the anger and helplessness oppression brought upon his speaker as well as to bring to light the vast differences between the black and white lifestyles. McKay makes it clear that he is addressing the issue of segregation in his sonnet by making references to the white race by addressing the place he lives as “The White City” describing a place where the white race rules, holding all the power. Another reference “the white world’s hell” highlights segregation by placing a clear divider in between the lives of white and blacks and the struggles each face. Further …show more content…

The sonnet by Shakespeare addresses the issue of the love of a mistress while Mckay addresses the feeling that segregation bestows upon someone. Matters of the heart seem light when compared to the lynching, which were still taking place at that time, of an innocent individual who could have just been present in the wrong place at the wrong time. McKay’s use of this classic form highlights the key difference in lifestyle between blacks and whites, by focusing on the issues each decides to dwell on. Further support of this comparison can be seen in McKay’s line “and makes my heaven in the white world’s hell”. This line suggests that what could be an agonizing issue to a white person would be pure bliss to an African American if he or she had the time to worry about such petty

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