America by Claude McKay analysis
McKay is not careful when describing the pitfalls of American society.
Sonnets are historically associated with love, with McKay using the structure to suggest his love for the country. Yet, no matter the emotion he feels towards America, angry or pleased, he understands that it is a brilliant place, the ‘might and granite wonders’ it holds representing the power and beauty of the country.The final two lines of the poem bare possible allusions to Shelley’s The poem is incredibly balanced, at once directly discussing what is terrible about America, while also applauding the strength of the country. Lines 5-10: "Her vigor flows" to "word of jeer." Analysis Of The Poem ' America ' By Claude Mckay 1399 Words6 Pages In the poem “America” penned by Claude McKay in 1921, the speaker explains that even though America seems to be sucking the life out of him, and hates him, he still loves the country as it plunges itself towards certain death. This comes out further in poem, with the poet concluding that although brutal, ugly and difficult, America is a powerful force that withstands time.One technique that McKay uses is oxymorons. He describes America as a ‘cultured hell’, the idea pairing two contrasting notions together. Yet this stoicism, if we want to call it that, also coexists with the righteous indignation and passionate love signaled by the exclamation point at the end of the sentence. This striking image implicitly compares the stripes of the American flag to the stripes of the predatory tiger, suggesting that it is America who is in fact "Other" because of the inhuman and brutal way it treats its black citizens.Despite this oppression, the speaker declares his "love" for America outright, though the phrase "I will confess" suggests some reluctance in doing so. . Analysis: Claude McKay is describing his feelings toward America. America (Claude McKay poem) Summary and Analysis of Lines 5-10. The caesura in the form of a comma after this statement inserts a metrical pause into the poem, McKay representing the loss of breath through this structural manipulation.The personification of America as a woman is typical, conceptual ideas like countries, the moon, or nature often being depicted as women. Analysis Of The Poem ' America ' By Claude Mckay 1399 Words | 6 Pages In the poem “America” penned by Claude McKay in 1921, the speaker explains that even though America seems to be sucking the life out of him, and hates him, he still loves the country as it plunges itself towards certain death. America by Claude McKay balances ideas of loving and hating the United States of America. The important fourth line brims with internal tension as the speaker simultaneously understates and magnifies his sense that America oppresses him, characterizing it as "hell" but also describing it as merely "testing" him. At the beginning of the poem, McKay uses passive sentences that place ‘she’ as the active force, representing how the world is beating the poet down. While America clearly victimizes the speaker, the latter is able not only to fight back against this oppression but also to draw inspiration from it, an idea which McKay will further develop as the poem goes on.America (Claude McKay poem) study guide contains a biography of Claude McKay, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. GradeSaver, Summary. Yet, as we progress through the poem, McKay gathers strength, eventually moving to using the ‘I’ pronoun, reversing the earlier notion and finding his feet within the world.America quite literally smothers him, being overbearing and unpleasant in ‘stealing my breath of life’. The interrelation of nature and human further emphasises the brilliance of America, the semantics of ‘flows like tides’ and ‘like a flood’ relating the strength of America to the power of nature.The collocation of opposing words, ‘Strength… hate’, suggests the paradoxical nature of Following the two quatrains which detail characteristics of America, McKay now moves to his personal perspective.
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