What is the difference between “The White House” & “America” and “The Tropics In New York” & “Spring In New Hampshire”? Which of the sets spoke louder to you? Which did you enjoy more from a literary stand point?
Where/What are “The Tropics In New York”? Did they make you hungry or nostalgic (either home country or vacation)?
America - “I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!” Would you say McKay has got a love hate/relationship with America? If so, what does he love? What does he hate? If not, what was meant by that line?
Anybody else think it takes “Superhuman power / To hold me to the letter of your law!”? Why did Hester St. seem lawless, while McKay is suffocated by rules and restrictions?
Like many immigrants, I feel like McKay does hold a love/hate relationship with his adopted home. The grandeur and excess of American society can put any immigrant at awe, not to mention one emigrating from a poet country. This is evidenced in the poem "The Tropics Of New York". Here, McKay seduces us with the lush language of the fruit from his native land, yet the fruit, which symbolizes vibrancy and happiness, can only evoke a memory and fail to bring substance to McKay's Jamaica itself.
ReplyDeleteIn a way, America promises hat was once believed impossible: wealth and opportunity. On the other hand, it is an alien terrain that the immigrant in McKay's poems loathe and aches as he navigates the land that is more eager to forget, rather than accept him.
" The tropics in New York" I beleiev are referring to the Carribean food markets. In my imagination I see rows and rows of men and women in their booths yelling out prices and how fresh the produce is. I smell citrus in the air from the grape fruits and tangerines and I try to inhale as much as I can just so I can revel in the natural pleasure.
ReplyDeleteThis is how I imagine McKay must have felt back in his homeland. However now in New York he is nostalgic and dreaming of these simple pleasures- the dewy dawns, the bananas ripe and green, mystical blue skies... In New York where everything is processed and the fruit is stored in silos for months before they get shipped out to stores the mere idea of Caribbean beauty makes him cry.
"America - “I love this cultured hell that tests my youth!” Would you say McKay has got a love hate/relationship with America? If so, what does he love? What does he hate? If not, what was meant by that line?"
ReplyDeleteI think McKay is enjoying living in such a challenging atmosphere as America. The words "...hell that tests my youth!" show that it's not an easy life for him, but maybe while he is young he has strtenth and desire to live like this, and by saying "I love this...", he tells us that he loves barriers and wants to struggle for a while in order to achieve the desirable results.
Claude McKay’s indecisive attitude towards America is common among immigrants who are stigmatized as subordinate "others." As an immigrant from Jamaica, McKay was surprised by the injustice that prevailed in America, thus in his poem “America,” he expressed his anger towards America for its false promises. He figuratively compared America to a vicious predator who “feeds me [him] bread of bitterness, / and sinks into my [his] throat her tiger’s tooth.” (1-2) Yet, in the midst of his animosity he shared a sense of gratitude towards America. One can clearly denote his hidden passion for America when he wrote “I love this cultured hell that tests my youth! / Her vigor flows like tides into my blood, / giving me strength erect against her hate.” (4-6) Similar to Sarah Smolinsky, the speaker exerted the idea that the struggle which he had endured strengthened his character. One can conclude that McKay did not completely hate America for he had the privilege to oppose injustice and acted “as a rebel” who “fronts a king in state.” (8) In fact, McKay loved America because he had the freedom to express his hatred towards her. Overall, I think that McKay’s technique of juxtaposing his love/hate views of America mirrors W.E.B. DuBois’ idea of “double consciousness.” DuBois argued that those who were deemed as "others" were able to perceive themselves through their own mindset and at the same time were aware of how society viewed them. This idea is clearly seen in McKay's poem "America" because the speaker knew his position as one who was both a victim and an admirer of America's hegemonic power. Since McKay was one of the most influential poets of the Harlem Renaissance era, I expected the poem "America" to enhance one's pride in being African-American. On the contrary, I think that McKay degraded the hopes of African-Americans by characterizing them as "priceless treasure sinking in the sand." (14) Thus, I feel that McKay's poem in its entirety is rather ironic because of its parallel views of America.
ReplyDelete“The Tropics in New York” and “Spring in New Hampshire” spoke louder to me because of the way they demonstrated the speaker’s connection to his mother country and to his new home.
ReplyDeleteFor example, there is a definite sense of looking back and a painful nostalgia about “The Tropics in New York.” The many different colorful fruits of the poem evoke the exotic quality of Jamaica, where Claude McKay was born and grew up. However, these objects from his former home are now inaccessible except in his memories; they have become forbidden fruit like the apple of the Garden of Eden. This may seem like a stretch were it not for the fact that the speaker presents religious imagery himself. In line 8, he refers to a “benediction” and calls the hills “nun-like.” In addition, the end of this poem is very emotive. The mundane activity of window-shopping has become a cathartic experience for the speaker; the realization that he is “hungry for the old, familiar ways” has driven him to tears (11). I cannot imagine leaving the place where I was raised and never returning, but McKay expresses the grief that one must feel upon doing so in hopes of creating a better life for oneself.
On the other hand, “Spring in New Hampshire” does something a bit different. Although this poem also has a speaker thinking about the beauty of the natural world and of the things that grow from the earth, it differs in its overall message. This time the sadness is not because the speaker longs to return to the Caribbean landscape, but because he is unable to enjoy the nature found in his life in America. The main reason for this is a lack of time due to the all-consuming efforts of work. The speaker says he is “Wasting the golden hours indoors, / Washing windows and scrubbing floors” (5-6). This endless work causes extreme exhaustion over time, leaving the speaker “sleeping dully” (12). The implication here is that before the speaker came to New Hampshire, he could enjoy these aspects of life. Now, the difficulties of working as an immigrant control what he is able to do with his time.