Question

"Read 'If We Must Die'"

Write a 150-word analysis that answers one of the following questions:
a. According to the speaker, how should a person face death? Explain your answer in detail.
b. Consider the time period during which McKay wrote "If We Must Die." How might the social conditions of the era and McKay's experience as a black writer in Harlem have informed his views on death and bravery?
c. In the context of this poem, what does it mean to be brave? Cite evidence from this text, and other literature, art, or history in your answer.

Answer 1

Claude McKay's 'If We Must Die' conveys the message that people should face death with defiance and dignity, especially in the context of racial injustice during the Harlem Renaissance. McKay, alongside contemporaries like Hughes and Hurston, highlighted the courage required to combat oppression through literature.

Step-by-step explanation:

The poem 'If We Must Die' by Claude McKay offers a powerful message about facing death with dignity and courage. McKay's experience as a black writer during the Harlem Renaissance, a time of racial prejudice and violence, is evident in his call for resistance. He urges the audience to fight back against the forces that oppress them, suggesting that bravery lies in the willingness to stand up for justice, even at the cost of one's life. This perspective is shared by other writers such as Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston, who also wrote about the African-American experience and the struggle against societal injustices.

Social conditions of the era greatly influenced McKay's views, as the poem was written during the race riots of 1919, a time when violent resistance was sometimes seen as the only option. McKay's poem resonates with the notion of bravery as an act of defiance against overwhelming odds, a theme prevalent in the literature of social struggle.