Genre Blog Post: Poetry (The Lynching)

The poem that I chose to talk about is “The Lynching,” by Claude McKay. I am choosing this because we’ve recently read “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” in class and will be moving onto “Beloved,” soon. This poem was written during the Harlem Renassaince by a man who was well known for writing poems that challenge white power and the racism and violence that African Americans endured during that time period. The poem paints a disturbing picture of a lynching and tells of the darkest, saddest elements of humanity at the time. The themes that are evident in this play are racism, violence, religion, slavery and passing on of traditions.

                These themes are ones we’ve talked about in class but also ones that I’ve talked about in the past in other classes. I recall learning about slavery and racism for years and one line from this poem that I can relate to my previous knowledge is, “All night a bright and solitary star/(Perchance the one that ever guided him,/ Yet gave him up at last to Fate’s wild whim,” (line 5, pg. 927). It’s to my knowledge that slaves from the South that wanted to run away and escape their masters followed the North Star. I believe we briefly talked about that in American Lit and that’s where that reference comes from. Another one that really breaks my heart is, “The women thronged to look, but never a one/ Showed sorrow in her eyes of steely blue,” (line 11, pg. 927). This touches on slavery, violence and racism because it’s saying that these women didn’t feel any compassion for the man being lynched but they also found joy in it and that’s just sickening.

                I used a couple quotes but I came to understand them better when knowing the time period that the poem was written. Just knowing that it’s author is a black man who grew up during the time of racism and the Harlem Renaissance I knew it was going to be a push back against slavery and also a way to show the reality of what African Americans went through during this time. It’s very realistic to what these people had to go through. It’s also written in a sort of Southern Lit context because you know right away by the words being used, such as “lad” and “o’er” and “lynching” and the dialect that it’s either from a southern person or it takes place in the South.

                Connecting this poem to the class and the contexts that we’ve been learning, like Southern Literature and the Harlem Renaissance, has helped me better understand and interpret it. I now know that the author, Claude McKay was writing a series of poems to get back at and challenge white power, along with educate readers on what went on during the times of slavery. I also knew right away that it was going to be about this, not just by the name and certain words included in the poem, but also by using my previous knowledge about the issue. Knowing these contexts will allow me to look at other poems just like it and be able to tell if it’s written with a Southern Lit context.