Claude McKay and His Internationalism throughout a Life Essay

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From the first day of his active life, Claude McKay was one of the most exciting and multilateral people from the political and literature perspective. This person represents the idea of how only one person may leave a significant trace on the whole world history by talking about his or her feeling while no one could decide (Camarsana). McKay’s biography analysis teaches us how to become a member of “world society,” in other words, an individual without a concrete country of living. While writing, Claude McKay was trying to be the locomotive in building international society by struggling with racial and social inequality throughout the whole world.

Firstly, Claude was an interesting person from many points of view due to his zeal for disclosing new horizons day by day. He traveled around the world, residing in the USA, England, Morocco, and even the Soviet Union. All of these journeys made a significant impact on McKay’s life and work. For instance, many of his works are fulfilled with the “home” theme (Camarsana). The writer is not tightened with his native land physically, but in mind, he always remembers where he comes from. While traveling, his life also changed from a political perspective because only in England he became a genuine socialist (Winston 283). As a result, the work and life of Claud McKay were influenced mainly by traveling internationally and opening new perspectives.

Secondly, Claude McKay was a person whose life path was fulfilled with permanent struggling. Being an African American representative, he was a fighter for the rights of two social classes: socialists and African Americans (Winston 283). What is more, his primary weapon was considered to be a word that is much stronger than a simple gun due to its wide affected area. Many of his most famous poems, for example, “If we must die,” were written for disclosing the current issues at the beginning of twentieth-century society — injustice, which interconnects his two main life struggles. Consequently, Clause McKay gave the world the specific wish of permanent challenging misleading international society’s “fundamentals,” such as widespread racial inequality and worker class humiliation.

Finally, Claud McKay was trying to connect dissimilar people in one place and describe their thoughts, actions, and attitude to each other. One of most McKay’s interesting novels, from this perspective, is Home to Harlem, where the author attempted to explain the interaction of diverse people from the first glimpse (Camarasana). For instance, while the main hero is a war deserter, he could find many similarities with an intellectual representative from Haiti, and, as a result, they became friends for life. Eventually, McKay successfully demonstrated the “fantastic” interconnection between different people who found many things in common and built a strong friendship for life, destroying barriers between social classes.

In conclusion, Jamaican poet and political activist Claud McKay was a key figure in building international society. Firstly, being African American and socialist at the same time, he was mainly influenced by the world-traveling experience. His works and political views completely changed due to the presence of homegrown in mind and a wish of disclosing new horizons at the same time. Secondly, McKay combined his main life struggles with racial and social issues into one battle with inequality among people from one country. Finally, he proved that anyone could find many similarities to build a strong friendship so that there are no national or social issues standing in front of the two individuals.

Works Cited

Camarasana, Linda. “McKay, Claude.” The Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies, 2016. Web.

Winston, J. “Letters from London in Black and Red: Claude McKay, Marcus Garvey and the Negro World.” History Workshop Journal, vol. 85, 2018, pp. 281-293.

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