Harlem Shadows and the Illusion of Freedom

Cifriana Mina Dela Cruz

As we continue our poetry journey, we come across the sonnet form, more specifically in McKay, whose poems have been use to illustrate the struggles that he and his community faces during the Harlem Renaissance. Two of these particular poems, “Outcast” and “The Tired Worker” both bring to light in particular the hardships that come with being a working class man and a person of color. I’m a bit on the fence whether or not one is a complete representation of the other, as while both point out similarities between the two speakers there is a possibility that they could be pointing out issues from two different perspectives.

I will try my best to argue for both parts, as I think we do need to take into consideration intersectionality in this case.

“The Tired Worker” is as states, about a working class man that has ended his day and is about to go to bed. He expresses his woes with short phrases such as “O whisper, O my soul!” (Line 1) and “Peace, O my rebel heart!” (Line 3), which emphasizes the speaker’s fatigue and anguish. This is followed by a description of the body being wrapped around the bedsheets using diction such as “weary body” (Line 5) and “tired hands and aching feet” (Line 8), creating an image at least in my mind a beaten and worn out body. In contrast, the idea of sleep (or the night) seems to be personified, almost like a lover, described as “tender” (Line 10), gentle, which greatly contrasts the day. This creates a fleeting moment of peace before the turn of the sonnet, where the twist is when dawn arrives, where he has to return to “the harsh, the ugly city” (Line 14). In this way I also kind of see the dawn as personified in a way, as someone who drags him away from his lover (and I might get back to this please bear with me).

Meanwhile, the poem “Outcast” features a person of color and his life under the conditions of white supremacy. In this poem the themes that speak out to me is this “illusion of freedom” because to me the speaker still feels trapped in the world that he lives in. Phrases such as “My spirit, bondaged by the body” (line 2), “the great western world holds me in fee”, and “I may never hope for full release” demonstrates this illusion of freedom. The speaker denotes that while he may not be a literal slave, he is still under the mercy of the white man. The poem is a sonnet that examines himself living in a world that he doesn’t truly belong in, hence “the way of life a ghost” (Line 11) and “its alien gods” (Line 8). This leads to a turn where the speaker (I guess) realizes his situation: he is away from his native home and forced to live oppressed under the conditions of “the white man’s menace” (Line 14).

Both of these poems have many similarities that I think could directly parallel with one another, and the biggest one (which I don’t know if I should bring this up) has to do with the fact there seems to be a “slavery” component here. While it’s a bit more obvious in “Outcasts” since it directly deals with a black person and the history of his people being enslaved, I can see the argument that “The Tired Worker” could be seen as almost “slavelike”, seeing how the speaker describes himself as overworked and tired, to the point where his body is beaten. Slaves (especially in America) were very mistreated, most working under poor conditions with no way of negotiating their life, which can be seen throughout both poems. In both circumstances, the speakers are living under the mercy of those that could be considered “superior”, with “The Tired Worker” speaker basically working himself to death while the “Outcast” speaker having to deal with struggling under a society that puts white people on top. We also have to consider that most likely a lot of working class citizens at the time were people of color that couldn’t accumulate enough wealth to live comfortably, and on top of that not getting respect out of their white peers.

Now, this is a lot of assumptions, and you could also argue that these are two different speakers that address different needs. “Outcast” specifically reveals the struggles of mainly people of color, which I believe is more specific than “The Tired Worker”. As I could see it, the latter poem can be applied to anyone in the working class regardless of race, so there is this to consider. On top of that, they both criticize different aspects on the system they work under; while one deals more with the mistreatment of lower and working class citizens, the other reveals the dark realities of living under white supremacy. And while I personally think that it’s two different angles of the same issue, they could also be different issues (although I’m not gonna debate on that whichever case it is). And while I can see the parallels, I can also see that they don’t completely overlap each other.

So I’m pretty much on the fence with this one. I may lean towards the proposition that “Outcast” reflects “The Tired Worker”, but I can see how it might not be the case. Only time will tell.

The Twins of Disregarded Capitalism

By Mitaya La Pierre

McKay’s “The Tired Worker” tells a story we are all familiar with; an exhaustion that complies with the typical hustle of our days. The work that stains our fingers and wears down our minds; is beautifully portrayed in this sonnet. But there’s a question to be asked here; what about the poem “Outcast”? And what does that poem have to do with Mc Kay’s other poem; “The Tired Worker”? Well more than one may think.

In the first line of “Outcast” we get a description of the speakers background.

“For the dim regions whence my father’s came

My spirit, bondaged by the body, longs.” 

The first lines of this sonnet provide a compelling point of view. Where the worker in “The Tired Worker” shows a relatable disdain for the working day; we can find a bit of under surface finding with outcast. This character hates being ‘chained’ by their job, but maybe there’s something not so funny or relatable about it when spoken of in Outcast.

“-Words felt, but never heard, my lips would frame;

My soul would sing forgotten jungle songs.

I would go back to darkness and to peace,

But the great western world holds me in fee,

And I may never hope for full release

While to its alien gods I bend my knee.”

In lines 3-8, it shows me that he isn’t just talking about not wanting to go to work, like in the other poem, but that he is also trying to go back to something else. By working, and applying himself constantly to society, this torn worker has lost sight of himself. He is no longer his own; his soul sings jungle songs, his fathers came from dim regions; he is no longer himself but of the capital world. Yeah sure, no one likes to get up for work in the morning, but outcast shows that for the tired worker its more than that! Claude McKay coming from a black background knows the effects of racism and slavery first hand. For the speaker its not just work but, the bondage of it that is so personal to him. Because of the western world, because of white nationalism, and capitalism; he is not just responsible for being a cog in the machine, he is forced into it. This poem providing a more in depth, and tragic understanding of what it actually means to work as a black man in this white dominated industry.