Poet Claude Mckay's poem “If We Must Die” stood out mostly because Mckay is known for writing about racism, especially when it was against him. The poem was a response to the Red Summer of 1919, which involved many riots and hatred towards African American communities. The tragic events led to the destruction of many homes and the occurrence of many deaths. Claude Mckay uses imagery and similes to describe the overall theme as courageous and honorable. That then how people were savage and encouraged how African Americans should respond to hatred and described how they should fight and not be hunted. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Imagery is used mostly in this poem and it is well written. Once you start reading the poem, a picture is drawn in your mind. By knowing the motif of the poem, you can imagine yourself speaking to an audience as you read it. Which gives you the image of two teams or armies facing each other. In the poem, it states in line 3 “While around us the mad and hungry dogs bark,” you can imagine a dog barking ferociously at you. Another image is when he describes that they are outnumbered, which gives you the idea that one group is bigger than the other. Mckay then goes on to use similes that include comparing African Americans to hunted and immobilized pigs. When Claude compares African Americans to pigs, he says they are weak and allow themselves to be hunted. Mckay then goes on to talk about how they should die fighting and how it would be a noble way to die. At first, it seemed that he was trying to draw the attention of African Americans to this difficult situation. Maybe trying to encourage them to die for a cause rather than be hunted down and killed for no reason. Even if they had not defeated them, they would have died with honor and dignity. On the other hand, Claude could try to help the Africans by warning them of the risk of being killed. The tone of the poem “If We Should to Die” by Claude McKay is courageous. Early in the writing, McKay portrays an image of whites trying to push African Americans into a corner to keep them from going somewhere. Furthermore, Mckay wants them to simply accept death, however, he wants them to fight, even if it is a fight. The poem goes on to talk about how white people are cowards and should not be afraid and that they should speak out and no longer be silenced. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now .Get a custom essay In general, the poem addresses a number of issues related to racism and stance. Mckay covered numerous images and similes and this turned into a political message. Many suffered from this event, and ultimately, Claude wanted African individuals to stand up for their rights. There are many interpretations of this poem, one of which is that it was supposed to push people to be fearless and courageous. It was well written through Claude McKay's perspective..