In McKay’s poem, “The Harlem Dancer”, an important motif is doubling. The motif of doubling applies to the nouns that he describes; they are plurals. Using words that are plural, he paints a picture of good things like joyful times, peace, and harmony. The first line itself contains two plurals: the applauding youths and the young prostitutes. The youths applaud and laugh together, seemingly without worries. In the third and fourth lines, McKay continues to use doubling in his words, “blended flutes” and “black players upon a picnic day”, that indicate times of joy. In addition to a picture of joyful times with black players playing flutes on a picnic day, the voice of the prostitute sounding like blended flutes implies harmony and peace. He continues by describing the “black shiny curls on her neck” in like 9; the black curls give the impression that the prostitute fancily dressed up. Coins, wine-flushed boys and girls are all in multiples; they also add to the setting of a joyous party.
Although the motif of doubling is applied in the actual words McKay uses in the form of plurals, another form of doubling is in the prostitute’s personality. McKay reveals this through a turning point in line 12 with the word “devoured”. Prior to this line, the words that were plural have given good connotations and have given a sense of goodness, even giving a sense of some sort of party between the prostitutes and the boys and girls. However, McKay’s use of “devoured” is very powerful and completely changes the tone. Though “devoured” can be used with a neutral connotation, in this sentence, it seems to carry a negative connotation. To me, it conjures images of wild dogs and cats fighting over the last shred of meat on the bones of road kill. In addition to “devoured”, McKay also describes to us her “falsely smiling face”. When this is revealed to us, we are shown a different type of doubling; it is one that shows that there are multiple facets to the prostitute’s personality. Though there are many happy ideas presented before “devoured”, they are all offset by the fact that the prostitute has a dual personality. The motif of doubling is one that is very obvious throughout the poem, expressed through both the words that are plural and through the prostitute’s personality.
In McKay's doubling, the symbols he uses are of great importance. McKay uses metaphorical descriptions and similes throughout "The Harlem Dancer." One symbol that really stands out to me is the "proudly swaying palm." He uses a tall and sturdy tree to describe the woman of interest, giving her the characteristics of nobility and self-assurance. McKay follows this with the usage of doubling where he transforms that majestic symbol into something worn and damaged. "Grown lovelier for passing through a storm," immediately taints the previous image. While it signifies her own strength, it takes away from her solidity. McKay wants the reader to know that she is internally weak despite her exterior beauty.
ReplyDeleteThe doubling that Claude McKay creates in “The Harlem Dancer” is very important to the sonnet; however, the imagery that he uses to describe the scene cannot be overlooked. The overall image I get from this sonnet is a beautiful day after a storm has passed. Words like “sway,” “gracefully,” and “calm” imply that it is a happy day, that there is nothing to worry about. On the other hand, once the reader looks deeper into the sonnet, the realization of a “storm” comes in. “Devoured,” as you have stated, is one of the words that can be attributed to negativity. The storm in this sonnet is actually all the attention the prostitute receives. The lines “To me she seemed a proudly-swaying palm/Grown lovelier for passing through a storm” can be inferred as to how the prostitute build up her defenses to survive in her environment. The last two lines “But looking at her falsely-smiling face,/I knew her-self was not in that strange place” sheds light on the fact that the prostitute really isn’t as strong on the inside as she is on the exterior.
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