Reclusiveness and African Roots: An Analysis of Claude McKay’s Poem “Outcast” Anonymous 11th Grade

Claude McKay’s poem “Outcast” explores the fight within oneself to belong, the longing of the persona to be linked to his people, his roots. The poet employs the uncomplicated and unsophisticated sonnet fabrication as he explores the persona’s struggle and scuffle, particularly as an American citizen of African descent, for a place in the American system. The poetic sonnet structure often involves three quatrains which the poet uses to develop a problem or theme of interest and then later in the final two lines (the couplet) develops or presents a solution to the problem. The utilisation of this particular structure of poetry is suitable predominantly in allowing the reader to have an explicit idea of the problem that the persona is struggling with and the specific steps or guidelines that the persona uses in order to solve the problem. In the “Outcast,” the poet uses each quatrain to present a particular idea and to develop the overall theme of being a recluse. McKay’s rather exemplary choice of this poetic structure plays a rather magnificent and profound role in bringing into light the persona’s struggle for a place in a world that is alien to him, a world that is too far from his inherent clime—Africa.

The first quatrain...