It is obvious from the title of Claude McKay’s 1920 poem entitled “Lynching,” that it is heavily reflective of the the historical context of the time. The poem’s context on the surface is that of a lynching taking place. This is evident in the lines that state that “[h]is father, by the cruelest way of pain,/ had bidden him to his bosom once again;”(McKay 2-3). This reference of “once again” may be McKay’s way of pointing out the frequency of these occurrences. The “him” is referring to the African American race as a whole. At the time of this poems publication, mob violence due to white supremacy was rampant throughout the south. Lynching was one of the more common. Racial crimes and lynchings occurred throughout the country even up until 1955 with the Emmett Till Case.
Claude McKay lays forth how he feels about the act of lynching by discussing the salvation of everyone involved. This is why he uses so much religious imagery. An example of this of this is when he mentioned “the awful sin remained still unforgiven” (4). This is McKay referring to the believed to be sin of blacks being sinful in the eyes of whites. This sin is probably from the believe that blacks were black due to God’s cursing of Ham. He points out how this ancient belief is still not forgiven by those who belief it. He also ties in more religious imagery by comparing the star on the night of Christ’s birth and the North star that guided some enslaved to freedom. A freedom that McKay still sees to be false in 1920 when lynchings were still occurring. He also points out how during this time period this was an act that was accepting. He points out how the body is still there for all to see at daybreak. This is meant to point out how with many lynchings at this time people were more than happy to witness them. He characterizes this with a very dark image of children or future lynchers dancing around the corpse.
VERY GRAPHIC BUT YOU CAN’T HIDE HISTORY. Notice the fellow on the far right smiling with “fiendish glee”
You’re right, this picture is very graphic, but I think it really drives home the image connected to “fiendish glee.” In your post, you attribute the use of religious rhetoric to ” the salvation of everyone involved,” and the “awful sin” a reference to the “sin of blacks being sinful in the eyes of whites.” I think this is a great example of close reading, however, I tend to think that McKay’s use of religious concepts were in complete mockery of the religious connection to the justification of slavery. When these religious references are included in a poem about something as horrible as lynching, I think it is used to highlight the hypocrisy and wrongness of anything that is used to say these actions might be justified.