The title of "The Harlem Dancer" is very deceiving. People might think that this poem.
is a story of a dancer from Harlem. The poem is difficult to understand at times, and.
people might have to read it a few times to understand what it is talking about. The.
message McKay was trying to get across to his readers in this poem is that life for African.
Americans during the 1920's was horrible, and he gave a description of how they were.
treated. When reading "The Harlem Dancer", the reader really has to analyze the poem in.
order to understand what the author is talking about.
In this poem, the tone is cheerful, but at times there is some discontent. In the.
beginning of the poem, there is a description of happiness and laughter. As I read the.
beginning, I assumed it was going to be about a happy, light-hearted occasion. The writing.
goes on to talk metaphorically about the dancer and how unhappy she was with her.
position. The audience is smiling, but she does not share that emotion with them because.
she is "not herself in that strange place." The tone changes from the audience being very.
entertained, to the sadness and misery of the dancer. .
Throughout "The Harlem Dancer", McKay uses metaphores and different symbols to.
express his feelings in this piece of writing. With his repitition of words, the reader is.
reminded of the young age of the people he is writing about. Such phrases as "young.
prostitutes", he is explaining to the reader that the characters are not old enough to be.
experiencing the nightlife in which they are partaking. My assumption is that the dancer is.
older because poem says that she is "lovlier for passing through a storm." The dancer is.
part of an older generation that lived through the World War I and is now faced with new.
experiences. Towards the middle of the poem, the narrator describes the dancer as .
"swaying", implying that she can change with things around her if she wants to be.