Before I was unfamiliar with Claude Mckay's poetry, and after the readings I was truly affected by it. Of course, this sonnet was written in the era where was much segregation and racism toward African Americans. This poem was written to inspire the black community to an action to break common stereotypes of the time. It motivates people to speak up against racial hatred and violence, racial oppression no matter on the color of skin.
In the poem the question McKay seems to be asking is "How would you like to die - as an animal or as a man?"
In the line 6: "So that our precious blood may not be shed...," - I think it is a biblical allusion - a parallel to Jesus Christ. Probably, in this line the author elevates the importance of the men who are being oppressed and their cause by likening the spilling of their blood to that of Jesus did.
Are you experiencing the same parallel as I do, or are you having the different thoughts about it?
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