Journal #6

Among the drunken conversation throughout this piece McKay's "Home to Harlem" tells the story of the black men who don't necessarily feel the connection with their race that is expected of them. Ray is too smart for his own good, as he can not relate to the other Negroes. Very much related to "Passing," this piece is about kinsmenship or the lack there of. Just as Clare cannot embrace her heritage, neither can Ray admit to his roots. It's more than the lack of education, the ignorance and the bad language, what he truly detests is the level of society reserved for African Americans. The prejudice and oppression makes him sick to his stomach just thinking about it. He longs to have the confidence of a white person, to be free to speak his mind and be able to read a book without being teased or mocked. Ray knows that he cannot willingly belong to a race that is so far down on the food chain. He refuses to be one link in the chains of bondage that is black America. To Ray, being white is a passport to glory. He feels like black swine being hunted by the white canaille. Not all negroes are the same.

Both men seem to be searching for something, or someone to make their lives complete. This is how they justify constantly travelling for work and frequenting shady places. Though they both might want to settle down, they can't until they find their place in the world. Ray suffers from a violent stroke when he takes drugs to try and flee his environment mentally since he seems to be incapable of doing so physically. This is where I see a relation between Ray and the character of Will from Good Will Hunting. Both characters know that they are above the work and the people that they surround themselves with, but for some reason cannot get the guts to pick up and leave. I think that in Ray's case he feels that the color of his skin sets him up for failure.

In class you asked: Do Jake and Ray reject society's institutions or are they outside of them?
I think that Ray is outside of society's institutions while Jake rejects them. Ray is educated, from Haiti and is familiar with other cultures. He has seen how other societies function, and this one in particular is not his native culture. As for Jake, he has always been a part of this society, and he wishes that he is not.

Works Cited

McKay, Claude. "From Home to Harlem." The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Ed. David Lewis. New York: 1995. 371-388.