In McKay’s poem, “America”, she personifies the United States as this great, horrible, protecting beast. It is interesting to see the relationship between America and the voice of the poem, as at first it seems that the voice is being abused, but then welcomes this cultured threat as a test of his character. And yet despite all efforts, America’s ‘granite wonders’ sink like ‘priceless treasures sinking in the sand.’ This can be interpreted as the elusive American dream, or trying to attain the unattainable.
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I really appreciated the duality of America which McKay expresses in this sonnet featuring the two extremes of emotions of love and hate. I think it is interesting to look at a similar dichotomy through the lense of the characterization of Gatsby by Nick. This can be seen as early as the initial description of Gatsby on page two as Nick both praises him while on the same page saying that he “represents everything for which I have an unaffected scorn” (2).