Critical Thinking
An allegory, in this case, means poems that can be analyzed to reveal a hidden meaning (Macqueen, 2017). If We Must Die is a Shakespearean sonnet that was re-written in 1919 by a Jamaican poet known as Claude McKay, and the poem echoes the voice of the oppressed, fading but fighting back regardless. The poem can be interpreted differently by varied readers across the globe, depending on the situation (Macqueen, 2017). However, the poem resonates with a struggling system of anarchy, and its different interpretations by different readers cause the poem to function allegorically.
The hidden meaning of the poem can be termed as resistance, and the moral can be said to be the courage to upset an oppressive system. However, Claude encourages the revolutionaries to fight courageously and fearlessly so that even though they may perish, their efforts will be immortalized and respected.
“If we must die, let it not be like hogs, hunted, and penned in an inglorious spot. (lines 1 and 2).” Hogs in this content, are the castrated pigs, usually male and castrated, reared for slaughter. This is the indignity that the author warns against. Fading Like a dog without a backbone is what the revolutionaries must not do. They are encouraged to fight fearlessly and make an impact. That is “so that our precious blood may not be shed in vain (line 6)”
“While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs, Making their mock at our accursed lot. (Lines 3 and 4).” The notion that the revolutionaries are cursed is false. However, they are unfavored against the oppressors. These two lines depict the picture oppressors hold for their laborers. They picture them as unworthy and waste but use them for profit. They torture them with much labor to satisfy their hungry and selfish needs. Thus, the dogs represent the oppressors lurking and laughing as the efforts of the oppressed to break free from their caged lives. In this case, the systems can be interpreted in varied ways. There exist those readers who may allude the allegory to the Black anti-racism as Claude had intended the poem to mean. Claude was a Black Jamaican, and he meant to encourage the Blacks undergoing oppression to stand tall and fight against the system that oppressed them. 1919 was still a period where racism was on the rise, and Black segregation and discrimination was still rampant.
However, the poem can still allude to the contemporary world where we have the capitalists and the laborers. That is, “Though far outnumbered, let us show us brave (line 10).” The capitalists are wealthy, and they own the world. Therefore, although the laborers are outnumbered by power, they must fight fearlessly and tirelessly against the system. Or the poem can still relate to the nations where the citizens face oppression from their government, such as the civil war in Syria that went on for nine years since 2011. Therefore, the poem can be interpreted in different ways, but it leads to a common goal, to encourage revolutionaries. The moral of the poem is to encourage revolutionaries to fight hard and never give up because giving up and seeming weak gives the “dogs” pleasure and allows them to mock the accursed lot and written in lines 3 and 4.
Thus, the poem is an allegory because it contains a hidden meaning. The poem talks about oppression and resistance. The oppressed must fight and fight fearlessly if al they wish to defeat the oppressor. Thus, although different readers may interpret the oppression differently, the poem still encourages revolutionary.
References
Borris, K. (2018). Allegory. A Companion to Renaissance Poetry, 595-610. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118585184.ch45
Macqueen, J. (2017). Allegory and satire. Allegory, 68-73. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315270425-6
McKay, C. (1919). “If We Must Die”. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44694/if-we-must-die