Wordsworth’s poems, the real rather than stereo-
typed Africa, the French Revolution, and of Tous-
saint Louverture. In response to the rich tales
about the Haitian Revolution and Louverture’s
leadership, he can only say, “A black man! A
black man! Oh, I wish I’d been a soldier under
sich a man!” (132). The implicit message in these
chapters does not bode well for the reputation of
Harlem, a place in which there is much activity
but little intellectual stimulation. Once a man
like Jake is isolated or contained in a smaller
world, however, he becomes a willing student and
a potentially reformed young man.
In Pittsburgh, the friendship between Jake and
the itinerant intellectual Ray intensifies. Ray repre-
sents another version of the New Negro, a man who
makes an effort to read broadly and relishes the op-
portunity to purchase weekly newspapers such as
the Baltimore Afro-American,the NEGROWORLD,
the CHICAGO DEFENDER, and the PITTSBURGH
COURIER.Ray is struggling to overcome the less-
than-satisfying world in which he moves. At one
point, he surveys the motley group with whom he is
sharing a lodging space and wonders, “Why should
he have and love a race?” He realizes that he “ought
to love” the “men [who] claimed kinship with him”
because of his race, but he “loathed every soul in
that great barrack-room, except Jake” (153).
Both Jake and Ray are immersed in the unsa-
vory circles of New York society but move confi-
dently among their encounters with prostitutes,
gamblers, alcoholics, and other individuals who
threaten to corrupt them. McKay crafts vivid por-
traits of the jobs that the two men obtain and their
inevitable hardships as working-class men. They
work as railroad porters and experience firsthand
the hypocrisy and implicit disenfranchisement of
African-American laborers. Their distressing situa-
tions include stays in squalid residential conditions
and the temptation to experiment with drugs. The
protagonists endure stressful confrontations with
each other and those with whom they come in
contact. McKay uses these encounters to illumi-
nate inter- and intraracial tensions and to consider
the devastating social and psychological effects
that white-dominated society can have on people
of color. He also suggests the recuperative power of
African and African-American peoples. The char-
acter Ray performs the role of race historian, but
even he is undermined by the pressing realities of
urban American life.
Women figure prominently in Home to Harlem
but are not powerful or wholesome characters. The
opening scenes in the novel present Jake’s en-
counter with a Harlem prostitute. She charges him
for her services, but when she becomes quickly en-
amored of him she refunds his money. Despite feel-
ing a “reaching out and marriage of spirits,” he
quickly leaves and vows not to return to her. He
becomes involved with Congo Rose, a cabaret
singer who believes that physical abuse is not in-
consistent with a love relationship. The numerous
female characters in the novel, many of whom are
associated with the wild night world of drink and
gambling, also include women who are willing to
support Jake despite the reality of physical violence
and abandonment.
McKay incorporates autobiographical details of
his own life into the character Ray. Both men are im-
migrants from the West Indies, scholarly individuals
with intellectual leanings, and hampered by financial
lacking and political maneuverings. Ultimately, Ray
proves to be an equally perplexing example of 20th-
century masculinity. He has the opportunity to marry
Agatha, a proper and intelligent girl. He rejects her,
however, and flees to Europe rather than saddle him-
self with marital expectations and responsibilities.
The character Ray reappears in BANJO, McKay’s
next novel and the work that was published one year
after Home to Harlem.The novel ends with the sym-
bolic and desperate exile of the protagonists from
Harlem. Ray has fled to Europe, and Jake makes
plans to leave for Chicago as the threat of his arrest
for military desertion looms.
Home to Harlemwas an invaluable contribu-
tion to the Harlem Renaissance. It provoked dis-
cussion of black culture, strengthened connections
between authors, and undoubtedly enriched de-
bates about African-American identity, history,
and progress.Bibliography
Bernard, Emily. Remember Me to Harlem: The Letters of
Langston Hughes and Carl Van Vechten.New York:
Knopf, 2001.
Cooper, Wayne. Claude McKay: Rebel Sojourner in the
Harlem Renaissance.New York: Schocken Books,
1987.244 Home to Harlem