Poem Analysis: The Harlem Dancer By Claude Mckay

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The poem, The Harlem Dancer is written by Claude McKay in 1917. The poem starts with a prostitute on the stage of a nightclub dancing for the audience. The speaker says her voice is similar to a flute and that she is graceful while dancing. The speaker isn’t the only one that thinks the dancer is beautiful since the other patrons are throwing money and behaving like animals. I feel like this poem covers how sex workers are treated. In the poem the speaker mentioned that the audience is treating her as if she was a piece of meat. While the speaker viewed her as a piece of art instead, as seen when he referred to her voice as “the sound of blended flutes.” This poem shows how society views sex workers as less of a human and that sex work is viewed