When first attending college, a girl may struggle with connecting her life in high school with her life in college. After moving to a country that speaks a language different than his native language, a man may struggle to develop communication skills in his daily life. Like the hardships of these people, Claude McKay depicts the difficulty associated with moving to a new place, such as struggling to find where one fits in when there is a great difference between one’s past and present homes, in “The Topics of New York” through imagery and symbolism:
Bananas ripe and green, and gingerroot, Cocoa in pods and alligator pears, And tangerines and mangoes and grapefruit,
Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
Set in the window, bringing …show more content…
The tropical fruit is “set in the window” (McKay 71) with glass separating him from the fruit. The fruit symbolizes his past life in Jamaica because he “could no more gaze” (McKay 71) at the fruit and “a wave of longing” (McKay 71) swept through his body after he describes the memories of his homeland. On display behind a glass window, the fruit is inaccessible, demonstrating that McKay is unable to get back to his roots. The isolation of the fruit behind the clear glass also parallels McKay’s isolation in New York. Because of his past life in Jamaica “bringing memories” (McKay 71), the author cannot integrate himself into the New York culture. He can remember his past culture and can see what could be his new culture, but is stuck in between the two. The transparent display window separates McKay from being able to both stay true to his roots and move away from those roots. McKay writes about his yearning for the familiar ways of his old life and his struggle to adapt to his new life. This struggle is emphasized by the vast cultural differenced between Jamaica and New York. Similar to the way first going to college brings about homesickness or questioning of one’s identity, moving to a new place with a different culture is also
Bananas ripe and green, and gingerroot, Cocoa in pods and alligator pears, And tangerines and mangoes and grapefruit,
Fit for the highest prize at parish fairs,
Set in the window, bringing …show more content…
The tropical fruit is “set in the window” (McKay 71) with glass separating him from the fruit. The fruit symbolizes his past life in Jamaica because he “could no more gaze” (McKay 71) at the fruit and “a wave of longing” (McKay 71) swept through his body after he describes the memories of his homeland. On display behind a glass window, the fruit is inaccessible, demonstrating that McKay is unable to get back to his roots. The isolation of the fruit behind the clear glass also parallels McKay’s isolation in New York. Because of his past life in Jamaica “bringing memories” (McKay 71), the author cannot integrate himself into the New York culture. He can remember his past culture and can see what could be his new culture, but is stuck in between the two. The transparent display window separates McKay from being able to both stay true to his roots and move away from those roots. McKay writes about his yearning for the familiar ways of his old life and his struggle to adapt to his new life. This struggle is emphasized by the vast cultural differenced between Jamaica and New York. Similar to the way first going to college brings about homesickness or questioning of one’s identity, moving to a new place with a different culture is also