The White House (Symbol)
In Claude McKay’s words, the White House symbolizes the “vast modern edifice of American Industry from which Negroes were effectively barred as a group.” The poem’s text is inseparable from its title—the door which the speaker angrily confronts is that of the White House. That is, the speaker is shut out of the “white house” as a symbol for all of the American economy and society, which operated to exclude Black people from full participation. This symbol in part alludes to the presidential White House but, as McKay has noted, reading the poem to refer literally to the White House itself would be incorrectly reductive. Instead, the White House—as the pinnacle of political power in the United States—is one notable representation of the much broader exclusion of Black people from American society and economy. The house is also described as “white,” symbolizing white supremacy. The white house provides a symbolic core for the poem, which would resonate in a society that denied basic political representation and economic access to Black people.
Doors (Symbol)
Doors symbolize exclusion and racism. When the occupants of the White House and other houses along the street shut their doors against the speaker, they are excluding the speaker from participation in political, economic, and cultural life. The opening line, which refers to the door being “shut against my tightened face,” portrays how metaphorical doors, such as voting rights and access to jobs, were slammed in the faces of Black people throughout America. This exclusion was also blatant and accepted among the white supremacist community—as the speaker describes, the “shuttered door” that they confront “boldly shines.” The doors are also made of glass, reflecting both their fragility and the speaker’s ability to see through them—that is, to see how society treats white people and Black people differently and oppresses the latter.
Savage (Symbol)
The "savage" symbolizes the white house's racist, demeaning attitude toward the speaker. Ironically, the speaker refers to himself as a savage; he says, he walks, "A chafing savage, down the decent street." The term has racist connotations, which suggests that the person is Black. The white house does not see him as a human, but characterizes him as a wild being, which contrasts with the manicured street. The speaker is cognizant of this perception and the fact that the white house will not open to him. This deeply ironic symbol presents the reader with the depths of racism and discrimination that the speaker faces.
Anger (Motif)
In addition to specifically condemning racism, "The White House" also repeatedly employs the motif of anger as an emotion; the speaker wrestles with how to manage his righteous anger in the face of discrimination. McKay uses a simile in line 2 to introduce this theme—the speaker is “sharp as steel” with discontent, using an image of weaponry and machinery to depict the sharp, burning internal anger that the speaker experiences. Throughout the poem, the speaker must control this sense of being “sharp,” in order to withstand the injustices of society. In addition to “sharpness,” McKay repeatedly uses physical imagery to convey the depths of the speaker’s emotional pain—they are “burning,” ‘sore,” and raw.” These intense descriptions remind the reader of the extreme pain that Black people faced in a society that systematically excluded them.
