In both poems, the poet attempts to convey the nobility and endurance of his race. Thus, he chose a form of poetry suitable to this purpose: the sonnet. The sonnet is an age-old and enduring form of poetry, having been established and popularized by William Shakespeare. The use of the sonnet to depict a fairly modern problem then shows the reader that the black race has existed for a long time and that their inner nobility cannot be destroyed by any crimes of racial hatred or bias.

Inner nobility as depicted by the form of the poems is balanced by a mood of extreme anger in both poems. In "The White House" the anger is subtle and hidden, but very fierce, as depicted by diction such as "sharp as steel", "burn", and "passion rends my vitals". None of these emotions are shown distinct

Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,

The two poems then show the process of growing hatred and distrust. The strong diction in "If We Must Die" show the feelings of the oppressed in no uncertain terms. Their strength is in their nobility, which in the end, according to the poet, stands stronger than the surface strength of the oppressor. This is a strength built upon character and history, rather than upon decorations and weapons that money can buy. It is this strength upon which the oppressed poet and his "kinsmen" focus their hope.

In vain; then even the monsters we defy

Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back! (l. 13-14).

The strength of the oppressor in "The White House" then lies in subtle political and social strategies. The oppressor lives in a good, neat neighborhood, and is obviously affluent. In combination with this, derogatory terms such as "savage" are levelled against the oppressed to keep their spirit submissive. The law and politics are then also used for the same purpose. These however are all surface strengths, whereas the strength of the oppressed comes from inner nobility, as seen above.

The contrast between black and white in this poem is also depicted in a more concrete way than is the case in "The White House". The latter depicts the contrasts mainly symbolically, focusing on lifestyle and wealth differences between the racial groups. In "If We Must Die" the contrast is on the differences of inner character and nobility:

A chafing savage, down the decent street;

The oppressed fight like "men", whereas the oppressor is shown in terms of cowardly dogs, who seek their strength in numbers. Instead, the strength of the oppressed lies in his inner nobility and the knowledge of the validity of his history and culture. The anger in this poem is then extremely energetic, symbolizing the war that has begun to be openly fought, in contrast to "The White House", where the oppressed was searching for wisdom:

"Your door is shut against my tightened face,

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Approximate Word count = 1650
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)