Who is Ray, the Haitian Waiter from Home to Harlem and what is their importance? Claude_McKay English & Literature "Ray

Ray is the Haitian waiter that Jake meets while working in the dining car of the train. Ray is trapped in the United States because he was sent here to be educated at Howard University in Washington DC. After Haiti is invaded during the war by the United States, his family is unable to support him and he is forced to get a job on the railroad. Ray is saddened by the large number of American blacks that are uneducated and unable to think about the rest of the world. Ray is unable to lose himself with the parties and easy women that Jake enjoys. Ray gets a steady girlfriend, Agatha, but also breaks up with her. He decides to go out to sea working on a ship rather than be tied down to a wife and family. In a sense, the author appears to identify himself with Ray, as a black intellectual who is unable to find his place in white society.