Notes Of A Native Son And 'My Father's Suitcase'

Ones early year life experiences play a significant role as to how relationships are formed among children and their parents. In the case of J. Baldwin's “Notes of a Native Son” and O. Pamuc's “My Father's suitcase” stories, the focus is based on a father and son relationship. Moreover, it is the development of such relationships that has an enormous influence on how a child is raised and the way they see the world that they live in. In both stories the authors reflect upon experiences they had after their fathers’ death. Even though, there are both differences and similarities in these stories, it is obvious to discover differences in a father and son relationship. However, it is interesting to find that similarities exist among these stories.

Baldwin’s story was based on his relationship with his racist, delusional, and his unfortunate circumstances growing up. Throughout his childhood, he did not know his father well but he was aware that he had faced extreme discrimination and racism as he was subject to slavery. He found his father to be a selfish person, as he did not have a close relative that was near death. Baldwin and his eight siblings were embarrassed of their father. They did not feel comfortable having friends over as he had a bad temper and his behavior was unpredictable. The family hardly had any interaction with white people in their childhood years. His father considered that hanging out with white people to be a sin. In O. Pamuc’s story, he is pondering whether to open an old suitcase that his father gave him that was full of his writings. Pamuc was interested to find out more about his father and the suitcase was the gateway to such information. Nevertheless, he had such a high regard for his father’s work and he considered him his idol. He continuously contemplated if he should open the suitcase as he had doubts regarding its quality and he did not want to be disappointed. Pamuc’s father was humble and had no regrets. Furthermore, he had experienced failures through his businesses and was able to move forward with his