James Baldwin
Born in Harlem in 1924, James Baldwin grew to be a complex man with many aspects. As an avid reader as a child, Baldwin soon developed the skills to become one of the most talented and strong writers of his time. His first novel was written in 1953 and was called “Go Tell it On the Mountain” and received critical acclaim. More great work from this novelist, essayist, and playwright were to come, one of which was “Notes of a Native Son,” which was first published in Harper’s Magazine in 1955 and was also first known as “Me and My House.” In “Notes of a Native Son,” Baldwin exercises his many talents as an essayist in how he manages to weave narratives and arguments throughout the essay. He is also able to use many of his experiences to prove his points. Baldwin effectively interlaces his narratives, arguments, and experiences so as to reach his central idea and to advocate the overall moral that he has learned to his audience. This is what makes Baldwin so unique in his work: his ability to successfully moralize all people he comes in contact with.
“Notes of a Native Son” is faceted with many ideas and arguments. The essay begins with Baldwin recounting July 29, 1943. The day his father died and his mother bore her last child (63). Baldwin shares his fathers’ past and of the hate and bitterness that filled him and how Baldwin realizes that it may soon fill him also. Baldwin spends the rest of the essay mostly analyzing his experiences and the behavior and mentality of his father, of whom he seemed to dislike. He comes to the conclusion that one must hold true two ideas: “. . . acceptance, totally without rancor, of life as it is and men as they are: in light of this idea... injustice is...
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...w had been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair. This intimation made my heart heavy…” (84). Now that his father is gone, he wonders how strong he will remain. How will he maintain his strength?
His father gave him what he needed to break free from hatred and to be strong, but now Baldwin desires that his father was still there with him to keep giving him what he needs. To keep giving him all the answers, so as not to lose all of the strength that keeps the rage in his blood from overflowing. To keep him away from the disease that ultimately brought down his father, and if he loses that strength, he will ultimately bring down himself into his own destruction.
Works Cited
Baldwin, James. “Notes of a Native Son.” 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.
Baldwin, James. “Notes of a Native Son.” 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.
The absence of true freedom is apparent in Baldwin?s other essays, in which he writes about the rampant prejudice and discrimination of the 1950?s and 60?s. Blacks during this time were limited as to where they could live, go to school, use the bathroom, eat, and drink. ?Such were the cases of a Nigerian second secretary who was rebuffed last week when he tried to order breakfast in Charlottesville, VA, and a Ghanaian second secret...
Notes of a Native Son is a nonfiction essay written by James Baldwin. The essay is about how Baldwin felt about his father and how he felt after his father had passed. Baldwin also realizes and comes to terms with many things during that time period. Racism is also one of Baldwin’s principal themes and uses it in many of his essays. Rebecca Skloot similarly wrote about a woman from near that time period. Skloot wrote an excerpt titled “The Miracle Woman”, the woman’s name in this piece was Henrietta Lacks whose cells would go on to live much longer than she did. Henrietta was a strong willed woman who had many children and knew when things weren’t right, so when she felt something was wrong with her uterus she went to the hospital and was diagnosed with cervical cancer. During Henrietta’s surgery a doctor took a slap of her uterus and grew her cells in a laboratory which became one of the most important cures and tools in medicine.
In 1955 a civil rights activist by the name of James Baldwin wrote his famous essay “Notes of a Native Son”. James Baldwin was born in Harlem, New York during a time where racial tensions where high all throughout the United States. In this essay he highlights these tension and his experience’s regarding them, while also giving us an insight of his upbringing. Along with this we get to see his relationship with a figure of his life, his father or more accurately his stepfather. In the essay James Baldwin says “This fight begins, however, in the heart and it now had been laid to my charge to keep my own heart free of hatred and despair”. This is a very powerful sentence that I believe
Reuben, Paul P. PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide. Chapter 10: James Baldwin (1924-1987). 3 November 2011. April 2012 .
Spurlin, William J. “Culture, Rhetoric, and Queer Identity: James Baldwin and the Identity Politics of Race and Sexuality.” McBride 103-21.
Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross.” 1995. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998:296-347.
“In 1963, Attorney General Robert Kennedy invited Baldwin and other prominent blacks to discuss the nation's racial situation” (Magill 103). The meeting only reminded Baldwin on how far the nation still had to come (Magill 103). Baldwin continued to write. “During the last 10 years of his life, he produced a number of important works of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry” (PBS 4). For awhile he taught and lectured, but soon it became more and more difficult for him to write (Magill 103). The years of drinking, smoking and traveling finally took their toll (Magill 103). “In 1987, James developed stomach cancer, and it took his life at the age of 63 on December 1, in his home in France” (PBS 4). Being a successful black man in the 1900s shows how smart and gifted James Baldwin
Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross.” 1963. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.
Baldwin, James. ?Notes of a Native Son.? 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.
Baldwin, James. ?Notes of a Native Son.? 1955. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998. 63-84.
...on.” 1956. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 606-613.
In the novel the Native Son, the author Richard Wright explores racism and oppression in American society. Wright skillfully merges his narrative voice into Bigger Thomas so that the reader can also feel how the pressure and racism affects the feelings, thoughts, self-image, and life of a Negro person. Bigger is a tragic product of American imperialism and exploitation in a modern world. Bigger embodies one of humankind’s greatest tragedies of how mass oppression permeates all aspects of the lives of the oppressed and the oppressor, creating a world of misunderstanding, ignorance, and suffering.
Baldwin, James. “Down at the Cross.” 1963. James Baldwin: Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. New York: Library of America, 1998: 296-347.
Like Dr. Martin Luther kind Baldwin believe that the only way to improve blacks social position was to accept what the white had did and integrate peacefully. Within his letter to his nephew he explains how the bitterness of his father lead him to suffer a terrible life he states “he was defeated long before he died because, at the bottom of his heart, he really believe what white people said about him” (Baldwin, pg. 4). Baldwin explains how it is none other than the white men of this country who have put them in this position but he felt as though we can’t blame them forever because” those innocents who believe that your imprisonment made them safe are losing their grasp on reality. But these men are your brother- your lost, younger brother” (Baldwin, pg. 9). Baldwin continues to emphasize the importance of acceptance when he tell his nephew “ you must accept them and accept them with love. For these innocent people have no other hope. They are, in effect, still trapped in a history which they do not understand, and until they understand it, they cannot be released (Baldwin, pg. 8). Baldwin truly did believe that we are all in this together and that we all must work with each other to make a world in which our children can live together. He wrote “For this is your home, my friend, do not be driven from it; great men have done great