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Analysis Of Notes Of A Native Son By James Baldwin

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James Baldwin’s nonfiction essay “Notes of a Native Son” begins with a statement of death and birth. He starts off by making it aware to the reader that his father died on the same day that his father’s last child was born. The essay truly examines a complicated father-son relationship. Baldwin reflected on his memories and the relationship he shared with his father.

Baldwin lays out every detail of the relationship of him and his father. He shares many examples of how he is both similar and different from his father. It seems throughout the essay that he is oblivious to the difference that he has with his father. For example, in one part of the essay Baldwin points out that he was getting along very well with his father because they shared ‘‘the vice of …show more content…

Which his father funeral was also his nineteenth birthday. Baldwin also reveals that he was extremely scared of his dad. He and siblings thought of him as a bitter individual. Baldwin’s dad was extremely pleased about being black. He didn't have any white companions, and did not want his children to become friends with whites either. He disclosed to them that they couldn't be trusted; but on the other hand, Baldwin did not concur with him. Baldwin trusted that the color of your skin had no part in whether one could be trusted. However his dad's black pride remained with him.

When Baldwin became older and experienced about life, he reflected back to his childhood and to his father’s beliefs. Baldwin gained a better understanding on his father’s beliefs. The essay examines a truly complicated father-son relationship because Baldwin was too young and naive to completely understand the reason why his father acted the way he did. With Baldwin’s lack of understanding of his father, it made him grow up to dislike him, but blind to what his dad’s reasoning to why he acted the way he did towards

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Baldwin uses the plot line to show the effects of how wanting power or control can destroy ones relationship. The narrator in the story reads an article about his brother, Sonny, who has gotten into trouble with drugs. He thinks back to when Sonny and himself were growing up. His mother told him a story about his father and made him promise to never “let [Sonny] fall…no matter how evil you gets with him” (Baldwin 442).

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So this makes his real- life experience connect so closely to the story he had written. He experienced loss in real life along with in his story. In the story, the narrator had also lost his daughter to polo, although he didn’t exactly explain his feelings, he showed that it did affect him. Which makes me think that maybe Baldwin was the type of person to hide his feelings and act tough even though things affected him. He tried not to dwell on things, but realize that he can feel

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In the essay “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin, he expresses feelings of hate and despair towards his father. His father died when James was 19 years old from tuberculosis; it just so happens that his funeral was on the day of the Harlem Riot of 1943. Baldwin explains that his father isn’t fond of white people due to the racist past. He recalls a time when a white teacher brought him to a theater and that caused nothing but upset with his father, even though it was a kind act. Many events happened to Baldwin as a result of segregation, including a time where a waitress refused to serve him due to his skin color and Baldwin threw a pitcher of water at her.

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For example, the narrator talked about how Sonny stayed at his sister-in-law's house and played his heart out on their piano. This flashback showed his love for music anywhere he was. It helped him escape the pain he was feeling in Harlem and some of his responsibilities of school by staying home and playing. Baldwin also used stereotypes to get his message across. Harlem was not a friendly, rich, white town, so the fact that he chose this setting it made the reader automatically assume that these brothers did not grow up in a stable environment.

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Throughout the story of “Sonny’s Blues”, James Baldwin develops a theme that can still be related with today. The misunderstanding and lack of knowledge that the narrator experiences, about his brother, is something that many today feel, as their own family members are being prosecuted and they do not comprehend why. Within the story, there are numerous subtle ideas that are used to progress the story and theme along to the ending that is given. James Baldwin advances the theme of his story, that misfortune and anguish can be renovated into a unique art form, using characterizations, settings, and symbolisms. One of the main literary devices that is used to express the theme is characterization.

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In James Baldwin’s essay, “A Talk to Teachers”, he addresses the teachers around the world. He argues that the purpose of education is to equip students with the ability to look at the world for themselves. Clearly, Baldwin’s most significant rhetorical move to persuade the reader is his use of ethos, pathos, and repetition. Throughout Baldwin’s essay, he encourages changes in education for blacks, but he does so using ethos and pathos.

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The book begins with anecdotes about the defamation of black bodies by white people and by Christianity itself. When speaking about his adolescence, Baldwin writes that “Owing to the way I had been raised, the abrupt discomfort that all this aroused in me and the fact that I had no idea what my voice or my mind or my body was likely to do next caused me to consider myself one of the most depraved people on earth” (Baldwin 17). The platonized Christian tradition that Baldwin was a part of saw the body, and especially the black body, as a symbol of sin, and so the onset of puberty became a source of guilt because of its association with sexuality (Brown Douglas

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Baldwin’s acknowledgement as he declares, “I knew, no matter what anybody said, that the future I faced, was not the future they faced”

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One will constantly face temporary conflict throughout life, but ultimately they can overcome through a will to on and pursue what makes oneself happy. Baldwin was able to create a picture in the reader's mind due to his personal relation to his characters, he was able to understand the harsh times for an African-American male. It also reflects on the care that siblings have for one another and how even though they have good intentions, they can't always help their loved one follow a positive

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Baldwin uses an advanced vocabulary throughout the essay, but only uses slang terms when referring to African Americans. By using phrases like “But if I was a "nigger" in your eyes”, he shows the audience what the words culturally imply such as stupidity and ignorance. Since this is

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The following quote shows that Baldwin acknowledged that the position that his nephew is in is one that is not only familiar to him, but to his grandmother and those that came before her: "Now, my dear namesake, these innocent and well-meaning people, your countrymen, have caused you to be born under conditions not far removed from those described for us by Charles Dickens in the London of more than a hundred years ago… I know the conditions under which you were born for I was there. Your countrymen were not there and haven 't made it yet. Your grandmother was also there and no one has ever accused her of being

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Baldwin’s creative style in both stories effectively gives his audience perspective and insight into these themes, permitting a deeper comprehension of how they relate to the world outside of his stories.

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