Criminal Justice System In If Beale Street Could Talk By James Baldwin

What does one do if the love of her life is in jail and she has a baby on the way? And if the incarcerated one was wrongfully convicted? And if she needs money she does not have to pay for a lawyer and bail? What does one do when she is a black woman, with a black lover, in 1970s Harlem? What does one do when the cops are murderers, and the judges do not listen? If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin is a novel following Tish and her fiancé, Fonny, and their experience with the criminal justice system. Tish and Fonny grow up together and have always been close. They eventually fall in love and Tish becomes pregnant with Fonny's child. Tish and her family are Fonny’s escape from his abusive mother. So, when Fonny is wrongfully convicted

After Daniel is released, for example, he is left with PTSD. He tries to tell Fonny and Tish what happened to him, hoping to release some of his pain. He says, “Some of the things I saw baby, I’ll be dreaming about until the day I die” (103). For Daniel, talking about prison is heartbreaking and Tish recognizes that he is forcing himself to talk: “ – he tore it out of himself like a man trying to be cured” (106). Like war veterans, Daniel is haunted by memories he has from prison. He can no longer sleep peacefully because of his trauma. His nightmares are a symptom of PTSD. Prison is meant to make people reflect on their crimes and help them become better citizens. Instead, Daniel is an example of how incarceration leaves people with scars from which they can’t heal. Baldwin uses the word “cured” to indicate that prison left Daniel with an illness. He is trying to “[tear] out” the sickness he suffers from. He is trying to “cure” himself from the pain. Daniel must rely on Fonny and Tish because it's almost as if he is sick in bed and needs someone to look after him, to “cure” him. His mental illness will affect him forever without professional help. After Daniel’s time finished, the system did not help him find a job and live a normal life. He is not given any resources to help with his mental illness. When he is invited to Fonny’s house, he ends up staying until midnight. Tish and Fonny realize that he is not leaving because he is afraid to go outside: “He’s a little afraid to leave, afraid, in fact, to hit those streets, and Fonny realizes this and walks him to the subway . . . [Daniel] is terrified of freedom; and is struggling in a trap” (105, 106). “Those streets” are the same streets where he was arrested and for this reason, Daniel is terrified to go outside alone. This is another effect of his PTSD. During his time in