James Baldwin Research Paper

Kayla Alves
English 102
Research Paper
05/04/17

James Baldwin, a writer and playwright who was one of the 20th century's best, broke the normal grounds of literature with the exploration of racial and social issues being played out all throughout his many works in new and different ways. He was especially well known for his essays and intake on the experiences based on people of color living in America during a time when people didn’t allow you to have any other identity than color of your skin. Baldwin’s ability to give incite to people whose views and thoughts are set in their ways making them see things from a different perspective is a strong skill to have that not many do. This skill is expressed throughout his many novels like Go Tell

He soon moved to a small New York City neighborhood that seemed to be popular with artists and writers just like him. After his leap of faith and devotion towards writing a novel, he also needed to supply himself with money to support his family which meant doing odd jobs. Baldwin began getting his work recognized and started getting essays and short stories published for the entire world to admire in his greatness. Three years later, Baldwin moved to Pairs for an internship making a huge dramatic change in his life. The shift in location caused Baldwin to write more about his personal thoughts and racial background experiences. "Once I found myself on the other side of the ocean, I see where I came from very clearly...I am the grandson of a slave, and I am a writer. I must deal with both," this quotes shows the struggle that Baldwin had to deal with rather than avoid it telling The New York Times in an interview. The move marked the beginning of his life as a "transatlantic commuter," dividing his time between France the place for new experiences and the United States the place where his drive and passion came

Expressing senses in his own life, he provided a harsh look at the black experience in America through certain works as Notes of a Native Son, in 1955; Nobody Knows My Name: More Notes of a Native Son, in 1961 and If Beale Street Could Talk in 1974. These stories and its suffering, unjustified people showing feeling trapped was common and in the novel If Beale Street Could Talk issues was referred to as the "garbage dump" of New York City where blacks and people of color constantly were at the judgment of whites. Though the stories of these colored people Baldwin tried to shine a light on seemed to be politically helpless has strengthened overtime, in Baldwin's perception based on the deep love, and the powerful bonds of emotion that connects all of them. If Beale Street Could Talk is not only a novel that shines a light onto the realities of people of color in New York at the time, also is seen as a touching and very traditional incite with the celebration of love. It shows not only the love sexuality of that of a man and a woman, but the type of love that shows the raw struggles that occur between members of a family and their community, which may involve extreme levels of sacrifices for not only the couple but everyone around them. Baldwin than sadly died on December 1, in 1987 while at his home in St. Paul de Vence, France. He never wanted