The Essay 'Stranger In The Village' By James Baldwin

383 Words2 Pages
“Stranger in the Village” is an essay written by the famous African American author James Baldwin, in the story he details his life as an African American living in a small mountain village in Switzerland. Baldwin begins the essay by explaining how the residents were fascinated by his blackness because they had never seen a black man before. The village is four hours from Milan and three hours from Lausanne, but because it is in the mountains, it is extremely isolated. Only 600 people live in the village, and its only attraction is hot spring water. Baldwin spends two weeks there one summer and returns that winter to work in a place with no distractions. All the villagers eventually become custom to Baldwin and even know his name. Even though