Essay about J.B. Religion

For many African Americans growing up in the 1960’s college was not an option. The only thing that was option for African Americans, were to get a job to support their family. Most of the African American communities did not have enough money to send their child to college. John understood this situation and did not let it hinder him. He knew that the first step to his exile, his flight from home would be getting good grades.

In Go Tell It on the Mountain, James Baldwin works with themes of gender, violence, and change. He does this through Florence, Gabriel, and the symbol of morning. The author is trying to say people’s decision can be determined by external factors.

James Baldwin’s short story, “Sonny’s Blues,” is the authors most studied and critically analyzed piece of literature. The majority of these analyses focus on the obvious themes of the book such as jazz music, the unnamed narrator, or the rift that divides Sonny and his brother. Little critique has ever gone into the biblical and religious themes that run throughout the story of “Sonny’s Blues.” Furthermore, it is even more astonishing that there is little critique given Baldwin has such a strong history with the world of Christianity.

James Baldwin’s childhood was full of Christianity. At the beginning of Sonny’s Blues by James Baldwin, the narrator notes that Baldwin’s, “father was a Pentecostal minister” (58) and Baldwin started to give sermons while he was still in his teen years. This lead him closer to God influencing him to write his first novel, Go Tell It on the Mountain, which was based out of a church and its members. Religion was an important aspect of James Baldwin’s life and by knowing this, one can better understand the text. Throughout Sonny’s Blues, there are biblical symbols that have deeper meanings.

It gives one a close glimpse at what exactly kept them going strong in this period of mistreatment, and just how they were so spiritually strong even at their weakest physically. It was said to be that African-Americans established this “invisible institution” through signals, passwords, and other things. It was here in Church where they mixed their African rhythms, sang, and praised God.

Personal stories and descriptions of major events are narrated throughout James Baldwin’s works as he analyzes the nature of the relationship between white and black America. The marriage of narration and analysis are especially evident in Baldwin’s essay, “Notes of a Native Son.” As Baldwin describes his father and their relationship until his father’s death, he simultaneously comments about the relationship between white and black America. Baldwin compares the events of his experience with concurrent American events to conclude about the nature of his personal relationships and the relationship between races; namely, that one must come to accept the

The author starts out by describing the harsh situation slaves were put in and how the black experience in America is a history of servitude and resistance, of survival in the land of death. The spirituals are the historical songs which tell us what the slaves did to hold themselves together and to fight back against their oppressors. In both Africa and America, music was directly related to daily life and was an expression of the community’s view of the world and its existence in it. The central theological concept, which is the prime religious factor, in the black spirituals is the divine liberation of the oppressed from slavery. Further, the theological assumption of black slave religion as expressed in the spirituals was that slavery contradicts God, and therefore, God will liberate black people. This factor came from the fact that many blacks believed in Jesus, and therefore, believed that He could save them from the oppression of slavery because of his death and resurrection. The fact that the theme of divine liberation was present in the slave songs is supported by three main assertions: the biblical literalism of the blacks forced them to accept the white viewpoints that implied God’s approval of slavery, the black songs were derived from white meeting songs and reflected the "white" meaning of divine liberation as freeing one from sin (not slavery), and that the spirituals do not contain "clear references to the desire for freedom". The extent of

Narrative is a form of writing used by writers to convey their experiences to an audience. James Baldwin is a renowned author for bringing his experience to literature. He grew up Harlem in the 1940’s and 1950’s, a crucial point in history for America due to the escalading conflict between people of different races marked by the race riots of Harlem and Detroit. This environment that Baldwin grew up in inspires and influences him to write the narrative “Notes of a Native Son,” which is based on his experience with racism and the Jim-Crow Laws. The narrative is about his father and his influence on Baldwin’s life, which he analyzes and compares to his own experiences. When Baldwin comes into

Many studies about Jehovah Witnesses state that they are the strictest religion out there. They have rules that should be followed or the person ends up condemned. They do not believe in other religions whatsoever, in any shape or form. Jehovah Witnesses God’s name to them is Jehovah. The sociological concepts discussed will be social class and norms, a function and a dysfunction of Jehovah Witness religion, a symbolic ritual, and an aspect of this religion that entails conflict.

Baldwin says, “The time has come to realize that the interracial drama acted out on the American continent has not only created a new black man, it has created a new white man, too. (Baldwin 449) Baldwin believed that the time has come for Americans to open their eyes to the world around them and learn to embrace the new cultures constantly growing to be apart of what makes up America. As an African-American in the 50s Baldwin especially felt how important it was for there to be and end to the separation of cultures and race in America.

“When, beneath the black mask, a human being begins to make himself felt one cannot escape a certain awful wonder as to what kind of human being it is.”(4). In his essay, “Stranger in the Village”, James Baldwin writes about the major differences that African Americans experience in Europe and America. Throughout the essay, Baldwin describes how the Europeans are naive about the black man. The outrage and amusement that Baldwin feels throughout his visit causes the overwhelming realization of the history of the African American.

In James Baldwin’s 1952 novel “Go Tell It On The Mountain” the characters in the novel each embark on a spiritual journey. Baldwin has dedicated a chapter to each member of the Grimes family, detailing their trails and tribulations, hopes and aspirations, as each one’s quest to get closer to God becomes a battle. I have chosen the character John because I admire the fierce struggle he endured to find his spirituality. I will examine how he’s embarked on his quest and prove that he has done it with integrity and dignity.

Rather than pushing both races to blur the line between whites and blacks, the religion seems to further distinguish this line. Baldwin gives a compelling reason for stating that Americans must separate themselves from Christianity in order to progress into a world where everyone can live free. The Christian religion keeps its members in a prison of blind faith. While the blacks lack freedom because of society's treatment of them, whites lack freedom in their blind following of the belief that they possess superiority over blacks because of skin color. Despite the initial comfort that religion wrapped around Baldwin, he saw its hypocrisy that ensnared the other members and continued the long chain of hate among Americans of every color. Americans’ interpretation of the message of Christianity may lead them to judge others, but Baldwin takes the true message of love and applies it to his plea to have hope. Baldwin states that he and believers like him will “force [their] brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and being to change it” (8). In opening their hearts to the Christian commandment to love one another and applying it to their actions, Americans will be able to save themselves from drowning in a flood of their judgments and bring peace to the

The second essay, Down at the Cross: Letter From a Region in my Mind, channeled Baldwin’s more in-depth feelings on racial discrimination, political freedom, and his religious journey, which quickly turned into his power, that kept him safe from the criminal streets of Harlem that encompassed gambling, drinking, drug addiction and hopelessness. The title of this essay itself, Down at the Cross, has Christian symbolism. A recurring pivotal them in Baldwin’s (1963) book, was the question asked to Baldwin in both his childhood and adulthood, “Whose little boy are you?” (p.28). He associated this question initially with fear, as he was asked this first as a little boy by pimps and racketeers from the Avenue in Harlem where he grew up. Baldwin (1963) said they suggested that he should

James Baldwin was born on August 2, 1924, in New York in the city of Harlem. He died on December 1, 1987 in Saint Paul De Vence France. In 1953 he had published a novel Go Tell It On The Mountain, that had showed his vision on the topic of race, spirituality, and humanity. He had also created other novels called Giovanni’s Room, Another Country, and Just Above My Head. He was also known for his essay works such as “Native Son” and “The Five Next Time”