Richard Wright Poetry Analysis

There is a very thin line between love and hate in James Baldwin’s essay “Notes of a Native Son.” Throughout this essay James Baldwin continually makes references to life and death, blacks and whites, and love and hate. He uses his small experiences to explain a much larger, more complicated picture of life. From the first paragraph of the essay to the last paragraph, Baldwin continually makes connections on his point of view on life; beginning with the day his father died, to the time that his father was buried. James Baldwin is an outstanding author, who creatively displays his ability to weave narration and analysis throughout his essays.

Being a pastor's kid, religion was a huge part of Baldwin´s life. He loved God and he loved the music of the church. However, he did not love how hypocritical many white people in the church were being. They were racist, yet they claimed to be loving people who loved God. He speaks extensively on how the white Christians were the ones who went to Africa and forced their beliefs down the throats of the Africans. This ¨schizophrenia in the mind of Christendom¨ had completely taken away the morals of Christianity (Baldwin, 2268). He also speaks on how some white people in the church see themselves as superior to the black Christians, even though they share the same beliefs. This caused many people to rethink how they treated others, and it called out the hypocrisy and lack of morals that were happening in some parts of the Christian

Other than Baldwin’s honesty, his ability to create emotion is also a part of his style. Zinsser advised, “Writers are obviously at their most natural when they write in the first person … Therefore I urge people to write in the first person: to use ‘I’ and ‘me’ and ‘us’...” (20). Zinsser believes that the use of first person allows the readers to relate and connect to the writing more. The words ”I”, “me”, and “us” signal that the book is written by an actual human and adds to the unique style of the writing. Baldwin is able to actively create a connection to the readers due to the story like manner of the book, yet, he is also able to get his point across by showing the differences in the experiences of a black man. Take for example, when

In his essay, Wright explains that the simple act of a black person writing was astounding to white Americans. Black artists were never taken seriously or treated with the same respect as white

The plot in the story is mainly about personal expression. It attempts to illustrate the ability and freedom of personal expression in an environment and circumstances that degrade the entire pursuit to achieve personal freedom. The author is able to exploit English language, the language of black oppression and use these techniques to tell a true story of African-American experiences. Baldwin carefully controls the intensity of his story to harness acceptance across

Baldwin determines that violence and racial separatism are not acceptable solutions for achieving “power”. Baldwin believes that black people will only be able to achieve lasting influence in America if they love and accept white people. In contrast, writing 52 years after Baldwin, Coats tells his own son to “struggle” but not

James Baldwin in “Notes of a Native Son” writes about the death of his father and his struggle in America during segregation. He also reveals that he didn’t have a very good relationship with his ill father. Throughout the essay there is a repetition of bitterness. Also, Baldwin’s experiences reveal his purpose for writing the essay. One passage that is especially revealing is on page 222 which says, “When he died I had been away from home for a little over a year. In that year I had had time to become aware of the meaning of all my father’s bitter warnings, had discovered the secret of his proudly pursed lips and rigid carriage: I had discovered the weight of white people in the world. I saw that this had been for my ancestors and now would be for me an awful thing to live with and that the bitterness which had helped to kill my father could also kill me.” This passage reveals how Baldwin’s relationship with his father, and his father’s warnings help demonstrate how hatred can cause negative effects on African Americans.

“Notes of a Native Son” is a narrative of Baldwin’s life. It is mainly about his relationship with his father and how after his father passed away he realized how his anger and rage, which was depicted as a disease, was

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

James Baldwin is looked upon by many as the first of the great Black writers to have had a significant impact on the Civil Rights movement. James Baldwin work was very important to the civil rights movement and he was influenced by the civil rights movement. Born in 1924, Baldwin moved to Paris, France in his early twenties and it was from there that he did most of his important writing (Boyd). Baldwin began his writing career as a novelist and his personal goal was always to attain a status as a respected novelist but it was his contributions as an essayist that provided him with his greatest level of respect. Beginning in the mid-1950s and continuing through the 60s, Baldwin wrote a series of essays that were not only critically acclaimed but were also considered to have significant impact on the Civil Rights movement in the United States.

The past brings out strong emotions in Baldwin leading him to express his feelings by writing.

First, Wright’s language and writing style in Black Boy challenge Baldwin’s ideas. For example, pages 18-19 are purely figures pf speech that convey the writer as being far different than Wright. “There was the languor I felt when I heard green leaves rustling with a rain like sound.” This quote was just one of the sensory enticing statements

“The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated”(James Baldwin). James Baldwin lived from August 2, 1924 to December 1, 1987. He was an essayist, playwright, and novelist regarded as a highly insightful, iconic writer with works throughout his career in literature. As an African American male, James Baldwin fought through many struggles, for one having a poverty-stricken family and living in a neighborhood full of drugs, alcohol, violence, and crime. Even with temptation he found his way out through writing, important figures like Richard Wright. He also got into the civil rights movement which provided him the keys for James to compose stories

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.

Racial and sexual issues have always been apart of our history. The journey through slavery and equality. The acceptance of gays. Everyone has different opinions and views but not only has James Baldwin experienced theses things first hand and explored these issues by expressing them through his pieces of writing, during a time when these things were not as known and accepted as they are now, he also is in favor and supports these issues. In some of his writings these are the main points about him that seem to stand out and show who he really is.(1) harsh step-father which created a feeling of loneliness. He grew up in a strict household being lead by his step-father. There wasn’t much room for creativity and experimentation. Even though when