Notes Of A Native SonJames Baldwin
...rted to develop an inability to communicate with his family and with others, just as Baldwin had trouble doing so. Baldwin regrets not having chances to talk to his father when alive. He gives readers an example of one of their few conversations where his father asked him if he would rather preach than write. Baldwin replies he would rather write. This answer instantly defined their separation, setting a boundary between them. Initially, Baldwin cannot understand his father’s bitterness and hatred towards white people and life, but as the essay progresses, we can see he slowly stops judging his father because he starts to understand him (very slowly). He mentions getting fired from his job several times, as the word spreads that he has been attempting to frequent white bars and places. The whites want him to stay put in his place, but he will not redeem himself because of his color. He goes to Jersey with a white friend of his, and starts experiencing similar prejudice situations. He wants to stand up for himself and insists on mixing with white people. He is thrown out of a restaurant with the ringing in his ears of “we don’t serve negroes here”, Because of this and many of his other experiences, he realizes that this is the way that his country works and there is nothing he can do about it. He also realizes he could have been murdered as well as he could have committed murder- and this shocks him- for he would never act in such a way (or so he thought).His hatred is generated for the whites. Baldwin soon after recognizes there is a chance he might Field 3 become like his father, and this scares him. He says he “wanted to do something to crush these white faces”, and metaphorically enters into a panic attack where he thinks all white people are coming after him. World War II is another issue which influenced the society at the time. Black men, who were being sent to fight in the war, were viewed as trash. It is a contradiction, for these men were going to fight for a country which didn’t respect them and was having civil riots. The armies were supposed to be fighting together, but were strictly separated. Black soldiers didn’t have half the rights white soldiers had, and they were repressed and treated as inferior individuals. This is another issue which arises in Baldwin’s mind. The third part of the essay intensely describes the funeral. When Baldwin arrives, he has a sudden recognition of how important his father was to him after observing the number of people who attended and after listening to the preacher’s words. He actually questions whether the beautiful words the preacher pronounced were really true; if his father was really this wonderful man being described. One of his father’s favorite songs was sung in his funeral and Baldwin starts having a flashback of plea...