James Baldwins Narration and Analysis in Notes of a Native Son Essay

Experiences There is a very thin line amid cognize and hate in James Baldwins essay Notes of a Native Son. Throughout this essay James Baldwin continually makes references to animateness and death, blacks and uninfecteds, and love and hate. He uses his short 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. The binaries between life and death play a huge role in Baldwins Notes of a Native Son. The day that James Baldwins father died, his come had borne her last child. Although the day his father died was extremely upsetting, a new child coming into the world is exciting. This brings hope to the rea der that at last through all the trials and tribulations Baldwin goes through, that eventually he might find a state of peace. Baldwins fathers funeral happens to fall on Baldwins nineteenth birthday, which brings up another expressive style Baldwin is able to show how life and death affect this essay. Instead of trying to deal with his fathers death with his family, Baldwin decides to celebrate his birthday with a bottleful of whiskey and a girl that he knew. Baldwin is unsure of what to do now that his father is gone. He says, I imagine I decided it, since, as the funeral arcminute approached, it became clearer and clearer to me that I would not know what to do with myself when it was over (Baldwin 77). Baldwin figures that if he gets drunk enoug... ...ne to them and they would not tolerate it. So instead of cowering to the white girls white power they stood up for themselves and showed this girl that she was not better than them just because of her skin color. It i s these girls that help to diminish the separate but equal facilities. James Baldwin is an incredible essayist. He skillfully intertwines his own experiences growing up, into a more universal theory. Using binaries, Baldwin explains the hatred between whites and blacks and his desire for a change. His point of view on life is slightly different from the beginning of the essay to the last. However, he creatively shows these changes through narration and analysis.Works CitedBaldwin, James. Notes of a Native Son. 1955. James Baldwin Collected Essays. Ed. Toni Morrison. reinvigorated York, New York, Library of America, 1998. 70-84.