Autobiographical works are unique material because they allow immersing yourself in another era and looking at the world through the writer’s eyes. This feature is essential because it allows readers to experience various backgrounds. In this context, James Baldwin’s collection of essays is a graphic demonstration of personal and racial issues from a black perspective. This essay aims to reflect on this work and highlight the key aspects that make this work so important for the present.
The first copy of “Notes of a Native Son” appeared in 1955, combining ten essays previously published in various journals. This format and the displayed era allow the author to show multiple passages from his life. From my perspective, one of the most meaningful is the essay about Baldwin’s personal life and relationship with his father. This part has the same title as the entire collection and combines many themes. It reflects personal conflicts between respect and hatred for a dying father and issues of progress and stagnation concerning the whole society (Baldwin, 2012). Baldwin (2012) repeatedly highlights traits that alienated him from his father, such as his bitterness and self-confidence. Although the author sees these qualities as clearly negative, simultaneously, he understands their meaning and the reason for his father’s behavior when he begins to face injustice himself.
At this point, Baldwin realizes that his father’s manner of communication was influenced, among other things, by the behavior of white people. Their ignorance and superiority arouse anger in blacks, which develops into violence. The author (2012) emphasizes, commenting on the Harlem destructions, that it is a necessity for ghetto dwellers, without which they would have been destroyed from within or suppressed by whites. However, simultaneously, the author adheres to the religious idea of acceptance and humility (Baldwin, 2012). Such a contradiction is a characteristic feature of the black population of that time and leads to the formation of many problems.
Thus, Baldwin’s work, in many ways, successfully captures the conflicted lives of black people forced to face injustice from whites. For modern society, it is essential for its accurate reflection of racial oppression. Since the issue of racism is still relevant, such an example can be highly instructive. In addition, Baldwin demonstrates the inconsistency of the human personality and the conflict between hatred and acceptance. Therefore, this work can help others solve their issues by learning from the author’s experience, making his work even more valuable.
Reference
Baldwin, J. (2012). Notes of a native son. Beacon Press.