Notes of a Native Son

Baldwin chose the title "Notes of a Native Son" as a reference to Richard Wright's novel Native Son, despite their disagreements. Wright's character, Bigger Thomas, represents the alienation of...

James Baldwin’s father’s funeral in Notes of a Native Son is a pivotal moment within the narrative and within Baldwin’s life. Baldwin’s father’s funeral happens on Baldwin’s birthday and several...

Louis (pronounced "Louie") Armstrong is among the most famous American jazz musicians of all time. Born in 1901, Armstrong became popular beginning in the 1920s as a trumpeter, composer, and...

Baldwin uses a variety of literary and rhetorical techniques in Notes of a Native Son.  He uses direct address and shifting narrative points of view to name a couple.  His use...

James Baldwin’s essay “Notes of a Native Son” is one of his most anthologized nonfiction texts. Structure is defined as the organizational features of a work of literature. Common structures...

The ultimate conclusion that James Baldwin comes to about his father in Notes of a Native Son is that of acceptance and, perhaps quietly, forgiveness. Baldwin writes of his father early in the...

During the time period in which Notes of a Native Son was written, African Americans were being segregated from the whites, and were forced to endure many injustices. Through this novel, Baldwin...

In Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin uses his father's story to examine societal issues such as systemic racism, the impact of segregation, and the emotional toll these have on African American...

Baldwin's father is a prime example of an individual who cannot escape the "tangle of his history" (pg. 29). He has inherited the bitterness and hate that he sees in his father, which could lead to...

James Baldwin's Notes of a Native Son and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" are both comparable and disparate. Notes was published in 1955 and "Letter" was published in...

Baldwin realizes that hatred can destroy him. The text tells us about Baldwin's fears. We are told that his father was a significant influence in his life. We also learn that Baldwin had an...

Although much of the focus of James Baldwin's essay is on the dispossession of Black Americans and the troubled aspects of the writer's relationship to his father, "Notes on a Native Son" works its...

James Baldwin (1924-1987) was an important American writer and critic who tackled issues of race, sexuality, and social inequality in his novels and essays. Born into a large, poor family in...

Mary Dalton and Bigger cannot have anything vaguely resembling an ordinary relationship. The problem is that there are just too many assumptions and misconceptions on both sides. Mary befriends...

Among the most notable passages in James Baldwin’s “Notes of a Native Son” is his description of becoming aware of racial discrimination in a restaurant. This description leads into another memorable...

According to Notes of a Native Son, Baldwin doesn’t become like his father. Baldwin doesn’t preach like his father, nor does he want to hold on to harmful bitterness as his father did.