Baldwin does not use a lot of big, complex words in his language, but his words are still quite powerful. Baldwin is also known for being irreverent and even almost insulting in the his rhetoric. Considering these points, what struck you most about pp. 15-27 of “The Fire Next Time”? Try to pinpoint exactly what it is about his writing that resonates with you the most. If you do not feel it, discuss what is off-putting about his rhetoric.
10 thoughts on “Blog Post #7: Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time” (pp. 15-27)”
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I think James Baldwin’s “The Fire New Time” use fear as an interesting rhetoric device to demonstrate the systematic racism in society back then. On page 26, it states “He must be “good” not only to please his parents..behind their authority stand another; nameless and impersonal; infinitely hard to please, and bottomlessly cruel.” Instead of explicitly mention him as the victim, he uses children as a way to illustrate how white superiority was ingrained in the black community mentally as a whole. Ethos is effectively used here that he won’t as “old-fashioned” as his parent where he would not succumb and remain submissive to the society’s expectation/
I found James Baldwin’s rhetoric somewhat contradicting at one point of his story because at the beginning of the story, he said, “I accepted this Deity as the only one.” Here, he is referring to God however, later on he stated that, “I was icily determined…never to make peace with the ghetto but to die and go to Hell before I would let any white man spit on me…” It seems like he believes in God, but at the same time, he doesn’t care about doing bad things to prove that he isn’t inferior than white people. At the same time, I think religion plays an important role in this story.
James Baldwin in “The Fire New time” illustrates inequality, and especially unfairness of certain situations as well as fear which were based on the discrimination. He used pathos in most of the times. Author illustrated the character of children, explained in details children’s psychology and unfairness, which happened to them at that time in order to have greater appealing to emotions of the readers.
Moreover, he mentioned about “white” people’s unloving to themselves and each-other on page 22, which was also good move to thinking process.
On page 25, it said “Negros..are taught really to despise themselves from the moment their eyes are open on the world. This world is white and they are black. White people hold the power…” This part struck out to me the most because it shows that racism and inequality among races started off before a human can understand life. Self-hatred was within themselves without knowing since they lived among the white people, who were superior to them. Minorities in this world face inequality and racism without knowing what they did wrong besides being born a different race. James Baldwin pulls on the reader’s emotions on harsh reality to have the readers understand the characters from their point of view.
What stood out to me the most was on page 20. The part where he describes what happens to the people he knew after they came back from WW2. I find the way James Baldwin described them to be interesting. Baldwin uses the word “fled” to show that his friends had left. By using this word, I think Baldwin is suggesting that his friends rather find an escape in drugs or starting new at a different place because they can’t bring themselves to face the problem.
In James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time”, he described the fear that he had on this society that he had grown up in. Where blacks are known to be inferior to white people. Just like what he wrote in this story, “…all the fear with which I had grown up, and which were now a part of me and controlled my vision of the world, rose up like a wall between the world and me” (Baldwin 27). This shows his suffrage inside of him, because of what he had experienced and what people told him. Also, there was a quote that shows how the author believes that the life of a black kid is set at the point when they are just born. Which was shown by the quote, “[Black people] are taught really to despise themselves from the moment their eyes are open on the world. This world is white and they are black” (Baldwin 25).
On page 20, James Baldwin said ” two policemen amused themselves with me by frisking me, making comic ( and terrifying) speculations concerning my ancestry and probable sexual prowess … leaving me flat on my back in one of Harlem’s empty block…” As a young man when you see the one who are suppose to protect you are the ones harrassing you, I don’t think that this kid will have faith to humanity. This shows me also that people constantly lived in fear of the white man, loosing their dignity and power that they should have. They were judged by what’s on their head not by whats in their head. Furthermore, they become a result of that specific time, Pulling out their sons out of school because there were no reason to continue to study in a society where you lack certain opportunities when you got that degree. Many of them stays in the Avenue to become pimp and whore. This is what resonates with me the most.
On page 18, he referred school to “a child’s game that one could not win” and boys would drop out and find a job instead. This shows, to the people living in ghettos,
education was not pratical or a good choice for survival. They had to prioritize survival, similar to animals, because of the poor living conditions. In addition, to Baldwin, education does not seem to lead to bright future for him. Including his personal perspective of the time period made the text more realistic. He also mentioned that if a black child challenges the white world’s belief, he would be destroyed. It’s like the black child doesn’t belong in the world, and every small mistake has a huge punishment.
Through my reading, I noticed that most of his ideas are really realistic and there is no such as limitation in his language. Specifically when he described the police officer reaction, “Why don’t you niggers stay uptown where you belong” (Page 19) he tried to show the reality of this world. He is being really honest and knowledgeable in his writing. Somehow, hes ideas seems painful and weird but it’s written based on the hidden facts and reality.
Baldwin writing was interesting to me because he based his writing on his own life experience. For example how Christianity had critical impact on his life. Also, his experiences of living as black man in Harlem ghetto was described as a place they were supposed to live and was expected to fail. What socked me the most was when he argue that in order to achieve social changes, all Black people should accept white and live beyond race.